What to feed meat rabbits

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Grimm

Grimm

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I grew up raising a colony of meat rabbits of all breeds. They foraged and ate chicken feed that the hens kicked out of their feeders and hay and alfalfa the goats dropped. They were fed pellets but as a kid I just fed them what I was told to. I did end up adopting a few over the years to keep as pets and they were fed pellets, greens and veggie cast offs plus the odd over ripe banana. K had pet rabbits as a kid too but his family made the mistake of thinking they where feed and ignore pets (like 90% of the things his siblings do/have).

I have K convinced it is time to raise meat rabbits. He is on board but I want to do this right now that I will be in charge of their care. I have researched housing and the basics of breeding (bred my buns as a kid for pet bunnies for sale). I am at a loss for feed. Things are different in the world of feeding rabbits than they were 30 years ago. I keep reading about milled feed and timothy hay. I wanted to feed our rabbits in a sustainable way be it growing greens or veggies for them or even allowing them to forage in a pasture tractor but I still see others with meat rabbits saying they need pellets.

I am curious if they need timothy hay can it be grown and fed fresh or does it need to be dried? Any one with experience with this?

What about fodder and what type of seed? I have read that wheat is bad for rabbits but then on other sites people are feeding their meat rabbits wheat grass fodder.

What is best for the breeders and the freezer campers?
 
Amish Heart said:
Our son fed his meat rabbits wheat grass fodder. My nephew from OK just dropped off 5 rabbits to us this weekend. His eat pellets and alfalfa. Pellets are just made of greens anyway, arent they?
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From my understanding pellets have added minerals and vitamins.
 
I fed rabbit pellets from the feedmill and they seemed to do well. Always appeared healthy. I had to many things to deal with at the time so I never even tried to breed them. Heck, got them in a trade. I was trying to trade with a lady to get a couple of roosters I wanted. I had to take bunnies as part of the deal.
 
We raise meat rabbits. We have a Californian buck and 3 Black New Zealand does. The New Zealands usually white with red eyes but my beautiful wife wanted the black colored ones.
We feed pellets for convenience and time. With pellets they get the daily requirements for vitamins n minerals and it saves time daily from foraging feed. And they grow out faster.
We also feed hay. It's relatively cheap and because it's dry it stores easily. Also forage for tree limbs n leaves. Weeds n such. Rabbit forums have recommended foods n don't feed lists.
No you don't need pellets. Foraging local flora is fine if you have the time. Timothy hay is used because it has lower protein than alfalfa or other hay varieties. Rabbits can put on extra weight that causes issues otherwise. Barley fodder is a good way to produce a food product that is inexpensive n easy.
Rabbit tractors or a mobile pen on the lawn is great put wire bottom on it they are escape artists.
Books will say for diet needs. 50% hay fed full time I have a wire bin inside the pen I put it in so they can pull it out. Or they will waste a bunch if you just throw it in. A cup of pellets a day, a bag lasts 4 rabbits near a month. A bale of hay lasts a month easily and I use table scraps and foraging. So diet, 50% hay 25% pellets 25% fodder n treats.
Once you get started you can figure out your own plan.
Housing. I bought a 100' roll of 14ga galvanized wire 1/2"x1-1/2" holes x 30" wide. And built 4 pens 30"W x 44"L x 24" tall. Bought barrel clips n pliers to connect the pieces n stainless wire door locks. Costs a couple hundred outlay but I have my pens built and will build 4 more with what is left over. Sell them 600 bucks to cover my costs.
We also barter a lot with them. Trade out halibut n salmon moose n caribou. Wild fish n game that others get and have extra so a win win.
There are pictures of our rabbitry on my our rabbitry thred. I will add that rabbits are considered by many as the best value in small livestock production.
And animal husbandry is also very important. Especially if you have kids. Learning about food production and food security. They may need it as it seems to be a lost art.
Even though our lives depend on it. I added some pictures. Our grow out pen, friers n breeding stock. I have another old pen that I also use as a grow out pen. So I don't have 27 friers trying to eat together and they stay cleaner. We separate by sex.

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I used a book for reference also. I can't see the book Rebecca posted. I just see a gif image of the amazon logo.

So ignore if this is a repeat.... I got it a TSC, they have the "Storey's Guide" for several different critters. I have the one for chickens and the one for rabbits. It was useful, covers the basics.

Also I hung my cages after the first batch of baby bunnies were killed by fire ants. This doesn't make them ant proof but helped...

I hung the cages with aircraft cables from the rafters in a side shed of the pole barn... having them suspended in air had several advantages. It made shoveling up poop easy, made it cooler in summer and kept raccoons and coyotes from breaking in. And cut down on fire ants.

I wish I'd had time to deal with them properly and learned the tricks of breeding and using or selling meat. I simply didn't have time. We had a 200 tree peach orchard, grew several acres of produce to sell, had cattle and grew our own hay... and chickens, and, and, and. Herbal medicine took up a great deal of time also.

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Thanks @Rebecca but it's settings on my computer that keep me from seeing it. I recently switched from windows to linux for my operating system. I'm using a lot of software new to me, haven't figured out all the details yet.
 
There is very little nutritional value in Timothy hay, the main purpose historically, was to feed working horses in non working times, to give them a full stomach and keep them from foundering. The Japanese started buying it for basically the same reason, except to keep cattle's stomachs functional while they ate their engineered feed supplement. Rabbits used to do very well on alfalfa and clover, both plants would be good for graze feeding if you have the ground to grow it on. In my opinion experts in the modern world are often just regurgitating what they found on the internet, not using empirical data .
 
Alfalfa costs way too much here. Ov 55 bucks a bale. Timothy or Timothy brohm mix grown locally is what we use. Costs 13 bucks at the farm.. Many of the experts like veterinarians n experienced pro breeders state the use of alfalfa for kits is good but not good for adult rabbits. Too much calcium n carbohydrates for their digestive system.
We keep hay available at all times for our bunnies as they nibble constantly. And they require fiber for the digestive system. Putting hay inside toilet paper or short pieces of paper towel tube will give them a play toy. And the plain brown paper does not harm them. Keeping them busy.
Rabbits are just like other producing livestock. The happier they are the less stress n they produce better.
 
Peanut said:
I used a book for reference also. I can't see the book Rebecca posted. I just see a gif image of the amazon logo.

So ignore if this is a repeat.... I got it a TSC, they have the "Storey's Guide" for several different critters. I have the one for chickens and the one for rabbits. It was useful, covers the basics.

Also I hung my cages after the first batch of baby bunnies were killed by fire ants. This doesn't make them ant proof but helped...

I hung the cages with aircraft cables from the rafters in a side shed of the pole barn... having them suspended in air had several advantages. It made shoveling up poop easy, made it cooler in summer and kept raccoons and coyotes from breaking in. And cut down on fire ants.

I wish I'd had time to deal with them properly and learned the tricks of breeding and using or selling meat. I simply didn't have time. We had a 200 tree peach orchard, grew several acres of produce to sell, had cattle and grew our own hay... and chickens, and, and, and. Herbal medicine took up a great deal of time also.

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Nice looking set up. We don't have all the little critters n bugs to deal with. Glad for that. I was able to score some galvanized metal frames that could make pen holders from that I can move into our greenhouse during the winter. To protect them a bit from winter.
Would a cheap noise maker that is motion activated scare away the coons n such ?
We put a ceramic tile in the pen for the breeders to lay on if they get hot. And to get a break from the wire floor. Our breeders don't poo in their nesting boxes so I leave them in year round. And I can close them in the summer when the mosquitoes get bad to protect the kits a bit. I also think they like something to curl up in. It's what rabbits do and they have the room.
 
Amish Heart said:
Our son fed his meat rabbits wheat grass fodder. My nephew from OK just dropped off 5 rabbits to us this weekend. His eat pellets and alfalfa. Pellets are just made of greens anyway, arent they?
Click to expand...

Most of the pellets are compressed hay. I fed alfalfa pellets to ours.
 
Yeah alfalfa is used in pellets. We but the 16% protien during breeding season to keep them trim. And buy the 18% protien in the winter.
Thanks others, I know I don't have all the answers. So I appreciate learning your style.
 
Sort of thinking outside the box, but oat Green feed (Hay) might work pretty well for them too, @ AKlogcabin, how big are the bales? in pounds approx.
 
The super compressed 50 pounders are 40-50 bucks. We had to buy some from a feed mill last spring when local supplies ran out n we weren't prepared. Our rabbits don't seem to care for it , and it's real leafy so kinda surprised. The 75 pound standard size bale of alfalfa is probably over 60 bucks if you could find it.
Alfalfa doesn't grow in AK so it has to be shipped in.
 
I was thinking of growing our own hay in a plot out back. The hill would be the best (to help prevent soil erosion during the rainy season) except the dogs like to hang out up there and use it as their bathroom. I raised tall grasses for our chickens when we lived at the other house. Not hard to grow just the cutting and raking that takes the time and toll on the body. Now I have a 10 year old who can help.

I figured barley or wheat fodder would cut pellet costs. Has anyone tried to grow timothy grass as fodder? Any thoughts on buckwheat fodder?
 
We grew oat grass and wheat grass in New Mexico for rabbit feed. Our son bought the pellets, too. We have 15 acres of alfalfa, about 5 cuttings. Alfalfa is not our issue here, a whole lot of it. Just threw some fresh kale leaves in the cages today and they loved that.
 
It has been years now, but We feed pellets & greens.
My Father grew sweet potatoes in a bed, not a row, when the vines grew out of the bed we cut them & feed them to the rabbits. Also grass, outer cabbage leaves.
 
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