The diet of rodents must necessarily include roughage. With their help, it is possible to replenish the lack of fiber and maintain normal metabolic processes in the body. During the cold season, instead of succulent feed, farmers often use branches of trees or shrubs. Rodents can sharpen their ever-growing incisors on such food. It is important to know which branches can be given to rabbits.
Which tree branches can be given to rabbits?
It is permissible to use branches of a variety of trees to feed rabbits. Most of them can be easily found.Animals like fruit trees and bushes because they contain many vitamins. These include the following:
- grape;
- Apple tree;
- gooseberry;
- blueberry;
- currant;
- Rowan;
- hawthorn.
It is recommended to introduce branches of deciduous crops carefully, limiting their number. Most often, rodents are given the following types of escapes:
- Linden;
- weeping birch;
- willow;
- aspen;
- Walnut.
At the same time, oak bark and alder contain many tanning components that can cause constipation. Therefore, such food should be introduced into the diet of rabbits in the summer, when an excess of vegetables and herbs provokes diarrhea in them.
Birch is characterized by pronounced diuretic characteristics. Therefore, constant consumption of such food provokes dehydration in rabbits. Willow helps treat pathologies of the digestive system. However, you should not abuse it, as there is a risk of negative consequences.
Useful for rodents and needles. Animals like these branches:
- spruce;
- fir;
- pine.
This food can be used for almost a whole year. However, from February they stop giving it to animals. This is due to the trees secreting resin, which gives the branches a bitter taste. The needles contain many vitamins and bactericidal components. It is worth adapting rabbits to it gradually. To do this, it is recommended to give such food to rodents at intervals of 14 days. The specified tree species are allowed to be given to ordinary and decorative rabbits.
Benefits in the diet of rabbits
Branches of trees and bushes are of great benefit to rabbits. They help animals grind their teeth and contain many minerals, vitamins, and fiber. Thanks to this, animals manage to replenish the deficiency of valuable substances in the body. Such food is very relevant if there is a lack of hay.
The advantages of this food include the following:
- economic benefit - this type of feed is considered practically free;
- accessibility - branches can be used from the beginning of spring to the end of autumn;
- prevention of pathologies in rabbits;
- increasing feed digestibility;
- normalization of the functions of the digestive tract;
- therapeutic effect - for example, willow shoots include antimicrobial components;
- Increasing the activity of animals improves their emotional state.
Which branches should not be given?
When using this type of food, it is important to understand that there are trees whose fragments are strictly prohibited for animals. They contain toxic components, which can cause negative consequences for the body of rodents.
According to experts, stone fruits contain hydrocyanic acid. But the cause of problems is not only the presence of this substance. Thus, cherry shoots do not contain hydrocyanic acid. However, they are still prohibited from being given to these rodents. This product contains many astringent and tanning components. They can be harmful to rabbits.
In addition, shoots of the following plants should not be used to feed animals:
- apricot;
- elder;
- plum;
- peach;
- lilac;
- wolfberry;
- bird cherry.
These branches actually contain hydrocyanic acid or toxic components that will cause great harm to rabbits.
How to feed?
Rabbits eat almost all types of trees. However, it is recommended to alternate such foods periodically. Of no small importance is the gradual accustoming of rodents to this diet. It is not advisable to feed animals such food every day. After 2 weeks of such feeding, the animals are recommended to take a break for 10 days.
The best option is to use branches every other day. It is important to be careful when doing this. In winter, it is not recommended to give pine needles to animals. Since February, it has been secreting resin, which makes food bitter.
Spruce shoots should be given infrequently as they contain many essential oils. If the respiratory system is infected, the volume of such food can be increased. It is recommended to give larch to animals quite rarely. It is important to consider that it helps treat the respiratory organs.
Branch forage harvesting technology
Rabbits can eat branches throughout the year. However, it is best to use them in winter. In this case, it is permissible to pluck branches directly from trees. To make feeding animals easier, raw materials can be harvested in the summer. At this time, the wood contains a maximum of useful components.
Harvesting is recommended to be done in June. In this case, you should give preference to branches that have many leaves. They contain maximum vitamins. It is not recommended to use tree branches growing near highways or on city streets. They accumulate a lot of toxins.
It is recommended to collect tree shoots less than 1 centimeter thick in brooms and dry them. Animals cannot eat thicker branches completely - they only gnaw off the bark. This type of food helps rodents sharpen their teeth.
As for pine needles, fresh shoots are the healthiest. The best option is considered to be spring raw materials, which have barely opened buds. This food includes many vitamins and active ingredients.
Tree branches are of great benefit to rabbits. They allow you to sharpen teeth and saturate animals with valuable substances. At the same time, it is important to understand which shoots will benefit rodents, since there are plants that contain many harmful substances.
