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How much veggies?

naohren

Young Bun
I've looked around on the bunny-net and I can't find a clear answer for this one. How much greens should I feed my bunnies? They're getting a good 50g that I'll gradually increase and start adding new types of food, but I want to take it slow as they're still young. On one site, it seemed to suggest I should feed them over 500g daily! That seems a little dodgy, to me, so I wanted to check with some owners I trust.
 
You probably can't find any definitive information, because there's really no hard and fast rule. Owners will have different views and also a lot depends on the rabbits and what their digestive systems will tolerate.

What are you feeding them at the moment? How large are they and how old?

I can give you my view and tell you how I feed my rabbits, but I expect that there will be alternative opinions.

I would guess that around 85% of my rabbits' diet is hay and grass. That probably is fairly consistent all year round. Out of the remaining 15%, I feed a small amount of pellets (more in the Winter than the Summer). The remainder is made up of forage, herbs, tree leaves/twigs and vegetables, most of which I grow in the garden. The time of year will play a part and will mean that in the Winter they receive more vegetables and less forage (I don't dry forage) and in the Summer they get mostly herbs and forage. I have three rabbits, who eat a lot and fortunately don't seem to have digestive issues. I always try to feed a selection of different items to provide a variation of nutrients.

Herbs and forage are generally tolerated more easily than vegetables and provide a similar amount of fibre. They are also very popular with rabbits, especially the stronger-smelling herbs. Sometimes members of the Brassica family (cabbagey things) will lead to problems with some rabbits, as they can cause gas.

I think you can only really go by trial and error. I've never weighed what I feed, but I think it's probably a lot more than 50g each, but you need to find an amount that suits your rabbits. A good indication of how well their digestive system is working of course is to monitor their poo :)
 
I started with the RSPCA and RWAF guides then went with trial and error:
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rabbits/diet
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-diet/

Like Omi, I expect I feed differently to others, though I would agree with most of what Omi said. The only difference is I'm the middle of a city, so I can't forage; but we give two small handfuls of pellets once a day (he has a small creme brulee bowl that gets 50-75% filled by them) and then a mixture of (mainly) veg and fruit. I aim for no more than two or three individual pieces of fruit a week (I sometimes just can't resist his little pleading expression) and then a handful-ish of veg a day, plus perhaps the odd carrot top/bit of pepper/etc from waste food from meals. I don't weigh, I do it by eye - and if he seems to be eating less hay, I'll give him fewer veg for the following days to let him 'catch up'. One thing I found useful was to measure each week rather than each day - so if you do accidentally go over/under one day, you can catch up over the following days. I'm also trying to grow herbs around his hutch, as I read they're good for helping discourage flies, and this means he has free access to them, too - though so far he's done no more than sit in the pots...

(He's a 7 month old male, if that helps, and so far we've been lucky and had no digestive issues!)
 
Humphrey is 1.4kg, Clara is 1.3kg, and they're both 6 months old. I usually do it by eye but it works out to about 40-50g from when I weighed their greens out. I feed them mostly spring greens, kale and the occasional spinach (I haven't broadened this as they're still young, but we're working on it).
 
I've looked around on the bunny-net and I can't find a clear answer for this one. How much greens should I feed my bunnies? They're getting a good 50g that I'll gradually increase and start adding new types of food, but I want to take it slow as they're still young. On one site, it seemed to suggest I should feed them over 500g daily! That seems a little dodgy, to me, so I wanted to check with some owners I trust.

I never weigh the stuff I feed, but then I feed mainly forage and grass/hay anyway ..

have you seen the food triangle?

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/components-rabbit-diet.asp

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/

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