Plant Images

[thumps_]

Thanks for your feedback Thumps. You are right, willow is considered a weed here now in many regions. It's so water hungry and self propagates easily.

I am wary of feeding too much. I have one rabbit that gets sleepy after eating fresh willow leaves and the green bark so I limit what I give him. The other 3 cope well with it fresh. All seem to enjoy and do well with it dry. A friend told me last week that the salicin levels in weeping willow are very much higher then they are in white willow. I will ask her specifically what she had read. I was surprised because I thought it was white willow bark that aspirin was first derived from. The older, aged bark??

I think I know this country test you speak of. I think I may have read it on here! Is it if you chew some and it saps the moisture from the mouth, it contains salicin? lol It reminds me of when I asked my father (a farmer) if he could tell me if the buns hay I had was mouldy. He popped in in his mouth and chewed it. Turns out it was just some rain damage on the hay

I will try get a good picture of the tree to post at some point.

Wow I think you & your friend should be telling US about willow!

Yes, aspirin was first derived from white willow bark. White willow is native to Europe.
Weeping willow is a cross between a Chinese Willow & White Willow but I don't know when it was done. By that time the native species had been used for their various purposes for centuries & were well established for "cropping" in large numbers.
Yes, you're right about the chewing test for salicin.

I wouldn't use the old bark for bunnies, just the young twigs. The highest concentrations of salicin are in the bark & also sufficiently high concentrations of tannins to tan leather. Can't remember if it's Moroccan leather or Russian leather.
I'm fascinated that they knew that the leaves would relieve fever, even before Hippocrates (BC)

[MimzMum]

Judy, do you (or any other RUers) have any idea if there is a good lighting source to assist growing a dandelion crop during winter darkness? I wonder if that's why the dandies we tried to winter over didn't grow much or flower...we had one of those full spectrum bulbs, but perhaps it was too close or the room we had them in was too warm? I never knew they didn't like heat.

And how can you tell the right amount of dried willow to feed a bun? Mimzy has arthritis and his metacam dose tends to fizzle halfway through the day even though he's on the maximum dose for his weight. I've even broken the dose in half to boost him every twelve hours, but I find he really goes nuts for willow twigs and leaves. (I have to get them shipped from California, so am not sure of the species, but the leaves are long and thin.)

I don't want to overdo his rations, but he seems to need quite a few leaves over the day.

[thumps_]

Judy, do you (or any other RUers) have any idea if there is a good lighting source to assist growing a dandelion crop during winter darkness? I wonder if that's why the dandies we tried to winter over didn't grow much or flower...we had one of those full spectrum bulbs, but perhaps it was too close or the room we had them in was too warm? I never knew they didn't like heat.

And how can you tell the right amount of dried willow to feed a bun? Mimzy has arthritis and his metacam dose tends to fizzle halfway through the day even though he's on the maximum dose for his weight. I've even broken the dose in half to boost him every twelve hours, but I find he really goes nuts for willow twigs and leaves. (I have to get them shipped from California, so am not sure of the species, but the leaves are long and thin.)

I don't want to overdo his rations, but he seems to need quite a few leaves over the day.

It's a bit difficult to fool plants successfully. We need someone with horicultural experience to help there.
I've pm'd you about the willow. I don't recommend using it medicinally because the drugs have modified it's effects to be less prone to cause stomach ulceration.
Pain relief from metacam lasts for about 8 hours in buns & is metabolised much more quickly than most species. We had the same dose expiry problem.
He had the a standard 0.8mg (1.5mg/ml) 12 hourly ie x2 the standard dose/24 hours for 2 years & sometimes higher. There was no kidney damage at all at pm. I just took care he was well hydrated as assessed by urine output - it went very chalky like single cream when he was dehydrated too.
The other approach is dogrose rosehip powder - no pain relief, but said to help "arthritis" or glucosamine (extract of green lipped mussles) which pretty lupin has used.

[Geoff's people]

With dandelion I think i would actually try to force it like chicory or rhubarb rather than add light. If I remember correctly, soil temp is what gets the growth going, so bung an upturned clay pot over the dandies and cover the hole in the bottom to stop the light getting in.
Any new growth will be very pale, so when the plant is big enough, take the cover off and let the plant green up a bit.

[Bunny218]

Thank you! I love this, it'll be really helpfull

[bunnyconvert]

Anyone tell me if Pyracantha is safe for bunnies please?

[Gothymama]

thank you so much for putting the pics up of safe and non safe weeds, some i knew the name but not what they looked like, that's a big help, thank you

[Bailey's]

Thought I'd bump this thread

Very good helpful thread, thought it would be good for this time of the year to help people out when foraging

Thanks again webble

[kt6382]

Does anyone know if any of these ground cover plants are safe if accidently nibbled by a bun?? or even as extra rabbit food?!!
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/groundc...tory/index.cfm
Thanks

[G-Man]

I have plantain growing near me but I notice the advice is not to feed dry, can someone let me know exactly what this means please? I think it means only give when freshly picked but just want to double check.