young rabbits and veggies ?

[KelleyBee]

Just reading this and wondering whether anyone knows... could it help the babies to get a more diverse gut flora if I were to feed a small quantity of fermented vegetables over time? My new bunnies were raised on compressed hay and pellets. I know you're supposed to intro new foods slowly, but I'm unsure as to the definition of "slowly"...

Why fermented and not simply fresh forage? I give my does fresh forage regularly and their kits begin nibbling at a very early age, which helps them develop gut flora naturally. I ferment a lot of my veggies but would not even consider giving them to my rabbits. Would they even want them? would be my first question.

 

[Cindy in SD]

Yeah... probably they wouldn't want them. I was just reading about the babies eating mama's cecotropes and getting the flora needed for digesting the foods mama eats. I finally got my babies, but the lady I bought them from doesn't feed fresh forage. I fed them a few leaves of lambs quarters yesterday and some dandelion leaves and a few stems of grasses today. They seem to be doing fine. I'm sure you're right. They're eating clean but unwashed leaves; they're getting microbes. I'm just brainstorming how to make things go smoothly for them but then I often worry about things that don't actually need worrying about.