What is rich food

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I need to know what is considered rich food. I have been reading and starch rich diet is not good.

Oatmeal: I think part of the trouble is the oatmeal, so I am only going to give a teaspoon once a day instead of a tablespoon twice a day.

Alfalfa: Too rich? I fed it to them when they were younger and during the winter, but they have not been eating it lately.

Pellets: Hoodat gave recommendations for that and today or tomorrow I am going shopping for that.

Red clover, white clover, alsike clover: I just found out what these are and thought the alsike clover was the red clover. I had fed the red clover leaves until I saw the flower and then thought I may have made a mistake. Should I be careful how much of this they get?

I am careful with kale and collards. I do not give leaf lettuce. I have never given them spinach before, is it okay?

Bindweed, do I have to be careful with that?

Rich diet for a rabbit equals starch?

 

[bj taylor]

great questions gwr! look forward to the answers.

 

[hoodat]

Rich food is kind of a loose term. Usually it refers to sugars and starches but I've also seen it used when refering to protein. Oatmeal is fed more to up the protein than the starch. Starch and sugar are bad for a rabbit mostly because they promote fat and a fat rabbit usually isn't a healthy rabbit. If your rabbits are getting a lot of legumes like clover they probably are getting enough protein but be careful. All legumes are not good for rabbits. Sweet clover, for instance, contains coumadine, which is a blood thinner. Too much of that is very bad for does about to kindle as it could cause them to bleed too much at the birthing. Sweet clover is often confused with bur clover which is good for rabbits. Bur clover tends to lie flat on the ground while sweet clover is more upright. You can also identify sweet clover by the sweet smell when you cut it or crush it. To check how fat your rabbits are run your finger down the backbone. You should be able to feel the bones but with a little padding over them. If the bones feel sharp or are prominent your bunrabs are too thin. If you can barely feel the backbone they are too fat.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

They are on the plump side, not bad, but I want to stop the weight gain. I am careful with the clover. I could not find Manna Pro. Most everything is Purina. I have to go check out the Walmart brand, but what about Pfau rabbit pellets? There is the Artisan Blend and Heritage Blend. I did try the Heritage last fall. It really did smell good, but they did not eat it like they liked it, but now I wonder if that was a good thing. Have you heard of this brand and which is better Artisan Blend or Heritage Blend?

 

[bobm]

Those names mean ... " will raise prices on request " !

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I bought the Artisan Blend. It was around $5 cheaper than the Purina Complete. The fiber is 22% for the Artisan and 20% for Purina Complete. It is dark green and the Purina is brown. The Artisan is thicker than the slimmer looking Purina. I mixed with the Purina and they ate it, but Lulu ate all of her Purina and left some of the Artisan. It smells good.

 

[hoodat]

I'd try the question on the Rabbit Talk board. We have quite a few there who show their rabbits and the rabbit show crowd is very knowledgeable about food.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

All is going well with the new food. I also found some fresh cut grass hay that they like better than the last hay I had been buying. They are doing well with the greens and vegetables I have been giving them. The rabbits are all different, so by watching the droppings and how much they eat, and their weight, I think things are going well right now. Thank you for all the advice.