Well that was a failure.

[Wheels]

Out of curiosity I thought I'd try my hand at sprouting fodder. Last time I picked up feed I bought a 10# bag of bird seed (cheap for the experiment) that was a mix of sunflower, millet and wheat. I washed, soaked, rinsed dutifully for 7-8 days and got some lovely trays of green sprouts. Took the first batch out to the buns and they turned their noses up! I left it in the cages a few days and while they seem to play with the mats of supposedly wonderful fodder they never really ate it. I tried again a few days later - changed up how I drained my sprouts, thinking that maybe I had let the other batch mold. Again they totally ignored the special treat - What Gives - How can they love everything I bring them out of the yard but hate sprouts?

Lol - they're worse than my kids when trying some new food.

 

[MaggieJ]

Well, that's the thing... It's a new food and they can be terribly finicky. You could try growing the birdseed in a pan of soil and putting that in the cage/colony. That would keep it nice until they get around to trying it. Then later maybe they will get brave and try the actual fodder.

 

[Frecs]

They are definitely picky. I've decided that, like children, the more invested we are in something "special" for them, the more determined they are to turn their noses up to it. Brats.

 

[skysthelimit]

Mines are so greedy. They will turn up their noses at a pellet change, but eat anything green I set before them.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I'll have to test that theory. My buns would probably die of joy if they got their own little patch of living greenstuff

 

[Wheels]

I might try again with a different grain and see if that changes things - went and picked weeds yesterday and the bunnies ate them all while the mats of sprouts still sat in the cages.

 

[Frecs]

Oh, and I found that my rabbits would not touch wheatGRASS...but love sprouted (3 days) wheat/oats/BOSS/Flax. For whatever reason, they just don't like it at the grass stage. Like I say, the more I have vested in something, the less likely they are to eat it.

Barley might be more appreciated -- as I hear it is sweeter than wheat -- but I can't get barley so they are poop out of luck on that.