What food?

[Julienkc]

I remember reading somewhere certain types of pellets are better than others. I can't find it again, so thought I'd just ask. What pellet does everyone feed their rabbits? The feed stores closest to me sell nutrena, I use it for my birds. Is it's rabbit food ok? My bunnies are still young, 8 weeks and 2 5 weekers. Is alfalfa hay cubes ok for them? When should I switch to timothy? They are a flemish giant and 2 flemish/ mini rex? crosses. Anything else they should have?

 

[Ms. Research]

I use Timothy Pellets. My breeder advised me that alfalfa pellets will make an adult rabbit fat, so she sticks with Timothy Pellets for all her rabbits, young and old. I did give my rabbits Alfalfa hay when they were younger, to help my smallest put on weight. I did wean them off of it at 3 months though. They are now strictly on Timothy Hay. With an alfalfa treat in there once in a while.

FYI, I have dwarfs so maybe someone with larger rabbits will chime in.

Hope this helps. Good Luck with your Rabbits.

K

 

[Bossroo]

Hmmm! Let's see, I have raised thausands of rabbits at a University Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital and my own rabbits for decades which I stricktly fed alfalfa pellets only with great results. I guess that I didn't get the right information from a pet breeder.

 

[BarredBuff]

I just buy TSC brand pellets and supplement with greens and have good success at a fraction of the cost.....

 

[Julienkc]

Thanks. My pet rabbits always just ate whatever pellets I happened to buy wherever I went when they ran out. They always seemed to live like 8 years, especially the mean ones. Those never died, lol. I'd put them in a cage on the ground and move it around or pull some grass for them in the summer, and they got leftover produce. I'm planning on buying alfalfa cubes for my ducks to have some greens though, and thought I'd check if they were ok for my rabbits to have too.

 

[Ms. Research]

Thanks. My pet rabbits always just ate whatever pellets I happened to buy wherever I went when they ran out. They always seemed to live like 8 years, especially the mean ones. Those never died, lol. I'd put them in a cage on the ground and move it around or pull some grass for them in the summer, and they got leftover produce. I'm planning on buying alfalfa cubes for my ducks to have some greens though, and thought I'd check if they were ok for my rabbits to have too.

An alfalfa cube once in while as a treat will not harm your rabbits. Didn't know ducks like alfalfa. Neat.

K

 

[oneacrefarm]

Actually, alfalfa should be the basis of the protein in their diet. Maybe what she meant was Timothy HAY and not Alfalfa hay. If you feed a good alfalfa based pellet, then add alfalfa hay, it will be too much protein for them. Most rabbit breeders use an alfalfa based pellet and a good grass hay, like Timothy to add fiber.

 

[jenn_lewis]

Hi, I am new to this forum and very new to show bunnies. We just purchased our first 2 show bunnies this weekend. We will just be participating in Breeding; but we do not know what to feed or how to feed, etc. The breeder was feeding Petrus; however, it's not sold in our area. Is there anything that would be a good substitute or a different type of feed we should try? Also, are there any supplements we need to begin adding or anything else we should know! Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[AZ Rabbits]

I feed my rabbits pellets from Star Milling. I've tried several brands and I am more impressed with this brand than any other. And it's also surprisingly the cheapest.

Other than that, they sometimes get some Timothy Hay (because I use it for nest boxes and they all get a little every once in a while since I have it on hand anyways as a treat). I don't use salt licks and I do put a small piece of wood (cut 2x4 or 2x2) attached to the side of the cage for them to chew on to keep their teeth short.

 

[jenn_lewis]

Oh thank you. I'll have to see if we have Star Milling in our area. A friend who knows more about rabbits than we do, also suggested that we need to put more cover on our bunny, over his back. Is there a specific supplement for cover? We have been showing pigs and there is a different supplement for everything; so I wasn't sure if it was the same for rabbits. And at the risk of sounding silly; what is Timothy Hay. I have Alfalfa and Coastal Hay on hand for the horses and goats. Also, I did give him a piece of wood to chew on, but I wasn't aware of the nesting box, it that just a small box for them to lay in?