Rabbit feeder

[mystang89]

I have a regular rabbit feeder that just hangs on the cage. I fill it up at night and when I come back in the morning to fill it again I notice that some of the food is on the ground underneath it. That food really adds up after a couple of days and I can't reuse it since the doe likes to urinate on it. I used to put a Tupperware container under the feeder but, well, the whole urinate thing stopped that. I figured it was the feeder being made wrong so I fixed all the little spots I could think of that could possibly have food come out of it and it is still happening so I think its the doe being a messy eater.
Anyone have any suggestions to save the food which is raising in price here?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

she is scratching her food. Put a wire through it or take the feeder and put it up higher. And you are also feeding her to much.
What kind of rabbit do you have

 

[ladysown]

most meat rabbits only need at about 3/4-1 cup of feed daily unless on kits.

She is most likely scratching out feed. You can raise it higher of stuff some wire in there to help prevent it.

 

[Sinnfox]

defiantly sounds like she is digging at it...my "special" rabbit does that too...seems she things the food at the bottom must taste better :?

 

[mystang89]

Thanks everyone, I'll raise it higher.
She is a New Zealand White with kits so I try to put 2 cups at night which are generally gone and 1 in the morning which is normally gone by the time night comes. When she doesn't have kits i normally only give her 1 cup at night and 1/2 in the morning. I try to always let them out a few times a week to get some exercise.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

ok, than that is different.... You need her feeder full in the morning and at night. Dont raised it to much so the kits cant reach it. I think you are better off putting a wire through the bottom of the feeder. that will help allot. It is mostly like the kits are digging it out...

 

[mystang89]

Thanks Mary Ann, but I'm a little slow on the pickup many times so when you say put a wire through the bottom of the feeder it kind of skips over me. The bottom of the feeder is a wire mesh that is very close together. What type of wire am I putting through the mesh? Thanks again.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Just take a wire, that goes threw from one side to the other side of the feeder where they eat from. You will have to make a small hole on each side to put the wire through. I take a pic .. easier that way.

 

[mystang89]

Ah, I see what you did.
I was outside working around the Ms. Maizy, (the culprit), when I heard something like scratching or shaking. I looked over and she was actually biting the side of the feeder and shaking it with her head. I saw the food falling out of it. From looking at the feeder in your picture, yours looks like it has a larger bottom portion that the food can lay in.

 

[Whipple]

The feeders I use are really deep compared to that one (or so it seems). Are the kits old enough to wean? You dont really want them learning that habit.

 

[mystang89]

The kits aren't old enough to ween yet, they still have a couple of weeks to go although they are eating out of the feeder right now. I figure just telling the momma "no" isn't going to work though and even if I fasten it to the cage real tight when she goes to shake it, the hardware cloth cage is going to shake to making the effort I put into fastening it pointless.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

have you tried feeding her in a heavy crock? One that is twice the size as the food so that she can dig around in it without losing all the food on the floor?

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes, I'd try a heavy crock... preferably one with a lip to make it harder to scratch the food out.

 

[Bad Habit]

My buck likes to dig in his food, so I've started limiting what I give him. I probably feed him between 2 and 4 times a day, but I only give him enough kibble to coat the bottom of his dish.

 

[mystang89]

I'll head to our TSC and see what they have. Thanks everyone