What grass can and cannot be given to rabbits and feeding rules

Hay or slightly wilted greens form the basis of the diet of furry pets. Herbs contain many nutrients and contribute to the full growth and development of animals. However, you need to control the composition of the feed and know what herbs can and cannot be given to rabbits. Plants are collected in different places: fields, meadows, summer cottages, vegetable gardens, forest edges.

What grass do rabbits eat?

Plant matter forms the basis of animal nutrition. You can diversify your diet with all kinds of useful plants. The main requirement is to properly prepare the green mass for feeding to rodents.

Meadow, field and forest herbs

The main value of herbs is environmental purity. Spring days and early summer are the optimal period for collecting natural food. The basis of green mass is proteins and many nutrients. The most useful are:

• silphium;
• Red clover;
• feed lupine;
• alfalfa;
• Vika.

Wild crops may well form the basis of a rabbit's diet. These are cheap raw materials that you can stock up on for a long time. Before adding to the food, the greens are washed and dried until dried. Before storing the plants, be sure to dry them well.

Vegetable garden

An excellent option to feed your pets is to collect green mass from the garden. Parsley, pepper, celery, rhubarb, and green peas are suitable for feeding rabbits. A good solution to diversify your diet is to use beet tops.

Summer residents often feed weeds to animals. This is the best way to combine weeding the area and feeding the animals. For food, garden nettle, dandelion, sow thistle, quinoa, wild clover, plantain, and shepherd's purse are suitable.

When using any garden crops, adhere to general rules. Greens are fed dry/withered, but not wet. Small branches of fruit trees (plum, apricot, bird cherry) are often mixed into the grass. The animals take pleasure in gnawing on the thin grapevine.

Medicinal

Breeders periodically add a small amount of medicinal plants (about 30% of the diet) to the food of eared pets. The most commonly used are sage, lemon balm, mint, cumin and even juniper. Sometimes nettles, pre-steamed and dried, are added to the feed.A small amount of wormwood will help cure intestinal upset. At the same time, farmers note that small additions of medicinal crops improve the taste of meat.

You can collect herbs several times during the spring-summer season. The green mass is plucked before and after the flowering period. The process of preparing food is standard - the plants are mowed and dried a little.

What herb should you not give?

Naturally, among the many herbs growing in meadows and fields, there are species that should not be given to animals. As a rule, rabbits refuse to eat harmful plants. But it will be safer to independently control the composition of dry food. The following crops are not added to animal food:

• celandine, which provokes severe intestinal disorders;
• Datura and foxglove, which cause heart rhythm disturbances;
• eating cornflower by rabbits leads to convulsions, vomiting, and muscle paralysis;
• hemlock, which negatively affects the nervous system of animals (convulsions and paralysis of the hind legs appear).

The flora of fields and meadows is very diverse. It is not surprising that the average summer resident does not understand the composition of the herbs growing nearby. Therefore, it is better to use greens from your own garden.

Requirements for grass

Inexperienced owners of furry animals need to listen to the recommendations of breeders with many years of experience. Experienced specialists highlight several nuances in the preparation of green mass for animals:

• Only dry herbs or dried greens are added to rabbit food;
• You cannot use the green mass of ornamental plants (poppy, jasmine, buttercups);
• lawn greens do not differ in nutritional composition, so they are rarely introduced into complementary foods;
• when harvesting plant mass, it is necessary to control the presence of harmful plants;
• When collecting plants from the site, you need to make sure that there is no animal excrement (dog, cat, rat) in the green mass.

If the number of animals is small, it is recommended to pluck the herbs by hand. This measure is necessary to avoid oxidation of the greenery from contact with metal elements. If there are a lot of rabbits, the plants are mowed or a sickle is used.