These ok?

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

I've supplied pics and scientific names where I have them. I have all of these weeds/tree growing like mad around me and would love to supplement the buns. I'm hoping to move over to fodder but I'm struggling with mold.

Box Elder Tree (Acer negundo): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_negundo

Blue Mustard (Chorispora tenella): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorispora_tenella



Dwarf Mustard: I don't have a Latin name for this. When I went to the nursery to get some stuff identified I got 'local' names for things. I was apparently unimportant and when I asked them for it I was simply told to google it. Anyways, the picture I have is of an immature plant. I'll try and grab a picture of it blooming tomorrow. It grows as one long stem (no shrub or rosary growth), and the flowers come out of the top like a torpedo shaped bundle. I've already tried feeding this to some growouts. They're not thrilled about it, but they DO eat it. So far, no one has died or become ill.


Milk Weed Thistle: I don't have a clue on this one. This doesn't look like anything related to a thistle. I'll see if I have some older growth somewhere, but if I remember correctly from last year, it keeps that shape blunt edge to the leaf, it just gets bigger. I've fed this before, on accident, while gathering dandelion. The buns seem to enjoy it and no one got sick.

 

[MaggieJ]

Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to help much. Most of those plants do not look even remotely familiar to me.

I did try feeding a few box elder leaves to the rabbits, but they rejected it and since I've never seen wild rabbits nibbling on it, I decided it was not a good rabbit green. I do occasionally feed silver maple to them, but they are not fond of it. Sugar maple is also considered safe.

For the rest, unless there is a knowledgeable member from your neck of the woods, you will likely have to go through the process of identifying and researching each plant. I googled edible plants Nevada and came up with a lot of possibilities, but you would need to add the region to the state name to narrow things down.

I use the Latin name followed by such keywords as rabbit, edible, toxicity, forage in various combinations.

Generally speaking, I favour the invasive European weeds that have spread over much of North America. They are, after all, the ones that the wild European rabbit (from which our domestic rabbits are descended) have been eating since the last Ice Age. See the Safe Plants for Rabbits sticky for ideas.
safe-plants-for-rabbits-list-t55.html

 

[Sagebrush]

The mustard greens are LOVED by my buns. They are the first thing they go for when allowed out to roam around the yard. The milk thistle is supposed to help with lactation in does. I just never tried it yet. My does seem to be doing a great job in nursing their babies.

 

[MaggieJ]

The mustard greens are LOVED by my buns. They are the first thing they go for when allowed out to roam around the yard. The milk thistle is supposed to help with lactation in does. I just never tried it yet. My does seem to be doing a great job in nursing their babies.

It's nice to see that someone from Nevada replied to this thread, Sagebrush.

Are your mustard plants and the milk thistle the same as the ones in Kitty102's photographs? I ask because those look nothing like the mustard greens or milk thistles that I am familiar with and which I have to assume are completely different species.

It can be dangerous to use common names that can vary a lot from area to area and even within an area. Could you provide the Latin names, just to be safe?

 

[Sagebrush]

Yes they are. I had to go outside to look at them to make sure first before I replied. As a matter of fact when I went out Angel my dutch doe was eating the tops of the thistle. Her babies are eating the mustard plants as they grow through the bottom of the exercise pen that sits about 6" off the ground.

 

[MaggieJ]

What worries me is that the plant in the last picture, identified as milk weed thistle for its common name, does not look anything like the pictures that come up in an image search under that name. Although I don't have any milk thistle (Silybum marianum), I am aware of its many medicinal properies and I know that Miss M feeds it to her rabbits and that they love it. It has typical thistle jagged prickly leaves veined with white and purple flowers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silybum_marianum

The plant in the last picture has smooth simple leaves that resemble neither milkweed nor milk thistles. It looks a bit like periwinkle (Vinca minor) but I don't think it is that either.

Let me illustrate my concerns with an anecdote. Quite some time back on another rabbit forum, there was a discussion about feeding cattails to rabbits. Well, we all know what cattails are, don't we... So no one bothered using Latin names. One poster became very excited. She gathered great bundles to dry for winter feeding to her rabbits. "Do you just feed them spines and all?" she wanted to know.

Spines??? :?

What she had gathered was not one of the edible Typha species:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typha
but rather one of the Dipsacus species, a totally unrelated plant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipsacus

"Well," she said, "we call them cattails here."

Please take the extra time and effort to post Latin as well as common names. For the sake of the rabbits.

 

[Sagebrush]

I will get a better photo of one the next time I am out there. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:52 pm __________ <br /><br /> I managed to find some that where not totally eaten. So sorry for the quality of the photos but I need a new camera that isn't a phone. When you pick them or tear off a leaf there is a white milky sap that comes out from the damaged areas.


I found the name of the Thistle. Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

 

[MaggieJ]

The pictures are kind of blurry but at least they look like a thistle. If it is indeed Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) then there is, according to this site, no known toxicity.
http://www.weedinfo.ca/en/weed-index/view/id/CIRAR

This interesting article lists it among plants used for natural parasite control in rabbits and poultry. Please understand that their list of medicinal plants does not mean all these are suitable as forage for rabbits or poultry. There are some very powerful plants listed there!
http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/7/1/21

 

[Sagebrush]

That I really understand. I asked the university cooperative extension what it was so I could give the Latin name for it instead of what our common name is. They consider it an evasive species here and are trying to eradicate it.