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Thought of the day!

bunnylove

Wise Old Thumper
I want you options please!

my vet as advised me not to feed concentrate to the bunnys anymore and to feed grass, hay and veg only, saying that the new thought is that pellets could be causing the bunnys to have gut problems!

what do you think? what are bunnys getting from pellets that they are not getting else where? why do we supplement with pellets anyway?

and if i do take her advice which is gonna be definate with bracken and damaskinos as this is her second serious bout of gut related problems this year, and dami with his bad teeth.

what vegs can be given in bigger quanities without cause problems to make up for the lack of pellets!

does anyone just feed veg and hay? what do you think

Eve x
 
Hiya Eve :) Lots of our bunnies here have ongoing gut problems, but have thrived since having a hay and herb diet only :) lots of energy :thumb: and beautiful shiny coats :)
It is the hay that provides the main things a bunny needs, young bunnies need dried food whilst they are growing, but adult bunnies can survive fine without it.
You could perhaps give two teaspoons of oats MAXIMUM to each bunny at night over the Winter months though?

Best wishes
 
Hi Both,

might be a silly question but at what age are rabbits generally thought of as being 'adult'? And would this be the age at which to gradually reduce the pellets in favour of the hay/veg/herb diet?
 
Adele said:
Hiya Eve :) Lots of our bunnies here have ongoing gut problems, but have thrived since having a hay and herb diet only :) lots of energy :thumb: and beautiful shiny coats :)
It is the hay that provides the main things a bunny needs, young bunnies need dried food whilst they are growing, but adult bunnies can survive fine without it.
You could perhaps give two teaspoons MAXIMUM of oats to each bunny at night over the Winter months though?

Best wishes


thanks adele, and how much herbs in weigh eg...handful,ect...... and does porriage not cause impaction?

eve x
 
Sweetie said:
Hi Both,

might be a silly question but at what age are rabbits generally thought of as being 'adult'? And would this be the age at which to gradually reduce the pellets in favour of the hay/veg/herb diet?

6 months i think!
 
bunnylove said:
Adele said:
Hiya Eve :) Lots of our bunnies here have ongoing gut problems, but have thrived since having a hay and herb diet only :) lots of energy :thumb: and beautiful shiny coats :)
It is the hay that provides the main things a bunny needs, young bunnies need dried food whilst they are growing, but adult bunnies can survive fine without it.
You could perhaps give two teaspoons of oats MAXIMUM to each bunny at night over the Winter months though?

Best wishes


thanks adele, and how much herbs in weigh eg...handful,ect...... and does porriage not cause impaction?

eve x

i wondered that about Oats as they swell - do you not soak them in warm water
 
bunnylove said:
thanks adele, and how much herbs in weigh eg...handful,ect...... and does porriage not cause impaction?

eve x

We just give a small handful of herbs daily to the bunnies, but it depends on size of rabbit...
as for the oats, they like any food, can cause problems if not fed in moderation...we tend to give two teaspoons worth to each bunny MAXIMUM a day, at night. It is best to see how each individual bunny reacts to the oats, if there droppings are small and hard to begin with do not feed oats, or if the droppings go small after starting oats then stop then.
Most bunnies thrive on a small amount of oats, but measure it out carefully and dont let them force you to give them seconds :roll: :!: :lol:
 
Adele said:
bunnylove said:
thanks adele, and how much herbs in weigh eg...handful,ect...... and does porriage not cause impaction?

eve x

We just give a small handful of herbs daily to the bunnies, but it depends on size of rabbit...
as for the oats, they like any food, can cause problems if not fed in moderation...we tend to give two teaspoons worth to each bunny MAXIMUM a day, at night. It is best to see how each individual bunny reacts to the oats, if there droppings are small and hard to begin with do not feed oats, or if the droppings go small after starting oats then stop then.
Most bunnies thrive on a small amount of oats, but measure it out carefully and dont let them force you to give them seconds :roll: :!: :lol:



thanks adele, do all ofyour bunnys live on this diet or just the problem ones, i am wondering whether the vet was right and to put them all on this diet or just the problem ones! what do you think?

eve x
 
Adele said:
bunnylove said:
thanks adele, and how much herbs in weigh eg...handful,ect...... and does porriage not cause impaction?

eve x

We just give a small handful of herbs daily to the bunnies, but it depends on size of rabbit...
as for the oats, they like any food, can cause problems if not fed in moderation...we tend to give two teaspoons worth to each bunny MAXIMUM a day, at night. It is best to see how each individual bunny reacts to the oats, if there droppings are small and hard to begin with do not feed oats, or if the droppings go small after starting oats then stop then.
Most bunnies thrive on a small amount of oats, but measure it out carefully and dont let them force you to give them seconds :roll: :!: :lol:



thanks adele, do all ofyour bunnys live on this diet or just the problem ones, i am wondering whether the vet was right and to put them all on this diet or just the problem ones! what do you think?

eve x
 
Sweetie said:
Hi Both,

might be a silly question but at what age are rabbits generally thought of as being 'adult'? And would this be the age at which to gradually reduce the pellets in favour of the hay/veg/herb diet?


Hiya Sweetie, well Eve is right in that it is around six months for smaller breeds of bunnies, but like humans, some bunnies mature much earlier or later than others.
Big Breed bunnies, like the British Giant and French Lop can grow for over a year, and we have a Giant who had another growing spurt at 15 months..so, it varies :wink: :)
 
This subject really interests me. Am I right in saying you dont give the buns veg adele, just herbs? The reason I ask is if Coby has anything more than the very occasional carror he gets runny poo galore, same goes for if he gets too many pelets.
 
Adele said:
Hiya Sweetie, well Eve is right in that it is around six months for smaller breeds of bunnies, but like humans, some bunnies mature much earlier or later than others.
Big Breed bunnies, like the British Giant and French Lop can grow for over a year, and we have a Giant who had another growing spurt at 15 months..so, it varies :wink: :)

Thanks Adele, Denzil is coming up to 6months and from what I can tell he has (i hope :? ) stopped growing. He is just on his final bag of Excel Junior so Im thinking whether the pellet free diet would be best to start when this bag of pellets has been finished (well, gradually faded out of his diet)?
 
cazza269 said:
This subject really interests me. Am I right in saying you dont give the buns veg adele, just herbs? The reason I ask is if Coby has anything more than the very occasional carror he gets runny poo galore, same goes for if he gets too many pelets.

No we dont feed veggies to our bunnies at all, it upset many of them..but bear in mind most are elderly bunnies.
You can try your bunny with veg, but if it upsets them, then it is better to eliminate it from their diet, same as the pellets :)
 
Eve, we keep the problem bunnies on a hay only diet, no veggies, no dried food, nor herbs., but a small amount oats PM in the late Autumn and Winter months.
The healthier bunnies have mainly hay, a small amount of pellets in the evening/ and or oats. Small handful of herbs daily.

We get through a bale of hay weekly for bedding and a bale for eating :!: :shock: :lol:
 
Adele said:
Eve, we keep the problem bunnies on a hay only diet, no veggies, no dried food, nor herbs., but a small amount oats PM in the late Autumn and Winter months.
The healthier bunnies have mainly hay, a small amount of pellets in the evening/ and or oats. Small handful of herbs daily.

We get through a bale of hay weekly for bedding and a bale for eating :!: :shock: :lol:

Adele i find this very interesting. Do you grow your own herbs? Also which pellets do you use ?
 
Mikeymoo said:
Adele said:
Adele i find this very interesting. Do you grow your own herbs? Also which pellets do you use ?

Hiya :D Yes we grow our own herbs in a set aside garden, the bunnies love mint, corriander, parsley, lemon balm, and a small amount of lavender.
We use Hodson and Dorell Pelleted rabbit food, has all the same things in as Excel (except probiotics which we add ourselves with AVIPRO into drinking water) and is more than half the cost..plus it is more finely pelleted so the older bunnies can chew it easier than the larger sized Excel :wink: :)
 
Adele said:
Mikeymoo said:
Adele said:
Adele i find this very interesting. Do you grow your own herbs? Also which pellets do you use ?

Hiya :D Yes we grow our own herbs in a set aside garden, the bunnies love mint, corriander, parsley, lemon balm, and a small amount of lavender.
We use Hodson and Dorell Pelleted rabbit food, has all the same things in as Excel (except probiotics which we add ourselves with AVIPRO into drinking water) and is more than half the cost..plus it is more finely pelleted so the older bunnies can chew it easier than the larger sized Excel :wink: :)

Thats great thank you Adele - think i may grow some herbs then - I cant plant them now can i ?
 
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