Thrifty Ways to Feed Rabbits

[MsPony]

Simple, hay. A bale is cheap, I get huge amounts of straw for the chickens for $5. And I live where its super expensive.

Also don't give chickens lawn clippings (fresh), that impacts crops.

My little baby is going through TONS and tons of hay right now, its the cheapest thing, I get grass hay, but timothy is good.

Also don't feed alfalfa, too much calcium! My little baby started peeing red w/ a white circle in the middle...too much calcium which the vet said the next step is uterine stones :S

 

[D1]

the county here will plant bahaya grass in sone areas along the roads to prevent wash out so we go cut it(on the highest setting on the mower) and blow it out on the road rake it up,bring it home and dry it in the yard for our own free hay

 

[HEChicken]

MsPony, what kind of hay do you use? I have access to both brome and prairie hay. If I were going to jump into this, my plan was to only keep them in summer since they can be outside in a tractor eating grass for the most part. In Fall I would process the remaining bunnies and start again the following Spring. That way I wouldn't have to deal with feeding them over the winter (and keeping them inside). But IF I were going to do it over the winter, what kind of hay would be suitable?

 

[HEChicken]

We need to have major PMs.

It has taken me 8 monthes to get to the meat rabbit point. I am the only one out of 5 that will eat them.

LOL - yeah, we probably could share some ideas. So you have already killed and eaten some? Would you mind sharing your method, or how you learned?

I miss the days when everyone grew up just knowing how to do all this stuff because G'ma taught them when they were young 'uns on the farm. These days we grow up in cities and have no clue and have to learn how to do everything from YouTube LOL. (That's how I learned to process chickens). I did look on YouTube for rabbit processing but they were using some kind of super expensive device that was mounted on a wall, stick the head in, yank and that broke their neck. It looked pretty effective but.....for the amount of meat on a rabbit, it would take a whole year's worth of rabbits to pay for the device.

 

[savingdogs]

Can they eat nettles?

 

[BarredBuff]

We havent yet. I mean I have finally gotten to the point where I can start my meat breeding flock. The does my new lop makes will be kept and a buck will be also. Then in November the does get bred (all does excluding the pet doe) and their babies will be the first meat rabbits.

I have to do it so my other chicken coop will be open to house them until slaughter. Right now the coop is booked till October. But Im getting another hutch to put this set of kits in. If this lop has less than 6 I will breed my other lop also. Im gonna end up with 5 does and 1 buck. I already have 2 does. Im not gonna name anymore rabbits either. Since they will be for meat purposes.

 

[MsPony]

HEChicken: brome and prarie are fine obviously pastured bunnies are ideal, but my pet bunnies are kept inside w/ hay. My adult doe goes nuts over prarie meadow hay, its like candy.

BBuff: I think you need to understand rabbit anatomy and psychology.

1) They are (digestively) mini horses. Their digestive track is set up to work and function exactly like a horses, which means they eat grasses and hay. Large number os grains can impact (colic) the bunny, because they aren't made to digest. Let alone rabbits are obsessive about cleanliness, so that undigested grain gets caught on the undigested hair, making impaction. Roughage is the key, it helps move the undigested hair and is readily digested by the rabbit.

2) They are grazers. I set up "hay feeding stations" around my house with 5? Different hays. They hop around the house during the day (and night) "grazing" on these different hays. This makes for some extremely happy, healthy bunnies are they are doing wht nature intended. I'd set up different mangers in your hutches with different hays and grasses.

3) Vegetables makes bunnies fat and aren't AS digested as hays but better then grains.

So in the end, for your meat babies do a mix of 70% hay, 20% grains (I do more flax/oat/safflower and zero corn, NOT digested well) and the rest veggies and such.

For the parents, its imperative to feed less grains and veggies, their reproductive healthy will go down and you will be needing to reestablish quite often.

 

[pinkfox]

savingdogs...

in the uk nettles are very common (along with dandilions ect) and rabbits are commonly kept in arks and runs, they frequently eat nettles without problems...

 

[savingdogs]

Thanks! You would think it would burn and sting their little bunny lips!

 

[BarredBuff]

Today I rigged up hay feeders for each cage. Then I gave hay to all of them. They liked it better in the little wire feeder. I guess cause it wasnt dirty. I also gave pellets to the prego doe and the large doe with babies.