The rapid growth and healthy appearance of rabbits depend significantly on their diet. You can diversify the food of animals with fruits, grass, and vegetables. Owners often have a question: is it possible to give raw sugar beets to rabbits? There are no strict contraindications. Only veterinarians recommend gradually accustoming pets to vegetables, starting with small portions of boiled fruits.
Is it possible to feed beets to rabbits?
In any garden plot there is a bed with beets. The culture grows well and is easy to care for. Therefore, there is a great temptation to add vegetables to your pets’ diet.There is no consensus on the issue of feeding beets to animals, since there are both positive reviews and negative experiences of feeding rabbits with root vegetables.
This root vegetable is certainly a healthy product. The vegetable contains many essential elements: proteins and fats, vitamins B and C, valuable minerals and bioflavonoids. But when introducing beets into the diet, you should adhere to certain rules so as not to harm your pets.
Product benefits
Boiled and raw beets are used to feed animals. Owners and veterinarians note several advantages of the vegetable for the animals’ bodies:
- blood circulation improves, the strength of blood vessels increases;
- the immune system of rabbits becomes more resistant to diseases;
- the functioning of the cardiovascular system is normalized;
- the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract organs is improved.
Beetroot is also a preventive measure for certain diseases. Moreover, not only root vegetables, but also tops are added to the feed. The vegetable is effective in preventing coccidiosis in rabbits.
Which one to choose for feeding?
Before introducing root crops into complementary foods, you need to choose the right crop variety. Owners note the characteristics of different types of vegetables:
- fodder varieties are most often grown on farms, since the crop requires minimal care and is characterized by high yield. The vegetable is well stored in winter, does not lose moisture, and is rich in vitamins, pectin and mineral elements. Add caution to the diet of decorative rabbits, since beet fiber in large quantities harms the delicate stomachs of pets;
- sugar varieties contain less fiber and more glucose, so the fruits are better absorbed by the rabbit’s body.Farmers note that adding root vegetables to the animals’ diet improves the taste of rabbit meat and the quality of fur;
- It is not recommended to feed animals red beets, because the vegetable provokes digestive upset in rodents.
Beets should be introduced into the diet gradually, starting with small portions of boiled vegetables. After some time, you can switch to raw beet supplements. In general, the root crop is also given to animals in dried form, as part of silage.
How to feed?
When adding to the diet, you need to take into account not only the type of vegetable, but also the age of the pets. Small portions of beets begin to be given to rodents from the age of two months.
Adult rabbits
Individuals should not be given more than 150 g of root vegetables at one time. In total, it is allowed to feed 300-500 g of vegetables per day.
Advice! Silage is considered the most nutritious. To prepare the feed, boiled potatoes, sugar beets, and green mass (legumes) are mixed.
Before serving, root vegetables are cleared of soil and washed thoroughly. Feeding rotten vegetables is also not allowed. It is recommended to rinse and dry the fruits well beforehand. Root vegetables are often mixed with twigs and freshly cut grass. The diet of animals will also be enriched by beet tops, which exhibit antiseptic qualities. It is just not recommended to use freshly cut greens. The tops, like any grass, need to be withered a little and then added to the feed.
Veterinarians recommend feeding long-eared animals alternately with dry and wet food throughout the day. In winter, succulent food forms the basis of lunch feeding, and dry food predominates in the morning and evening. In summer, the daily ration is divided into 3-4 feedings. And green dried tops can be added to each feeding.
Pregnant (pregnant) rabbits
During pregnancy, animals especially need nutritious food. Beets contain many vitamins and microelements, so they are optimal for supplementing your diet. However, it must be taken into account that rabbits are gradually accustomed to the vegetable, if beets have not previously been used in feeding.
The maximum daily intake is up to 400 g. It is recommended to divide the total portion into several feedings. It is especially good to feed the vegetable slightly dried. Due to its juiciness, beets are optimal for making silage.
How to prepare beets
To better store the crop, it is recommended to harvest root crops in dry weather. The dug up beets are laid out in the garden bed on a tarpaulin, netting, or placed under a canopy. For winter storage, vegetables are transferred to the basement, but are not washed first. Before storing, the harvest is carefully sorted. Do not leave damaged or cracked vegetables for storage.
The room must be dry, with ventilation. The optimal temperature for storing crops is 2-3 °C. As soon as the temperature rises above 4 °C, the tops of root crops begin to grow. The humidity in the basement should not be more than 80-90%. When air parameters increase, vegetables can be affected by fungal diseases.
It is recommended to put aside medium-sized root vegetables for animal feed. Such fruits are better preserved and have a less fibrous structure than large specimens. It is also not advisable to leave beets that are too small for storage.
There is no doubt that the diet of rabbits should be varied. But any product must be added to the feed gradually. And beets are no exception. In order for the vegetable to be better absorbed by the animal’s body, the daily intake is divided into parts.
