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Free-feeding- Do you do this?

Do you free-feed you rabbits? (Give them whatever they want when they want)

  • yes- I give unlimited hay, pellets and veg

    Votes: 2 2.6%

  • no- i don't feed unlimited hay, veg, pellets

    Votes: 3 3.8%

  • I feed unlimited hay, unlimited veg but limited pellets

    Votes: 4 5.1%

  • I feed unlimited hay- limited veg and limited pellets

    Votes: 69 88.5%

  • I feed limited hay, veg and pellets (definable quantities)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • other - please discuss

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • Total voters
    78
A

Ambience

Warren Veteran
My vet today recommended that i free feed all my rabbits and only put them on limited amounts if they are looking overweight.

He said free feed veg, pellets and hay- no restrictions- as much as they like?

Anyone else receive this advice from a vet, believe this or do this?

If so please comment. If not why not- what have you been told to feed and what is the source of your information on the subject?

Thanks xx
 
The only rabbit of ours that would be ok with that would be Starbuck as he is slow and fussy with his food, we feed him less than the others.

The others would all be FAT. They love their food.

I am very surprised he has said this. I free feed hay, they can have as much of that as they can eat.

Veg - I give them a good mixed portion but not too much of anything, as I want them to eat lots of hay. I thought the RWAF recommended 90% of their diet should be hay or something like that?

Pellets - we give them all the standard amount of A&P for their weight., apart from Starbuck who gets less. Many would say even this is too much but it seems to be about right.

How odd.
 
I only free feed heavily pregnant does, does with litter, and very young rabbits.

I reduce the amount of pellets as they get older, if i didnt they would get fat and not eat enough hay
 
Mine have unlimited hay, but definitely limited veg and pellets. Otherwise they'd only eat the veg and pellets and not enough hay!!
 
Hay should definitely be free-fed, I don't think there is any discussion over this.

I don't free-feed veg because it can cause gas. Although I do make an exception when a rabbit is chronically ill, when I feed them whatever they want to eat...for instance when Winston had a tumour in his mouth or when Ebony had kidney failure.

I free-feed pellets to my rabbits with severe dental problems (usually soaked pellets) because they sometimes can't manage to eat much hay or veg. My other rabbits get limited amounts of pellets, but still more than the 'eggcup full' which has recently become the recommended amount for some reason
 
Unlimited hay, obviously, but everything else is limited unless there is a reason to not limit it, such as the bunny is chronically ill, severely underweight, struggles eating hay, etc.
 
Does your bun have health issues warranting free feeding? I've never heard this before apart from for sick, pregnant or baby buns. I wouldn't risk it myself-if it's not broke don't fix it, as they say. I go by 80 percent hay, the rest 10 each veg and nuggets :)
 
linzi1loveanimals said:
Does your bun have health issues warranting free feeding? I've never heard this before apart from for sick, pregnant or baby buns. I wouldn't risk it myself-if it's not broke don't fix it, as they say. I go by 80 percent hay, the rest 10 each veg and nuggets :)
Click to expand...

Yes i think two of my buns are poorly at the moment with molar spurs xx
 
biscandmatt1 said:
i've been told unlimited hay and grass, only leafy greens for veg, and no pellets.
Click to expand...

ooh no pellets- not heard of this one... just wondered what your source on that was? a vet or? I'm getting different advice and views from different sources at the moment. All quite reputable xx
 
helgalush said:
The only rabbit of ours that would be ok with that would be Starbuck as he is slow and fussy with his food, we feed him less than the others.

The others would all be FAT. They love their food.

I am very surprised he has said this. I free feed hay, they can have as much of that as they can eat.

Veg - I give them a good mixed portion but not too much of anything, as I want them to eat lots of hay. I thought the RWAF recommended 90% of their diet should be hay or something like that?

Pellets - we give them all the standard amount of A&P for their weight., apart from Starbuck who gets less. Many would say even this is too much but it seems to be about right.

How odd.
Click to expand...

I wish i could get some of mine to eat 90% hay :) xx
 
I don't completely free feed mine pellets, but they probably get a whole bowl a day. ....can I ask where the egg cup came from?! IMO it's ridiculous to expect a giant to live on that and be in good condition...even if they are a great hay eater. :roll:

They have unlimited hay and limited veg.

On another note, the best food I ever f'ed mine (well, Roobs and Ted) was actually a mix. ...Mr Johnsons. As I have a group now they're onto pellets so I know the submissive ones get all they need.
 
vee-jay said:
one of my boys didnt eat as much hay as i wanted him to, so i cut back on his pellets, and he started to eat it.

My ill bunny gets unlimited, as he needs to gain weight.
Click to expand...

Thanks- some of my buns do seem to benefit from the decreased pellets and choose to eat more hay, but this is not the case with my poorly buns, who think hay is yucky- or even with those who are just choosy about not eating it.

I'm sure I'll work it out. I've just not gaged things quite right yet i don't think. xx
 
Ambience said:
Thanks- some of my buns do seem to benefit from the decreased pellets and choose to eat more hay, but this is not the case with my poorly buns, who think hay is yucky- or even with those who are just choosy about not eating it.

I'm sure I'll work it out. I've just not gaged things quite right yet i don't think. xx
Click to expand...

my ill bunny dosent eat as much hay as i woudl like him to, but I cant decrease his pellets. Its not perfect but the best for him at the moment.
 
vee-jay said:
my ill bunny dosent eat as much hay as i woudl like him to, but I cant decrease his pellets. Its not perfect but the best for him at the moment.
Click to expand...

Thanks that's helpful- sounds like the dental buns are best being free fed- as they are struggling to keep weight on and my other buns are doing alright with the reduced pellets, so I'll stick with that for them :) The slightly runny eyes in some of my girls only cropped up when i decreased pellets though, so I'm abit torn- i need to find out this week if that's dental related. The vets didn't check that the last couple of time i went with them. xx
 
I only give my 2 pellets as a treat and veg every so often as i was over feeding it to them and it was causing my Dutch to have tummy aches. Since ive stopped giving him veg every day he has been absolutly fine and he done nice big poos and is much happier!

And mine get unlimited amounts of timothy hay but they are fussy, they eat the best bits and leave the not so good bits! So i have to mix up the old and the new hay to avoid wasting to much!

Is Timothy hay £7 a bag everywhere or am i being ripped off?
 
My lionheads get one scoop (which equals four tablespoons or two eggcups) between them. My lops get slightly more as we were having weight issues with them so they get one and a half scoops which seems to maintain their weight better.

Obviously they get unlimited meadow hay, which they love, with limited treat hay in a wire ball as I can't afford for them to get fussy! And about one large handful of green leafy veg or herbs a day.

I could never free feed pellets or greens with any of them, they'd never eat hay!!
 
Teddy's_mummy said:
I don't completely free feed mine pellets, but they probably get a whole bowl a day. ....can I ask where the egg cup came from?! IMO it's ridiculous to expect a giant to live on that and be in good condition...even if they are a great hay eater. :roll:
Click to expand...

I quite agree!

As far as I can remember, this 'eggcup full' limit on pellets has only recently been advocated. It's totally daft to think that every rabbit has the same needs. Much wiser to judge the correct amount to feed by keeping a close eye on your rabbits weight, coat, teeth and general health IMO
 
Jesus, if i free-fed Biscuit he'd be the size of his pen without weeks, easily.

Sounds a bit odd of a vet to say that, surely he'd be aware of a bunnys diet?

Hay is no where near as interesting as pellets/veg to most bunnys from what little i know, so surely that's an awful idea?

I'm very confused :?

ETA: Biscuit has the equivalent (i've never measured it) of 2-3 eggcup fulls a day.
 
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