Wheat Natural Feed Questions

[markt1]

Can white wheat seeds be fed to rabbits without grinding them? The cheapest online source for white wheat berries (seeds) I've found was Walmart (at almost $1 per pound). Would rather go with oats due to their higher protein levels, but the rigging something up for kilning the oats (steaming followed by a bake) to avoid rancidity during storage is just too inconvenient. Corn is too low in protein to make it the dominant grain fed, and barley couldn't be fed to my geese. So it's wheat. Do I need to grind it up or not? If I have to grind it, will they reject it like they do alfalfa fines? I may try to sprout it, but don't have 100% confidence that I could get sprouting to work. I also have a few large mulberry trees at the back of my yard, but wouldn't dried mulberry leaves stored for winter feed just turn to dust during handling and be rejected by the rabbit? How could I use the mulberry leaves for winter feed? Thanks for all help...

 

[Demamma]

My rabbits have whole grain wheat in their feed mix some like it some don't. I tried last year to store Mullberry leaves and they crumbled too easily. The rabbits like it but for the huge loss from crumbling makes it not worth the effort in my opinion.

 

[Dood]

Feed stores should have livestock oats for cheaper than $1 / pound, more like $10 / 50 pound bag.

If you don't need that much then any whole wheat kennels, or crushed, that are found in most bulk food stores will do.

Why do you not like barley? My rabbits get a 3 grain scratch that is wheat, oats and barley and they eat every seed.

 

[Demamma]

I feed barley also. My rabbits like it better than oats. Dood do you use rolled or whole oats and barley?

 

[MaggieJ]

Markt1, whole wheat is just fine for rabbits. It's about 12.5 per cent protein, similar to barley. Oats are a bit higher at 14 per cent. What is also very easy to sprout and I use it sprouted in winter to increase the protein and nutrients and to replace the fresh forage that is not available in our climate.

Barley is fine for rabbits, but not so good for poultry. Markt1 wants a grain he can feed to his geese as well. This is also the reason I buy wheat instead of barley. What kind of geese do you have, Markt1?

 

[markt1]

I have nine Embden geese. The most cold-hardy domesticated type there is, which is the reason I raise them. My question's purpose is to help me determine how to raise plants on my small plot of land to be self-sufficient. We have 1/4 acre fenced in, below which is our septic field. And 1/4 acre at the rear of our property for a garden. I want to be able to feed my wife, my German Shepherd dog, and myself on my limited acreage. The wife and dog WILL eat before I do. And the dog cannot be a vegetarian. Oats require a steam/baking (kilning) process to avoid storage rancidity, which in large amounts is not practical for me. Barley, while fodder-friendly, is not highly digestible for my geese, so barley is out. I need a grain I can grow that is usable for both rabbits and geese. So it's wheat. Geese hate alfalfa and it has deep roots which would get into my septic pipes, so it's out. Which leaves Durana clover, wheat and mulberry leaf as my practical choices. Clover in general is difficult to dry out correctly for storage over winter. The stems dry out at a different rate than the leaf, which leads to either mold from stems molding up or crunchy leaf). Mulberry leaves turn to powder after drying and handling (VERY open to any suggestions to fix this problem). Looking at mixing drying mulberry leaf with honey (I have a beehive) then somehow compressing into pellets for the rabbits. Self-sufficiency is the goal here. NOT how to buy from the store. Do I have to grind the wheat seeds or not? Mulberry leaf storage tips appreciated...

 

[MaggieJ]

No, you don't have to grind the wheat. The rabbits will have no problems with whole wheat.

Have you looked at the Safe Plants List? You might get some ideas for foraging there. A lot of the weeds that you will be pulling from your garden next spring are super bunny food.
safe-plants-for-rabbits-list-t55.html

I don't have mulberry so can't comment on how to dry it, but we do have a weeping willow tree that gives us wonderful food for the rabbits either fresh or dried. It is high in protein and the rabbits love it. It holds together quite well if you dry bunches of the whips with leaves or if you store the branches in a sling in a shed. I made a sling from an old bed sheet... A knot in each corner and zip-ties or twine to hang it up. Even if you do not have a willow yourself, they are a popular lawn tree and often lose branches during storms. I'll bet you could find some folks who would be delighted to have those branches taken away. The rabbits enjoy eating the bark off larger branches too.

 

[Frecs]

If you can sprout it for every a couple of days, it will increase the protein in the wheat. Both my rabbits and my chickens and ducks love it that way. I also sprout the livestock oats even though they barely sprout--the process increases the protein.

The willow is a great idea! A bunch of us at the Urban Rabbit Project are working on starting a "pay it forward" shrub willow project. The big weeping willows are lovely but most of the feed is up to high to make use of. With shrub willow, it is much easier to harvest.

I'm am growing some mulberries for the leaves. I guess I need to figure a way to make use of the dried leaves since I've now learned from ya'll that they will crumble to powder very easily. That's good to know now so I can figure out some options.

 

[JessiL]

We have tons of a shrubby willow (coyote willow, Salix exigua) growing along the irrigation ditches, creeks, river, wherever around here. Trimming off shoots only seems to make it angry and stimulate growth rather than slow it down. We have tried to dry some this year, but the leaves do seem to shatter off the stems very easily. The rabbits will still eat at what's left, though they obviously prefer fresher stuff. Leaves and bark are happily consumed. Anyway, we hope that our stash will help add some variety to the hay-grain-pellet routine this winter.

 

[Demamma]

I have woven willow into wreaths while still green. The wreaths seemed easy to store hung up but didn't last as the rabbits love them.

 

[markt1]

No, you don't have to grind the wheat. The rabbits will have no problems with whole wheat.

Sorry to have taken so long to have gotten back to this thread. Major overtime at work, but now it's Thanksgiving so I can catch up. The first day I put out hard white wheat seeds for my NZ rabbit she ate 1/2 cup of them. The second day she hardly touched them and seemed to be spending long intervals in the corner that she poops in. I was guessing that she might have been constipated. And that the HARD white wheat seeds that I have access to might be tougher to digest than soft white wheat seeds. So I began looking at sprouting them to soften them up, both for the rabbits and the geese. I started another thread about the details of this. Also looking at sprouting pea seeds (negligible raw anti-nutritional factors unlike beans) to bump up the feed protein levels. Anyone do peas sprouts (not fodder) for rabbits?