What do domestic rabbits eat, types of food and feeding rules for beginners

Before you buy food, you need to find out what domestic rabbits eat and what you can feed them. The main food of these animals is green, lush grass, with the exception of poisonous plants. In winter they switch to hay and vegetables. Rabbits recover quickly if they are given grain mixtures, boiled potatoes, and wet mash. For weakened animals, vitamins and premixes are added to the food or injections of immunocorrectors are given.

Types of food for rabbits

Rabbit breeders know that you cannot raise rabbits on hay and grass alone. Animals must also be fed grain, vegetables, feed, vitamin and mineral supplements. Different types of food are given to rabbits daily, in certain proportions. The diet is designed in such a way that the animals receive the maximum of nutrients and do not experience digestive problems.

Roughage

This is hay, straw, chaff, tree branches, hay or grass meal. Rough food is given to rabbits mainly in winter. True, tree branches should be present in the diet all year round. Hay is a source of various vitamins, including D. The value of such food is undeniable. Hay should be prepared at the time of flowering or heading and dried in the sun. The greatest benefits come from clover, alfalfa, and meadow cereal grasses. The daily amount of hay for adult (young) rabbits is 300 (100) grams.

It is recommended to feed animals with branch food all year round (1-2 branches per day). This is an excellent tool for grinding down incisors and replenishing the body with vitamins. Rabbits happily gnaw on branches of apple, pear, hazel, grape, linden, oak, and coniferous trees. It is not advisable to give animals twigs of birch, elderberry, wolf's bast, as well as cherries, apricots and other stone fruits.

Green feed

These are fresh herbs, branches with leaves, tops of vegetables (carrots, rutabaga, beets). Green food is the basis of the diet in the summer.The daily intake of fresh herbs is 500-1500 grams (depending on age). Beet tops are given about 50-200 grams per day.

It is recommended to feed rabbits with nettle, chamomile, plantain, clover, alfalfa, and peas. Animals happily eat freshly cut green cereals and crops: rye, wheat, oats, corn. It is not recommended to give henbane, buttercups, horsetail, datura, spurge, belladonna.

Concentrates

This is feed, grain, cake, meal, bran, chaff. Rabbits can be fed the following cereals: wheat, corn, barley, oats. Cereals are given in crushed form. Rabbits, especially young ones, do not digest whole grains well.

Depending on their age, animals are given 50-150 grams of grain per day, meal or cake - 20-100 grams, mixed feed - 100-200 grams. Rabbits are mainly fed grain mixtures, that is, crushed wheat, oats, and corn in equal proportions.

Animals happily eat yellow peas, white beans, soybeans, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Bean grains are also given to rabbits in crushed form. The daily intake of legumes is 20-50 grams, sunflower seeds – 10-20 grams.

Juicy feed

These are vegetables, root crops, melons, and silage. Animals happily eat cabbage, turnips, carrots, pumpkin, beets, zucchini, watermelons, and rutabaga. The norm per day is 100-600 grams (depending on age). Rabbits can be given boiled potatoes. The daily norm is 50-100 grams. Animals are prepared for the winter green corn stalk silage. The norm is 100-300 grams per day.

Vitamins and minerals

These are vitamin preparations (Chiktonik, Prodevit) and mineral supplements, salt stones (Chika), which are sold in veterinary pharmacies and pet stores.Vitamins are given to rabbits from the 30th day of life. The drugs are added to drinking water or feed. For weakened animals, injections of vitamins (Gamavit, E-selenium) are recommended.

Specifics of feeding at different times of the year

The main food for rabbits is fresh green grass. True, in winter we have to feed the animals hay. In the cold season, instead of green grass, they are given more succulent food (vegetables).

During the summer

In summer, rabbits can be given up to 1.2 kg of green grass per day. To replenish the body with proteins and carbohydrates, animals are fed a grain mixture (100 grams per day). Rabbits also get vitamins from carrots, pumpkin, beets, and cabbage (about 200 grams per day).

In winter

In winter, instead of lush grass, rabbits are given hay (about 300 grams per day). During this period, it is recommended to feed animals mainly with vegetables (pumpkin, cabbage) and various root vegetables (carrots, beets). The diet should contain feed or grain mixtures (120 grams per day). It is recommended to give sprouted grains, pine branches, vitamin preparations, and premixes. The daily intake of vegetables is up to 500 grams.

Feeding rules and diet

The diet and norm of feed depend on the age and physiological characteristics of the animal’s body. Small rabbits are fed 5 times a day, adults - 2 times in winter and 3 times in summer. Night rest - 10-12 hours. Water the animals 1-2 times a day (in the break between feedings).

During the rest period

In a state of physiological rest, rabbits are completely undemanding when it comes to food. True, this does not mean that animals can be fed with anything. Rabbits need a variety of foods, but in smaller quantities.Animals are given 600 grams of juicy grass per day or 200 grams of hay, 80 grams of grain mixture, 300 grams of vegetables. If it is necessary to fatten the rabbits faster, they are given more crushed grain, and wet mash is prepared from boiled potatoes and steamed cereals.

During the period of preparation for mating

When animals are prepared for mating, their diet is enriched with vitamin feed or pharmaceutical vitamins. Rabbits are fed green herbs, carrots, beets, sprouted grains, and legumes. Meat and bone or fish meal and fish oil are added to the feed.

Baby rabbits

Pregnant rabbits are fed light food rich in vitamins and minerals. During this period, the fetus develops in the female’s womb, and the body prepares for lactation. In the summer, the rabbits are fed fresh grass, root vegetables, and grain mixtures; in the winter, they are given hay, sprouted grain, potato and grain mash, and more vegetables. Be sure to add fish oil, meat and bone meal, salt and vitamin preparations to the food.

During the period of suction

When female rabbits feed milk to their young, they themselves need to be fed food that promotes milk production. Animals are given more lush green herbs; in winter they are replaced with root vegetables. Rabbits love salted potato or grain mash with finely chopped nettles, grated carrots, pumpkin, and beets. There must be fresh water in the cage for drinking.

What to feed for rapid growth and weight gain

Depending on their age, each animal needs its own diet. In the first month of life, rabbits feed mainly on mother's milk. In the summer, on the 30th day, and in the winter, on the 45th day, the rabbits are separated from their mother. The young animals are transferred to independent feeding. First they are given dried grass, then fresh.Green juicy food can cause digestive problems and bloating. Young animals are gradually accustomed to fresh grass. In the village, rabbits are fed what grows in the meadow or garden. Animals enjoy eating herbs, vegetables, and tops. In winter they are fed hay, grain, and root vegetables.

Grain mixtures are prepared with your own hands. Animals are given crushed grains of wheat, barley, oats, and corn in equal proportions. First, rabbits are accustomed to grain, that is, they are given 10-20 grams per day. The daily norm for an adult animal is no more than 150 grams. Rabbits grow and get better quickly from grain. Animals gain weight well if they are given boiled potatoes (no more than 50-100 grams per day), sunflower or pumpkin seeds (10-30 grams per day), bread (once a week 50-100 grams).

On an industrial scale, rabbits are mainly fed green grass, hay and animal feed. At home, you can prepare wet mash for animals. It is made from boiled potatoes with the addition of bone meal, animal feed, and finely chopped nettles. Even for novice rabbit breeders, it will not be difficult to prepare a mash of grated pumpkin or beets mixed with steamed crushed grain. In winter, this food is given warm.

Important! New food is introduced into the diet gradually, increasing the dose each time. Leftover food is removed from the feeder daily. To avoid eating disorders, it is forbidden to feed rabbits rotten, moldy, sour food.

What not to feed

Rabbits are prohibited from eating poppy, spurge, quinoa, lemon balm, mint, dope, sleep grass and other poisonous herbs. You can feed beets, but only white beets (fodder or sugar), and not red. Animals should not be given branches of elderberry, apricot, or bird cherry. Potatoes are allowed, but only boiled.It is prohibited to feed animals with tomato and potato tops, onions and garlic, meat, milk, and sugar.

Bread won't do much harm, but it can lead to obesity. Some grains are not given to animals: rice, millet, millet, rye. It is not recommended to feed rabbits green peas and black and red beans.

What do rabbits eat in the wild?

Hares and rabbits free in the summer eat grass, green leaves, young shoots, and in the winter - dry hay, bark and tree branches. The diet of these animals consists of plant foods. In summer, animals often raid farmers' fields and eat grains and vegetables. Animals eat everything they find in the forest: cone seeds, raspberries, rowan berries, rose hips, young broom bark, aspen.