What is safe?

[natsbunnies]

Hi all.
I keep seeing everyone picks forage for their buns and I would love to as well.
My issues are ..
1. I don't know what is safe. If anyone has a link or list ?
2. how to identify them...Anyone know what could help me with this?

I plan on mixing in dried forage with their hay and pellets.

 

[katie88]

I think there are some good stickies in the diet section which would be worth a good look.

Good things to start with are brambles, dandelions, stinging nettle if you dry it out before you give it to them, and sticky weed (don't know the proper name for it). They are all found very commonly and if you don't know what they look like a quick google should get you some pics.

I found foraging quite addictive so I'd always be on the lookout for new things I recognised. But start off with the most obvious plants.

Thumps on here is a real foraging expert.

 

[KatP]

Thumps is amazing and really helped me to get started. Took my two for their vaccinations today and when each had it done gave them a bramble leaf as a treat, they nurse was amazed that I had foraged them myself and said that she wished more owners would do this rather than feed high sugar treats!!!

 

[Kirotea]

Thumps is amazing and really helped me to get started. Took my two for their vaccinations today and when each had it done gave them a bramble leaf as a treat, the nurse was amazed that I had foraged them myself and said that she wished more owners would do this rather than feed high sugar treats!!!

This might sound a bit thick but I have loads of blackberries that grow along the path where I live. When you say bramble leaves do you mean the leaves from those blackberry brambles? Thanks

 

[katie88]

This might sound a bit thick but I have loads of blackberries that grow along the path where I live. When you say bramble leaves do you mean the leaves from those blackberry brambles? Thanks

:thumb: Yes! Brambles aka blackberry bush. Raspberry is safe too and looks fairly similar. Apparently some bunnies will eat the whole plants thorns and all but my two won't so I just cut off leaves.

 

[Kirotea]

:thumb: Yes! Brambles aka blackberry bush. Raspberry is safe too and looks fairly similar. Apparently some bunnies will eat the whole plants thorns and all but my two won't so I just cut off leaves.

Wow ok thanks, my 2 are going to be spoilt then! I have to walk past loads of blackberry brambles on my way home from work just round the corner from my house, so they can have fresh whenever. Do you only give them as a treat then?

 

[katie88]

Lucky buns! In the summer I give me two a handful of forage every day as a substitute for veg. And in the winter I give dried forage some days and veg on others. So they don't get loads of it but I'd say it's a staple of their diet. As with all new foods though start off small and build up.

Where there are brambles there are often other types of forage so it's worth keeping an eye out, but obviously don't feed anything until you're sure what it is. Sticky weed normally comes up quite early in the year and is really easy to collect (brambles take a while to collect because of all the thorns!)

 

[Kirotea]

Lucky buns! In the summer I give me two a handful of forage every day as a substitute for veg. And in the winter I give dried forage some days and veg on others. So they don't get loads of it but I'd say it's a staple of their diet. As with all new foods though start off small and build up.

Where there are brambles there are often other types of forage so it's worth keeping an eye out, but obviously don't feed anything until you're sure what it is. Sticky weed normally comes up quite early in the year and is really easy to collect (brambles take a while to collect because of all the thorns!)

Have you been collecting bramble leaves recently? They looked quite green when I just went past. I've got a field at the front of mine too which is full of dandelion in the Summer so they are going to be lucky buns! Although I've read that dandelion leaves make them poo more so I might have to limit those!

Sorry I've hijacked this thread! But brambles sound like a good place to start

 

[Loftyfiva]

Lucky buns! In the summer I give me two a handful of forage every day as a substitute for veg. And in the winter I give dried forage some days and veg on others. So they don't get loads of it but I'd say it's a staple of their diet. As with all new foods though start off small and build up.

Where there are brambles there are often other types of forage so it's worth keeping an eye out, but obviously don't feed anything until you're sure what it is. Sticky weed normally comes up quite early in the year and is really easy to collect (brambles take a while to collect because of all the thorns!)

Really didn't know bunnies could have this. I assume you mean the straggly stuff that sticks to everything?

 

[katie88]

Really didn't know bunnies could have this. I assume you mean the straggly stuff that sticks to everything?

That's the stuff. I think it has seeds on at certain times of year though which shouldn't be fed but otherwise it's fine. And it's very easy to identify.

 

[Loftyfiva]

That's great. We gained a problem with it in one part of our garden a couple of years ago. Now it will no longer be a weed but a necessity lol

 

[natsbunnies]

Your welcome to hijack because I was wondering the same thing. I have a field by me so I'm hoping to learn what I can and can't pick for the buns. It is lined with lots of Blackberry bushes so at least they can have those leaves.

 

[yamazumi]

I found rose is growing already, not too many leaves on it but it's easy to identify and my rabbits enjoy eating the branches/stalks.

Hawthorn is pretty easy to identify too and grows in a lot of places, just dont get it mixed up with black thorn, although personally I think they are quite different. My own rabbits with happily eat very thin branches of hawthorn and absolutely love the leaves although they aren't growing just yet.

At the moment all I'm really getting is huge amounts of brambles, rose, and I collected a load of apple branches a few weeks back but the bun I'm looking after is quite slow nibbling them, my own buns destroy them as quick as possible.

 

[J&R]

They can have blackthorn leaves too, not that you'll find any this time of year