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Do you change your feeding routine in winter?

Snowberry

Wise Old Thumper
In summer both my bunnies free range everyday and so get a lot of grass. They have a handful of pellets twice a day and a small amount of veg. They both also eat tons of hay.

In winter they don't get out as much because it's often dark when I get home from work and I like to keep weight on Snowdrop so they both get extra pellets in a morning and evening and plenty of veg.

Why is only an egg cup of pellets recommended once daily? My two get double this and even more in winter or they appear starving. They eat all their hay and veg and are not overweight.
 
I think it depends on the size of the bunny, I personally would never feed a bunny only an egg cup a day of pellets...doesn't seem enough!

Simba has days when he scoffs 3 handfuls of pellets no problem and days where he will probably only eat an egg cup full (I change his food every day as he gets a bit sneezy so don't want the pellets getting dusty). He also gets about a third of a small carrot in the morning and the same in the evening. I have tried him on cabbage, but his poos went a little bit runny, so sticking to carrot, which he loves. He eats hay brilliantly.

He's an indoor bun, so whilst I am at work I actually put him and an indoor cage in the bathroom as it's bunny proof, quite big and he can't escape but can still get a bit of exercise whilst I am out. Then he has the run of the living room / kitchen at night with me!

I am sure your buns are fine, best to just keep an eye on their weight and encourage plenty of hay eating and exercise :love:
 
No, they get the same, maybe a little more pellets.

I feed a eggcupful of pellets per bunny per day because if I feed much more, they put on weight, so I know its the right amount for them.
 
I only ever severely restricted nuggets to what was probably about an eggcup each to encourage Joejoe to eat hay as he wasn't and his teeth were suffering, now he's hooked on hay :D i've upped their nuggets again and have been increasing the amount over the last couple of weeks to fatten them up a bit for winter. They will also get extra veg once it turns really chilly too, i don't let them get obese or anything but i feel the extra padding helps keep them warm and the food gives them something to do in terms of keeping active and also gives them extra energy.
 
Same here, I give them some more pellets and Rabbit Royale. I keep a close eye on their weight though in case they get too rotund.
 
I like this thread ... and so does Spenser!

Truth be told, he doesn't eat quite as much hay as I would like, but restricting his pellets did not help.
 
I usually give them readigrass instead of grass, a few more pellets especially when it snows and two fenugreeks instead of one.
 
I feed a little more of everything coming up to and throughout the winter. Firstly because i'd like to see them have enough 'stores' for winter and secondly because in the summer, they'd generally be grazing on grass much of the day and they dont tend to do that in winter.

I have been scattering a handful of muesli mix into their litter trays to encourage 'foraging' and a little extra nomming.
 
In the summer, I tend to give them 3 handfuls of pellets between 2 in the morning and if they need more in the evening i top up with an additional handful. In winter i tend to increase the night feeds to about the same as the day feeds. Neither bunny is overweight so i don't see a problem with giving them more, the vet has always told me their weight is fine, even when they are weighed in the winter. Reggie was a little underweight last spring so this is something i will watch this winter though and increase food as necessary. They get lots of hay too. I keep the veg portions the same though, 2 large handfuls every morning and perhaps some pear tree leaves from my tree in the evening.

My bunnies also get less run time in the winter because of the dark and the local foxes.
 
I feed a little more pellets and obviously they get more hay in their bedding areas. Their routine also changes in that they get their tea earlier.
 
Mine get fewer fresh food during the winter. Wild rabbits would find less green bits during winter, too, and my rabbits are outdoors. I never feed them a lot of vegetables, anyway, but during summer they get more leaves from what grown in our garden. In the winter I replace them with Readigrass and more oat, wheat and barley hay, plus more dried herbs. I don't change their amount of pellets.
 
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