How to feed rabbits - making a varied diet

In order to successfully breed rabbits, you need to come to a detailed study of the rules for keeping animals. It is especially important to know what to feed rabbits, because only a balanced and varied diet will contribute to their rapid growth. It is very important to ensure that they receive nutrients and vitamins. In addition, there are many plants that are contraindicated in rabbits and can lead to their death. That is why it is important to learn how to feed fluffy animals correctly.

Read also the article: how to cook a rabbit correctly?

Main types of feed

Experienced breeders can easily answer the question - what to feed the rabbits? However, for novice farmers, not everything is so simple. The animal menu should contain a variety of vegetables, herbs, grains and feed.

All feed can be divided into several types:

• green;
• rough;
• juicy;
• concentrated.

Each type of feed has its own characteristics and requires correct feeding. While some products can be given raw, others can only be cooked.

Green rabbit food

As soon as the first shoots of plants appear in the spring, the rabbits can be fed green food.

They must be present in the diet of animals and include:

1. Wild herbs. Please note that not all of them are suitable for feeding rabbits. It is best to harvest them in natural meadows. If possible, you can grow the necessary herbs on your site. For this will go: lupine, clover, alfalfa, oats, barley, corn.
2. Vegetable tops and cabbage. As such a green food, rutabaga tops are suitable, Jerusalem artichoke, potatoes, fodder or sugar beets, turnips. If you opt for beet tops, then it should be given no more than a third of the total amount of green feed. It has a laxative effect. Together with it, oak leaves and branches, which have anchoring properties, should be added to the feed. Alder, comfrey or yarrow will also work.
3. Seeded legumes and grains. They are good for rabbits due to their high protein and vitamin content. However, feeding them alone will cause bloating, so they must be combined with other types of feed.

Despite the fact that potato tops are allowed to rabbits, they should be given with caution. To do this, it should be cut 4 to 5 days before the planned harvest. Introduce it into the feed gradually, adding little by little.

Rough feed for rabbits

When choosing what to feed rabbits, do not forget about roughage. These include: hay, straw, branches of some trees. They help improve the digestion of rabbits and additionally grind teeth, which is also necessary for fluffy animals. They will gladly gnaw bark from the branches and will not spoil the cage.

Young branches of raspberry, acacia, linden, willow, apple and aspen are best suited. This is a favorite treat for rabbits.

It is worth highlighting hay as the main element of roughage. It must be harvested from the same types of green plants that rabbits eat in summer. It should be mown before the grass begins to bloom. After that, it must be left in the sun to dry thoroughly for several days. Even dry hay still needs to be dried under a canopy, so that it does not spill later.It should be stored indoors on wooden flooring.

If during the hay harvesting there will be rainy weather for a long time, then you need to mow it in small areas. After that, it should be laid out in thin layers on shelves made of metal mesh or on wooden slats. Do not delay mowing hay for forage. If the grass becomes too rough or is exposed to rain for a long time, rabbits will not eat hay well. If you managed to prepare hay only in a rough form, then it is better to grind it into flour. Getting it along with other food, animals will gladly eat it.

For one adult rabbit, you need to prepare about 45 kg of hay. This amount should be enough for the winter. If a litter is planned, then it is worth stocking up on hay and for babies. It will be enough 10-15 kg per rabbit. If there is not enough hay for the winter, then first of all it should be given to lactating females.

Branches, like hay, can be harvested for the winter. They will be a good source of vitamins during the cold season. To harvest them, branches from suitable trees should be well dried. It is most convenient to do this under the canopy roof, where good ventilation of such roughage will be provided. You can also feed your pets with fresh spruce or pine branches in winter. They will increase appetite and have a beneficial effect on the coat. The only thing is that you need to give them in small quantities and take breaks.

What juicy food can be fed to rabbits

If at the beginning of summer most of the diet of rabbits is green food, then at a later time the grass begins to turn yellow and it is not in the required amount. At this time, you can give the rabbits a variety of root vegetables. Melons are well suited. They will like pumpkin, zucchini and watermelons. These foods are rich in vitamins. The only thing is that they are low in protein and fiber, so they need to be given in combination with other food.

A nursing rabbit needs more vitamins than a normal rabbit, so she needs root vegetables. In addition, succulent feed helps to increase milk supply.

It is important to know what is the best way to feed certain foods. Carrots are best given to rabbits in a raw state, well washed from the ground. You can put it in cages as a whole or cut it into pieces. Rabbits will chew it with pleasure. Cabbage can be given both fresh and boiled or pickled. However, in order to prevent digestive disorders, introduce it into the diet gradually and little by little. Fodder zucchini can be fed raw. They contribute to better absorption of other feeds. The pumpkin is served both raw and boiled. Small rabbits can be mashed from it. It also helps increase growth and promotes greater milk production in lactating rabbits.

Silage is of great importance in feeding on succulent forage. It is harvested from grass, tops, vegetables and melons. The more ingredients there are in the composition, the more nutritious and healthy the food will be. Silage is well absorbed by rabbits, which contains a mixture of beets, tops, fodder cabbage and carrots.

To prepare the silage, it is necessary to grind all the components into small pieces, and then tamp them thoroughly. It is advisable to do this in large pits with a timber frame on all sides. You can also use a wooden barrel for this. By placing the crushed ingredients in the pit, it is necessary to limit the supply of oxygen. To do this, cover everything with foil, and then sprinkle it with a layer of earth and straw. Such food will be ready only in 1.5-2 months.

Concentrated feed for rabbits

Despite the beneficial properties and nutritional value of green and juicy food, concentrated feed should also be given to the rabbit. These include:

• cereals;
• bran, cake, meal;
• legumes;
• compound feed;
• feed of animal origin.

Due to the high protein content and low water content, concentrated formulations have a high energy value. They help rabbits grow faster and more intensely. In lactating rabbits, they help increase milk production.

Oats, corn, rye, barley, wheat, peas, beans are well suited as cereals and grains, lentils... It is desirable that concentrated feed constitutes 30-40% of the daily ration. It is also important to know how to properly feed rabbits such food. So, oats can be fed to animals in the form of whole grains, crushed or flattened. It contains many nutrients, but it is also considered a diet food. Grains can often be fed to rabbits without fear of obesity. It will have a good effect on intestinal peristalsis.

It is better to give corn to rabbits soaked or crushed. In addition, you can cook porridge from it, which the animals will also like. This product is especially useful for feeding rabbits. It can be combined with legumes that are high in protein and amino acids.

Wheat, barley, sorghum and rye should be crushed and mixed better with other types of feed. You don't need to give them in large quantities. This can lead to bloating.

You should not neglect compound feed either. It has a balanced composition to meet all nutritional needs. There is a special concentrate for rabbits, which is made in the form of small and large granules. It can be used to replace all other types of concentrated feed. However, this will be more expensive food that will hit the pocket. It will also help grow animals faster.

When choosing compound feed, you need to take into account the age of the rabbits. There are mixtures designed for young individuals from 1 to 3 months, and there are up to 6 months. Large rabbits can be fed any type of food.

What to feed rabbits to get vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals play an important role in feeding rabbits. They must be present in the diet. If in the warm season rabbits receive the necessary vitamins from green and juicy foods, then in winter they become much less. In this case, special supplements will help to replenish them.

Essential vitamins

In order for rabbits to receive vitamin A and D, they need to add fish oil or animal vitamins in concentrated form to their food.

It should be borne in mind that the norms of fish oil differ depending on the age of the rabbits, as well as on their activity:

• small rabbits will need 0.3-0.5 g each;
• adults in physiological rest can be given 1 g each;
• rabbits who are preparing to become mothers and lactating women need more vitamins - about 3 g each.

The most important vitamins for rabbits include:

1. B vitamins contribute to good digestion and blood formation. They have a positive effect on the nervous system. Important for little rabbits.
2. Vitamin C is good for digestion and improves immunity.
3. Improves the nervous system and makes rabbits calmer. Vitamin A. It also affects reproduction.
4. Vitamin E is needed for heart and muscle strengthening. It is especially needed in winter. It is found in good hay, grass and baker's yeast;
5. Vitamin K - essential for the formation of the reproductive system;
6. The skeletal system of animals requires vitamin D.

Essential mineral supplements

Rabbits also need mineral supplements. Their role may be: bone meal, bone ash and chalk. Some breeders prepare bone meal on their own.

Salt is an integral element of nutrition. It contains essential minerals. It has a beneficial effect on all vital processes in animals, and also improves the metabolic process. In addition, salt will strengthen the immune system.For young animals, 0.5-1 g of salt per day will be required, and for adult rabbits, 1-1.5 g. It is better to give lick salt.

Nutritional supplements

You can fill the lack of vitamins with nutritional supplements. The most popular of these are:

1. Chiktonik is a supplement for fast growth and proper development of rabbits. It comes in liquid form. It must be added to water in the ratio of 2 ml of solution to 1 liter of water.
2. Gammatonik is a supplement with a lot of amino acids and trace elements. It also comes in liquid form and is added to water.
3. Prodevit - contains the necessary vitamins A, D and E. It comes in the form of a solution for injection, but you can also add it to feed. In this case, two drops a day will suffice.
4. E-Selenium is also an injection solution. It includes vitamin E and selenium. Well suited for food poisoning and infertility.

When adding food additives to feed, the main thing is not to get carried away. Do not exceed the established norms, because rabbits receive vitamins from other food products.

How to feed rabbits depending on the season

The feeding rates for rabbits depend primarily on the season. When raising animals for meat, it is important that they grow well and quickly. It will not work to feed rabbits the same way all the time, because in summer there is much more green food, as well as branches, grains. During the winter, rabbits need much more energy to maintain a suitable body temperature.

In the summer season, one adult rabbit will need 40-50 g of concentrated food in combination with roughage. In addition, every day you need to give the animals half a kilo of green feed. In the event that the females are preparing for mating, they will need a larger diet. So, the rate of concentrates should be increased from 50 g to 70-80, and green grass to 600 grams. Pregnant females need to be fed within these limits. Lactating rabbits will need at least 1 kilogram of greens and 150 g of roughage.

In winter, the choice of food for rabbits should be approached more carefully:

1. Succulent feed and hay should be included in the diet. For adults, 150-200 g of juicy and 150 g of hay should be allocated.
2. In preparation for mating, you need to add about 100 g of concentrate and roughage to the diet.
3. If the rabbit is waiting for offspring, the juicy feed needs to be increased to 250 g, and coarse to 130 g.
4. When feeding babies, the female should be given 350 g of juicy and 150 g of concentrated feed. Do not forget about hay, which will take about 250 g.

When growing meat breeds, you should increase the amount of concentrated feed, as well as bran and root crops. This is especially important in autumn and winter. Young rabbits require slightly less food, but it should also be varied.

Rabbit feeding regime

When choosing what to feed rabbits, you need to take into account that not only the diet is important, but also the feeding regime. Fluffy animals eat little, but often. They can go to their feeders more than 30 times a day. It is advisable to feed them at the same time. In this case, they will produce gastric juice by the time of feeding. Thanks to this, the animals grow faster and develop.

Adult rabbits should be fed 2-3 times a day. Lactating rabbits and her babies need to be fed 4 times a day. You can adhere to the following regime:

1. With three meals a day in the winter season:

• 8 o'clock in the morning - give half the norm of concentrated feed and hay;
• 12 hours - give juicy feed;
• 17 hours - give half the norm of concentrated feed and the same amount of rough in the form of branches and hay.

2. With three meals a day in the summer:

• 6 hours - combine half the norm of concentrated feed with 1/3 of the grass;
• 15 hours can be given to rabbits 1/3 of the norm of green food;
• 19 hours you can give half the norm of concentrated and 1/3 green feed in addition to coarse food.

3. With four meals a day in the winter season:

• 6 hours - give rabbits 1/3 of concentrated feed and ¼ hay;
• 11 hours - you can add another half of the norm of juicy feed to 1/3 of the concentrates;
• 16 hours - give ½ part of hay and the second half of the norm of succulent feed;
• 19 hours - give 1/3 of the concentrates and ¼ of the hay. Before bed, you can feed the branches.

4. With four meals a day in summer:

• 6 hours - you need to give out a third of the concentrates and ¼ of the herb;
• 11 hours - you can give the same part of the concentrated feed and the same amount of green;
• 16 hours - you can give only half the amount of grass;
• 19 hours - feed the rest of the concentrates and ¼ of green fodder and twigs.

This is just a rough feeding schedule. You need to make your own time regimen, taking into account the available feed. The main thing is to learn to adhere to the same feeding time and give a variety of foods.

Hazardous and Poisonous Rabbit Food

Despite the fact that rabbits can be given a wide variety of foods, there are also foods that are contraindicated for them. The animals are very sensitive not only to the quality of the feed, but also to its individual components.

Dangerous herbs

Rabbits should not be given:

1. Wild herbs such as celandine, hemlock, euphorbia, hellebore, foxglove, poisonous milestones, dope, St. John's wort, buttercups, mustard, belladonna, calla, poppy, wrestler, anemone, lily of the valley, radish. Even a small amount of such herbs can cause illness in animals, seizures and death.
2. Rotten and moldy grass.
3. Table beets.
4. Frozen or dirty root vegetables.
5. Moldy silage.
6. Poisonous branches from broom, wild rosemary, wolfberry and elderberry.

It is necessary to try to find the optimal ratio of feed for your rabbits, which will suit the price and at the same time have a positive effect on the health and development of animals.

Vegetables and fruits

Not all vegetables and fruits are suitable for the stomach of rabbits. Don't give them raw potatoes. It can cause gas and diarrhea. You need to be more careful with potato tops. It is not always absorbed by rabbits. Don't give your rabbits tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, or similar vegetables. They will also serve as a bowel disorder.

Do not give rabbits spicy green foods. These include garlic, onions, and hot peppers. Both the green part and the bulbs are contraindicated.

They will irritate the internal organs, as well as the mucous membrane of the eyes. Exotic fruits such as oranges, mangoes, tangerines, avocados, etc. are undesirable in the food of rabbits.

Bakery products

Be careful when giving baked goods to rabbits. Perhaps occasionally give them unsweetened bread. It is advisable to dry it a little in the sun. Rabbits will happily nibble on crusts and crackers.

Sweet buns, cookies, crackers, and other yeast foods will lead to obesity and should not be given. They pose a particular danger to rabbits that are preparing for lambing.

You can make your own rabbit croutons. They must be baked from a mixture of barley and yeast batter made with wheat flour. The dough should be baked in layers, then cooled and cut into small pieces. After that, they need to be dried in the air for two days and given to the rabbits. These crackers have nutritional components and useful properties. Moreover, they are suitable for the point of the teeth. You can give them to rabbits only from two months of age.

Water in the diet of rabbits

In the diet of rabbits, water must be present. With its lack in animals, appetite will decrease, food is poorly digested and the condition in general will worsen. It is especially important to provide constantly poured water for pregnant and lactating rabbits. When feeding, they lose most of the liquid with milk. Growing rabbits also need water.

The amount of water for rabbits will depend on the season and the feed being fed. In the summer, rabbits receive a lot of green and succulent food, so the need for water is not so high. However, given the hot weather, they still need to drink water. In winter, rabbits receive mostly dry food, they need to drink more. If the water quickly freezes in the cold, then you need to pour it into the drinkers immediately after eating the concentrates. You can pour warm water.

It is imperative to water the rabbits, providing them with water constantly. In the absence of water, rabbits can eat their offspring.

Features of feeding rabbits

When feeding the rabbits, you need to be more careful. For the first 10-15 days, they feed only on mother's milk. Moreover, this period is considered the most critical and is characterized by a high mortality rate of animals. This can be caused by indigestion, stress.

It is important that the mother eats well, with whose milk the rabbits will receive all the vitamins and minerals necessary for growth.

At the moment when the rabbits begin to eat food, their digestive system is still poorly developed. That is why they need to be given easily digestible and highly nutritious foods.

Do not feed the rabbits with young green grass. It should be dry.

Small amounts of leguminous and legume-cereal hay, as well as oats and wheat bran, can be given. Concentrated feed is also suitable, only it must first be flattened or crushed. As animal feed, you can give babies bone or fish meal.

It is necessary to introduce new feed into the food of rabbits gradually. It is necessary to give them trial small doses and look at their health.

Rabbits can be removed from their mother at 1.5 months of age. Small rabbits can be stressed when jigging. In order to cope with it, vitamin B can be added to the water. 50 mg per 1 liter of liquid will be enough. Additionally, you can give chamomile, chicory, burdock and twig feed. At 2 months, rabbits can consume 80–110 g of compound feed and hay. Root vegetables and other juicy foods should be added to the diet. As you grow older, you can introduce a greater variety of feeds into the diet.

Features of feeding male rabbits

Feeding of male rabbits is also worth considering. This is especially true for producers who are used to fertilize females. They must be kept separate from other animals. They should not deplete and weaken. Only in this case can you achieve strong offspring.

During normal resting times, brood males can be fed in the same way as other adult rabbits. However, in preparation for mating and during its period, you need to give them:

• exceptionally good dried grass or herb hay;
• legumes and concentrated feed are suitable for variety and obtaining vitamins;
• do not forget to give bone meal, oats, and branch feed at this time.

Important rules for feeding rabbits

In addition to a nutritious and varied diet, it is important to ensure proper food intake and safety for rabbits.

There are several feeding rules to follow:

1. Despite three or four meals a day, rabbits may be able to eat throughout the day. It is imperative to provide them with constant access to food. To do this, you can install convenient bunker feeders, which do not allow overuse of feed. In addition, rabbits will not be able to trample their food in the feeders;
2. For good digestion, do not feed the rabbits monotonously. It is necessary to give feed with a high fiber content;
3. It is imperative to install drinking bowls in which there must be constantly clean water;
4. When serving several types of feed at once in one feeding, concentrates should be poured into the feeders first, and then succulent feed and herbs should be given.In winter, hay is handed out at the end. With this sequence, digestion improves in rabbits;
5. Rabbits should not be fed sweet foods. They can cause obesity in animals, making them unable to reproduce;
6. New feed should be introduced gradually, starting with small portions and gradually increasing them to the norm;
7. Only high-quality feed is suitable for feeding rabbits. Due to poor digestion, they may not be able to absorb bad food.

By following these rules, you can improve the keeping of rabbits. They will grow and develop faster. With improper feeding and the use of poor quality food, animals can die. This is especially true for young rabbits, which find it difficult to digest many types of feed.

Feeding rabbits is a complex process that requires a careful approach. Not all products are suitable for their food. Some novice breeders think that it is enough to give them only fresh grass. However, it turns out that this is far from the case. The more varied and nutritious their food is, the faster they will gain weight. The daily diet should be varied, regardless of the season.

How to feed rabbits - video