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Elphie - weight: UD: Vet says: good health but on the skinny side
- Thread starter tlcwrites
- Start date
My rabbits adore dock leaves and spinach. They have both, but I do not give them dock when it's in flower. I always try to give a large selection of forage and vegetables that we have in the garden. I find the whole issue of Oxalic Acid quite complex, both for rabbits (and us for that matter). Our chickens will always try to eat Rhubarb leaves in the garden, which contain Oxalic Acid. We try to stop them, but they are very persistent as they like the taste!
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Elphie must especially like bunny "junk" food. Another of her favourites is spinach! (She doesn't get it very often right now though.)
She's doing good today. Was down to 1.57kg this morning, but that's still a huge improvement from even a short while ago. Be interesting to see where she is tonight though.
She's doing good today. Was down to 1.57kg this morning, but that's still a huge improvement from even a short while ago. Be interesting to see where she is tonight though.
see Tabitha, Charles and Cecile. They know all about cute little salad bags, and tasty herbs....:lol:
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Those cute little salad bags.... I only get them when they're reduced! I mostly get my lot market veg and/or forage anyhow.
Elphie is still doing well. Was 1.67kg this morning. She's definitely going in the right direction.
MightyMax
Banned
Those cute little salad bags.... I only get them when they're reduced! I mostly get my lot market veg and/or forage anyhow.
Elphie is still doing well. Was 1.67kg this morning. She's definitely going in the right direction.
Great news about the weight!
Yes, I get the bags when they are reduced too, though they don't half go off fast :shock:
Salad leaves are really easy to grow all year round :thumb: I'm picking the equivalent of a supermarket bag every day at the moment. It was only really in the depths of winter that growth slowed down a bit.
Admittedly we have a greenhouse (unheated), but if you look at the Sarah Raven Advice Videos on her website, she reckons you can grow salad well outside all winter long. You need to make sure that you sow varieties that are for winter sowing. I grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in large plastic pots in the greenhouse during the summer. When they were finished last year I simply re-used the pots with the same used compost and sowed the seeds directly into that. At the end of February those plants were finished, so have re-sown another batch the same, which are producing really well. You just take off the larger outside leaves and leave the rest of the plant to grow.
Good news about Elphie
Admittedly we have a greenhouse (unheated), but if you look at the Sarah Raven Advice Videos on her website, she reckons you can grow salad well outside all winter long. You need to make sure that you sow varieties that are for winter sowing. I grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in large plastic pots in the greenhouse during the summer. When they were finished last year I simply re-used the pots with the same used compost and sowed the seeds directly into that. At the end of February those plants were finished, so have re-sown another batch the same, which are producing really well. You just take off the larger outside leaves and leave the rest of the plant to grow.
Good news about Elphie
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Wow, thanks Omi! My rocket has just started germinating, but I really need to sort out my makeshift greenhouse to get more on the go. At least I'm getting plenty of forage right now!
Elphie weighed in at a fantastic 1.77kg this evening. She's still 400-500g off her usual 'healthy' weight, but every step in the right direction has me breathing a little easier.
Elphie weighed in at a fantastic 1.77kg this evening. She's still 400-500g off her usual 'healthy' weight, but every step in the right direction has me breathing a little easier.
MightyMax
Banned
Good to hear Elphie's put a bit of weight on :thumb:
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Elphie is up to 1.74kg. I've not been giving her as many solo feeds as usual lately, mostly because of my health, which I feel bad about. However, she is being Norty with a capital N almost all the time now, so is definitely back to her normal self. I'll feel happier when she is back at the 2kg mark, but these things take time, I know.
Here's a pic of the little tinker. She was being weighed at the time and decided she didn't want to wait any longer for porridge. :lol:
(feat Nyssa cat in the background)
Here's a pic of the little tinker. She was being weighed at the time and decided she didn't want to wait any longer for porridge. :lol:
(feat Nyssa cat in the background)
MightyMax
Banned
Elphie is up to 1.74kg. I've not been giving her as many solo feeds as usual lately, mostly because of my health, which I feel bad about. However, she is being Norty with a capital N almost all the time now, so is definitely back to her normal self. I'll feel happier when she is back at the 2kg mark, but these things take time, I know.
Here's a pic of the little tinker. She was being weighed at the time and decided she didn't want to wait any longer for porridge. :lol:
(feat Nyssa cat in the background)
That's very funny :lol:
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Bwa ha ha ha!
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Elphie is doing fabulously still - she's up to 1.9kg, so only another 200 or so grams to go and then she'll be up to target weight. You can really feel the difference when stroking her now - that skin and bone feeling is beginning to go along her spine. Her appetite is fantastic and she eats like a trooper. I do still worry about her being outcompeted for food because the rest of the quad is quite a bit younger than her. So, I'm still giving her individual feeds. Not as many as usual, but still some. She's stopped having porridge entirely, with more emphasis on 'treat' veg + fruit, like pepper, grapes, tomato. Not too much. but some to encourage weight gain. In her individual feeds, she's also getting more of her regular feeds with it: mostly forage because of the time of year, but also other greens.
I'm so proud of her, especially as I believe I was on the verge of losing her at the beginning of this journey. We're not at the end yet, but I'm breathing easier and will continue to update her thread with progress reports.
I'm so proud of her, especially as I believe I was on the verge of losing her at the beginning of this journey. We're not at the end yet, but I'm breathing easier and will continue to update her thread with progress reports.
tlcwrites
Mama Doe
Have I really not updated this since May? How remiss.
Elphie is most definitely still with me. However, her weight seems to have plateaued - hovering between 1.8 and 1.95kg. It's a little frustrating. She's gone back to getting her extra feeds now and seems to appreciate it, although she does get bored and start roaming the table instead!
On the plus side, she had her RAW Health Check this week and it came back mostly ok. She's in good health, but on the skinny side (as I know). She also has one dental spur - however, she's had that for years and I think it's mostly under control from her heavily forage diet and hay. But, as with all my buns with spurs/spikes, I know to keep an eye on her for it. (Athena, Apollo, Elphie, Selene, all have the issue. Not seeming to affect them though thank goodness. But still worrying of course.)
Elphie is most definitely still with me. However, her weight seems to have plateaued - hovering between 1.8 and 1.95kg. It's a little frustrating. She's gone back to getting her extra feeds now and seems to appreciate it, although she does get bored and start roaming the table instead!
On the plus side, she had her RAW Health Check this week and it came back mostly ok. She's in good health, but on the skinny side (as I know). She also has one dental spur - however, she's had that for years and I think it's mostly under control from her heavily forage diet and hay. But, as with all my buns with spurs/spikes, I know to keep an eye on her for it. (Athena, Apollo, Elphie, Selene, all have the issue. Not seeming to affect them though thank goodness. But still worrying of course.)
