Forage and plant properties

I have been out collecting forage this evening to dry.

I am hoping to start earlier next year and plant and dry throughout the year, with my ultimate aim being to feed as much nautrual stuff and little/no pellets or shop bought veg.

I would also like to know more about medicinal properties of plants so I can use these in treating my buns.

Can anyone suggest some good plants (either around now or that I can plant next year) for a "first aid kit" situation?
I know Fennel and mint can be good for digestion and strawberries for pain relief (I think I am right) and do they work as well dried as they do fresh?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I don't know the answers, but would be interested!

Might be worth checking rabbitnutrition's website, if you haven't already.

thumps_ (Judy) would be a good person to PM if she does not see this thread

Willow for pain

Mallow for healthy mucus membranes (including stomach, nasal etc)

Hawthorn for gut health and movement

Mint for digestion

Any of the parsleys (esp flat leaf) as a pick me up (iron etc and vits)

comfrey for strong bones and teeth

dandelion as diuritic

several herbs treat worms but tbh they often have slight toxicity so I would stick to medicines.

Pineapple weed is a safe natural 'wormer'.

My guys get it throughout the growing season

Looks just like chamomile without the petals:thumb:
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicweeds/weed_information/weed.php?id=68

Thanks everyone, getting a good list together!

I love it when I can feed fresh, the buns seem to enjoy it more too!

:thumb: yes i agree it's much more natural
any herbs can be sown at this time of year..Alexanders and hollyhock seeds would do well next year if sown now

I've also been reading today that hawthorn is good for heart conditions - can anyone verify this?

Santa said:

I've also been reading today that hawthorn is good for heart conditions - can anyone verify this?

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Hugo's There posted on another thread (think it was one by Parsnipbun on the for sale board about the dried willow she was selling) that Hawthorn is NOT good for heart buns as it interferes with meds... might be worth PM'ing her.

It must be wonderful not to rely on shop bought veg. Spenser has been spoilt by stiuff I've bought on here all summer. The packet dried herbs I buy from The Hay Experts or similar go down well (as long as I buy the right ones) but they don't look or smell nearly as nice.

For several weeks the only shop bought veg Spenser has had are his bits of carrot and a couple of fine green beans daily.

I've got several herb books which give the medicinal properties if plants. You can pick them up cheaply from The Works. I grow herbs parsley thyme and edible flowers eg calundula chamomile nasturtiums and heartease violas for the buns they have good properties in them. Brambles and raspberry leaf are good also. Plantain I think is infection fighting.

MichG said:

Hugo's There posted on another thread (think it was one by Parsnipbun on the for sale board about the dried willow she was selling) that Hawthorn is NOT good for heart buns as it interferes with meds... might be worth PM'ing her.

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Thanks - at the moment we are not using meds, so if it interferes with them then that might suggest that they do work on the heart, it's just that you would be effectively 'overloading' if you used it alongside the normal meds. Will do some more looking, thanks for the info

I think your best bet is to get a list of all the wild plants rabbits rabbits can eat & be 101% sure you can identify them accurately. Then just try them out & find out what they want. This may change from time to time, or maybe very seasonal which can be a bit frustrating for us, but plants can vary in their properties according how mature they are, or which parts are eaten.
Also both of mine may have a small taste of something new, & a bit later they decide if it's OK.
I once discussed this with Marie. She was soundly of the opinion that when offered natural food, rabbits ate what they needed
(On RU I've confined myself to plants which are both easily identified, & common even in cities.)

This was so true of Thumper that I could tell his tummy was playing up by what he ate, about 12 hours before there was any evidence at the bottom end.
In fact it was Thumper who showed me that blackthorn leaves only become effective about 6 weeks before leaf fall.
Benjie astounded me. He had mild dysbiosis which I was going to treat with a hay only diet, on arrival. He found my box of blackthorn leaves within 24 hours, hopped in & woolfed some down!!:shock: It cured his dysbiosis within 2 days.

So I'm "taught by rabbits" both my own & wildies.:lol: I looked up the properties of the plants afterwards! I've found it difficult to get good info & always wondered "Well that's what we use them for - but do bunnies use them for something we don't know about?"

Geoffspeople knows far more about a much larger range of plants than I do. I've confined myself to GI issues in rabbits - for obvious reasons to anyone who knew Thumper.
I would say that some safe tree & shrub leaves in the diet helps gut issues no end eg, apple/pear/fruiting currants/ hawthorn/hazel/raspberry/ bramble.

Blackthorn leaves as said above is only eaten after the sloes are ripe with a white bloom. Wildies eat them in vast amounts at leaf fall. It's amazing for bunnies with tummy issues but I still advise they be given in short courses of about 2 months, cos wildies can only eat them that way!!!

Thanks Thumps, I suspect however you are too modest

Can anyone recommend a good blog building place?

I would like to do a weekly blog with what is growing, what I feed my lot and add in any medical info/interesting bits about the plants I use?

Geoff's people said:

Thanks Thumps, I suspect however you are too modest

Can anyone recommend a good blog building place?

I would like to do a weekly blog with what is growing, what I feed my lot and add in any medical info/interesting bits about the plants I use?

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Google's Blogger is very good and free!

Geoff's people said:

Thanks Thumps, I suspect however you are too modest

Can anyone recommend a good blog building place?

I would like to do a weekly blog with what is growing, what I feed my lot and add in any medical info/interesting bits about the plants I use?

Click to expand...

Do you have forage for them throughout the year? That is very impressive!

Geoff's people said:

Thanks Thumps, I suspect however you are too modest

Can anyone recommend a good blog building place?

I would like to do a weekly blog with what is growing, what I feed my lot and add in any medical info/interesting bits about the plants I use?

Click to expand...

I could add in some bits - though really too busy collecting to blog:lol::lol::lol:

But certainly could informally tell you what I am feeding at any time in the year . . .

(at present pear, willow, dandelion just about (getting mildewed) some fresh growth on milk thistle, about to harvest the raspberry canes, will also 'harvest' cranesbill when I give the garden the autumn chop, plus golden rod)

susie bun said:

Do you have forage for them throughout the year? That is very impressive!

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We manage to feed 36 buns on forage throughout the year . . (we just give a handful of pellets in eve to get them back into the runs!)

susie bun said:

Do you have forage for them throughout the year? That is very impressive!

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We finally discovered that Thumper had a very rare form of TB of the gut - we knew it couldn't contract properly but thought he had the commoner problem that the nerve supply was packing in. He couldn't get enough nutrients out of grass or hay. So it was literally total forage. He lived with symptoms for 6 years!!:shock:

Benjie is a pasteurellosis/snuffles & abcess bun. I took him off hay because it was so dusty. He's settled into the same diet as Thumper - the problem being it's very limited, so I have to dry large quantities to over winter him. He'll eat a bit of grass but as soon as the weather gets wet, grass gets tiny patches of rust & he won't eat any after that.
The only thing the 2 buns have in common is a chronic bacterial infection. Benjie has guts of iron in comparison to Thumper but at least Benjie drinks well. I wish I could ask him wht he chooses that particular diet.

Yep forage every day between September and March I do feed pellets to 'top up' any missing nutrients as the range of plants is more limited.
Grass is avaliable all year round and I am lucky here that there are always a few places the frost doesn't reach so can pick a few other nice things.
I do try not to pick whilst the frost is on the ground, but by midday it has usually thawed

I am very lucky where I live, we only had our first frost this morning