Rabbit throwing feed out

[downonthefarm]

My daughter has a French Lop that constantly throws her feed out of her dish. Stacy uses clip on dishes. She's tried moving it to different heights and somehow she manages to dig it out. I give her a little food several times throughout the day, but that's very inconvenient, not to mention the cost of wasted food. Any ideas?

Janine

 

[akane]

A lot of rabbits love to dig in their food. For bin feeders I know some people have put wire mesh about halfway down the base so the rabbits can eat off the top but not dig. I don't know if it would work with a dish since there wouldn't be pellets constantly coming down to sit over the mesh within reach of the rabbit.

 

[MaggieJ]

Try a deep, heavy crock with straight sides. Make it large enough that the appropriate amount of food doesn't fill more than a quarter of it. No guarantees it will help, but worth a try.

 

[Secuono]

I would attach a 1x1 wire mesh in the dish, but have it curved U shape. So when it eats some, more will gradually fall through.
Could always just feed a small amount in the AM and let her finish it all or let her dump it. But not feed her again until morning. Just keep at that until it learns there is no extra feed to allow for her to just mess with it. She eats it or runs dry.

 

[caroline]

I don't have any suggestions about keeping the food from getting spilled and I don't know what your set up is, but I really like the way I've developed to deal with what would otherwise be waste. I have geese and ducks and I am able to leave the door to the rabbit area open during the day. I can close of the yard where this door opens so that only the geese and ducks can get in there- no sheep, cattle or goats, and the geese LOVE to go in and clean the floor for me. They sound like they are having a party when the find the door open. Talk, talk, talk, pick,pick, pick. The rabbits don't seem to have any problem with these visitors and I'm just happy to have animals eating up what would otherwise be "waste."
Sometimes when i don't want to leave the door open for whatever reason, I rake up all the manure, spilled feed and hay and trundle it up to our orchard to use a mulch around the trees. the geese like that too since they have access to the orchard and they will follow me up there and begin picking through my pile, sometimes before I've even finished spreading.

 

[akane]

I tried a small round dish for a mini rex and the pig managed to take the fur off her nose shoving down to the bottom. It appears to be permanent since 3 months have gone by and there is still a pink strip going up her face. I got rid of those dishes for much wider U shaped ones but they can dig in those to some extent. Better to waste a little food than have a bunch of bald rabbits and for now the colony rabbits clean up what's spilled.

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

are you feeding anything else in the dish besides pellets? alot of rabbits like to dig for "the good stuff" lol their smart lil dudes lol

 

[MaggieJ]

Sometimes you can find a dish with a lip on the inner rim... makes it harder for them to scrape the feed out.

 

[fuzzy9]

I've got one that started scratching about a week ago........she never did this before. She's always scratched in the corner of the cage, but not the feeder. If I take away the feeder she scratches, and give her one she can't scratch, she refuses to eat. She now has both does on each side of her doing it! Grrr! Unlike her though, they will eat out of the other feeders they can't scratch.

 

[MaggieJ]

If someone invented a dish that would discourage scratching... and patent it... could be a good business opportunity!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I am swiftly losing my patience with one of my bucks...he does this and it makes me crazy. He's an amazing animal, great temperament, perfectly solid body, wonderful critter...and I swear I'm thinking about culling him in the spring. The amount of lost feed is getting ridiculous!!!

 

[hoodat]

That's a very annoying and expensive habit. I've never found an answer to it. Once it starts it seems all but impossible to stop. There are feeders that make it harder for them to do but if they're determined they'll find a way around them.

 

[downonthefarm]

are you feeding anything else in the dish besides pellets?

She is only fed pellets. My daughter has seen her take a mouthful of pellets & spit it out. I don't know what that's about. She doesn't do it all the time, so apparently she still likes her feed. I'm beginning to think she's just psycho!

 

[Cattle Cait]

Try a crock with a wide lip on it, or put in a hopper feeder.