Alternative Rabbit Food

[Back to Nature]

So I just joined today, so if someone already started a thread about this, I apologize. I just got tired of Yahoo Answers, cause the people there can be pretty rude.

Anyways, my boyfriend and I adopted a rabbit this week. (Rescued, more like, but that's a different topic.) I plan on eventually raising rabbits for food, but this one is just a pet. Either way, when I get my own property, I plan on growing my own food as well as my own animal feed. I'm going to start with the animals I already have.

So when the rabbit has acclimated enough to switch the feed, how much should I be giving him? He's an adult, and is pretty heavy (maybe eight pounds). I will be feeding free choice timothy hay (correct?), alfalfa, and greens such as dandelion leaves and other garden scraps.

How much alfalfa should I give him? And how much greens? I don't want to overfeed the alfalfa, but since I will be cutting out the pellets he will be needing a different source of protein. Should he get free choice alfalfa as well, or is there a limit? Your help and advice is very much appreciated.

-Back to Nature

 

[ksalvagno]

With how you want to feed your pet rabbit, I would go to House Rabbit Society. They have all kinds of advice on feeding greens and other things than pellets. http://rabbit.org/

I will help you reiterate that this is a PET rabbit.

 

[Citylife]

Many greens can give your rabbit the runs. They are not raised on them and neither were their parents. I suppliment hay to help with digestion and also gives them something to do. The only time I give them dandilion is if one needs to be distracted or needs to be encouraged to eat such as after delivering. It also seems to help if they are a bit stressed. A bit of apple, carrot to distract and take babies away to count. But, otherwise they dont eat much for greens. My understanding is the weened babies can handle abit more but not once adult hood.
My adults get a small amount of oats and the butcher rabbits when growing out get plenty of oats. I am sure there will be pleny of opinions on this and I do believe there has already been a thread re: this subject.
Some people think its ok to have chickens and rabbits on the ground together. I disagree. I have rabbits in hanging cages and chickens run under rabbits.
I think its "mangles" that are a good thing to grow for your bunnies. I worked with a guy who went to a college who only fed their 1000's of bunnies alfalfa and sugar cane. 1/2 and 1/2.
I look forward to hearing what others have to say and have experianced.

 

[Back to Nature]

I would buy the rabbits from a breeder that fed natural foods instead of pellets. I've read other forums, so I know they're out there if I look for them. And yes, ksalvagno, THIS rabbit is a pet. But eventually I would like to raise my own food.

I would be growing my own feed crops, and I don't think sugarcane would grow well in the colder climates, which is where I plan on living. Colder as in, not tropical.

Citylife, what is a "small amount"? An ounce? I don't want my rabbits getting overly fat when they're young. Thank you.

- Back to Nature

 

[Back to Nature]

Also, I assumed by the name and topics on/of this forum that eating rabbits was okay. Correct me if this is a forum about keeping backyard herds of pets, and I will direct all future questions elsewhere (I don't want to offend anyone).

- Back to Nature

 

[terri9630]

Also, I assumed by the name and topics on/of this forum that eating rabbits was okay. Correct me if this is a forum about keeping backyard herds of pets, and I will direct all future questions elsewhere (I don't want to offend anyone).

- Back to Nature

There is a section for meat rabbits. Many here eat rabbits. We do, my daughters favorite food is fried rabbit.

 

[Back to Nature]

Thanks, Terri9630. This was a general feeding question, but if I have any directly about meat rabbits I'll make sure I get the right section. I don't want to post about rabbit fryers in the pet section!

 

[secuono]

Any rabbit can be fed nothing but grass and hay. You need to feed any and all new foods in small amounts at first and slowly increase.
Hay, a handful a day. I don' feed hay, they just waste it.
You can feed unlimited greens once the rabbit is used to them. There are 30+ weeds and grasses rabbits can eat, as well as some trees.

Do NOT mention eating rabbits on the PET FORUMS. Do not mention all natural feeding in pet forums. They can and will loose their minds if they don't like what you post.

 

[Hickoryneck]

Do NOT mention eating rabbits on the PET FORUMS. Do not mention all natural feeding in pet forums. They can and will loose their minds if they don't like what you post.

so true

I do not think anyone on this website/forum will have that problem even if they raise as pets since most of the members on here do raise for meat and the pet owner only members know that.

 

[Hickoryneck]

I am also interested in trying to grow an all natural diet for my meat rabbits right now they do get pellets but I would love to slowly move away from that and use hay,veggies,fruit,tree branches and pasture for them instead they get all of the above now but not as their main food source.
I want to make sure I am feeding them the right stuff to meet their needs is there a website or research paper I could look up that will give me a decent start so I know what I need to plant for them?
P.S. they will not be with the chickens if pastured