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Hay and forage no pellets. Opinions

tulsi

Wise Old Thumper
I recently decided to give my rabbits forage instead of pellets. I am not hugely knowledgeable about things that they can have but have bought foraging for rabbits by twigsway and they have hawthorn, willow, brambles, beech and grass every day.

They also get an hour or two free ranging on the lawn which they constantly eat (in between binkeys and bunny 500s).

They have lovely stalky hay and fresh water.

Is it necessary to give them pellets as well? I would be interested to hear opinions and any dietry advice. Thanks.

May go back to pellets/veg in winter but they are very errm well covered so we will see.
 
I'd prefer mine not to have pellets but they have other ideas. If they are outside buns I'd probably go for it providing they were a decent weight. They need vit D to take up calcium don't they, so pellets are good if they don't have access to sunshine
 
I recently decided to give my rabbits forage instead of pellets. I am not hugely knowledgeable about things that they can have but have bought foraging for rabbits by twigsway and they have hawthorn, willow, brambles, beech and grass every day.

They also get an hour or two free ranging on the lawn which they constantly eat (in between binkeys and bunny 500s).

They have lovely stalky hay and fresh water.

Is it necessary to give them pellets as well? I would be interested to hear opinions and any dietry advice. Thanks.

May go back to pellets/veg in winter but they are very errm well covered so we will see.


I have fed my rabbits both pellets, and pellet-free.

If you can give sufficient variety of forage and veg, and hays and grasses, then go for it. It's probably much healthier.

But as J&B says, there's the matter of vitamin D, which is essential for rabbits. Especially those neutered ones who don't have hormones to protect them ongoing from osteoporosis.

Your plan of thinking possibly returning to pellets in the leaner and darker winter months might be a good compromise? x
 
Mine are pellet free :)

We had no choice as Phoebe was having dentals and GA's every 6 weeks so we decided to try cutting out pellets to increase hay intake & dental ware. (It's working!!)

A variety of hay is just as important as fresh forage & veg. Each hay has a different nutritional value so a variety will help ensure a complete diet along with essential vitamins from fresh forage & dark leafy greens.

http://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/grass-hay.asp


The rabbits appear to enjoy this diet much more and its obviously doing wonders for their teeth.
 
Hay, grass and forage are the natural diet for a rabbit. It's much easier at this time of year when there is plenty of green stuff around to graze or forage. It's much more difficult in winter when you are relying on hay, bramble leaves, dry forage and the cabbage family. I think it is useful if they are used to eating pellets, just in case you ever need them - so maybe keep a small bag in a sealed container and use them as treats during the summer - then you can increase the amounts if you need to during winter, or when they are ill / losing weight without causing digestive upsets by suddenly introducing a new food.
 
Mine are pellet free :)

We had no choice as Phoebe was having dentals and GA's every 6 weeks so we decided to try cutting out pellets to increase hay intake & dental ware. (It's working!!)

A variety of hay is just as important as fresh forage & veg. Each hay has a different nutritional value so a variety will help ensure a complete diet along with essential vitamins from fresh forage & dark leafy greens.

http://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/grass-hay.asp


The rabbits appear to enjoy this diet much more and its obviously doing wonders for their teeth.

You've done well with Phoebe's teeth :) Remind me again which different types of hay you feed please.
 
You've done well with Phoebe's teeth :) Remind me again which different types of hay you feed please.
We feed dean's meadow hay, readigrass, green oat and Timothy hay :)
They also get a few different ones from B&M, P@H which has the flowers mixed in.

We've also just introduced the burgess feeding hay which they seemed to like. And they get access to grass at least once a week although I try to allow access more often than that.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
Mine are pellet free :)

We had no choice as Phoebe was having dentals and GA's every 6 weeks so we decided to try cutting out pellets to increase hay intake & dental ware. (It's working!!)

A variety of hay is just as important as fresh forage & veg. Each hay has a different nutritional value so a variety will help ensure a complete diet along with essential vitamins from fresh forage & dark leafy greens.

http://www.guinealynx.info/hay_chart.html

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/grass-hay.asp


The rabbits appear to enjoy this diet much more and its obviously doing wonders for their teeth.


Sounds fantastic, and more importantly, it's working :D
 
A variety of different hays sounds good. They have ings and a lovely stalky one that Catherine kindly delivered to me. Will be getting some others soon.

They have been pellet free for about a week. Like the idea of giving a few occasionally (so will they)! It is a great way to get them into the shed, although forage seems to tempt them, they often take themselves in and are waiting for me to come and dish up.

My two guinea pigs wont eat pellets so I have been getting various hays in for them.

I love having pets, there is so much to learn about their care and then there is their extreme cuteness.
 
A variety of different hays sounds good. They have ings and a lovely stalky one that Catherine kindly delivered to me. Will be getting some others soon.

They have been pellet free for about a week. Like the idea of giving a few occasionally (so will they)! It is a great way to get them into the shed, although forage seems to tempt them, they often take themselves in and are waiting for me to come and dish up.

My two guinea pigs wont eat pellets so I have been getting various hays in for them.

I love having pets, there is so much to learn about their care and then there is their extreme cuteness.

3 out of my 4 are 'pellet free'. Elyse needs more calories to maintain her weight.

You may find this useful :

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...heets/recommended-diet-for-adult-rabbits/view
 
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