Hay and straw for rabbits are natural components of complete food. To breed healthy animals, you need to monitor their activity and appetite daily, which directly shows the quality of their living conditions. Adding hay to food helps rabbits digestion, significantly improving intestinal permeability and nutrient absorption.
Can rabbits be given straw?
Unlike hay, straw is the hollow, rigid stems of plants.Chopped straw is used in feeding to provide rabbits with roughage elements; in other cases, the material is used for bedding in cages.
Straw is a low-nutrient food that is not to the taste of rabbits and cannot replace hay in the diet due to its low protein, fat and carbohydrate content. However, the product contains a large amount of fiber, which is necessary for the prevention of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the complete absorption of the main feed.
In modern farming, three types of straw are used to feed rabbits:
- Wheat.
- Barley.
- Prosyanaya.
The presented species differ in the necessary qualities for effective additional feeding of rabbits.
Wheat
Wheat straw is the most common type of food material. Parts of winter wheat are used to feed rabbits, since it contains a large amount of fiber and vitamin D. The nutrients contained in the straw help improve the condition of the musculoskeletal system and have a beneficial effect on the metabolism of animals.
Barley
Barley straw is significantly more nutritious than wheat straw due to its crude protein, iron and manganese content. This type of feeding has a good effect on the circulatory system of animals and promotes weight gain.
Prosyanaya
Millet straw has a good effect on active digestion due to the content of beneficial nutrients. Millet nutrition is characterized by a high content of potassium, manganese, and carotene, facilitating the full growth of industrial species and supporting the immune system of animals.
Contraindications
Straw is contraindicated if:
- rabbits are less than 6 months old;
- gastrointestinal disorders were identified;
- Infectious diseases spread in rabbit farms;
- There is an excess amount of hay in the diet of the wards.
Straw feeding is introduced gradually, from 5 to 25% of the total food volume with a gradual increase in concentration.
Which hay is better
Unlike straw, hay not only helps rabbits digestion due to its fiber content, but is also highly nutritious. The rabbit itself can help in choosing ingredients for preparations, but a person needs to make sure that the food is varied and enriched with useful substances.
Composition depending on the rabbits' preferences:
- To enrich the feed with vitamin D, rhubarb, dandelion, lupine, burdock, yarrow, plantain, nettle, and wild sorrel are added.
- Alfalfa, clover, and wheatgrass are mixed into the hay for females during the feeding period and for young individuals.
- For a general therapeutic effect - shepherd's purse, wild dill, chicory, rowan.
Storage conditions have a special influence on the quality of food. Do not allow the food to become damp, mold or freeze.
How to properly feed a rabbit hay
The amount of food required for one rabbit varies depending on the age. Some owners believe that the daily amount of hay is equal to the weight of the animal. According to the age scale, the amount of food given is:
- 100 grams – from 1 to 3 months;
- 200 grams – from 4 to 6 months;
- 300 grams – from six months.
It is also worth paying attention to the gender and breed of the rabbit and its individual feeding habits.On average, up to 60 kilograms of food are required for 1 adult individual, and from 120 kilograms of food for a female with offspring.
What to do if your rabbit won't eat
Even though hay is a natural element of a rabbit's diet, animals may refuse to eat. Why don't they eat:
- don't like the taste;
- excess nutrition of grain or industrial feed.
Most often, owners of decorative breeds of animals face this problem.
To accustom rabbits to plant foods, you need:
- Replace the product (switch to another brand).
- Leave complementary foods within close reach of the animal.
- Place a special feeder - a sennik.
- Build hay toys to increase interest.
- Add some dill, fennel or basil for flavor.
- Reduce the volume of other feeds.
- Grind hay when switching from soft food.
- Stir in bran.
Regardless of the species, all pets have conservative behavior in choosing food and have difficulty adapting to new options.
Important! If the rabbits do not start eating the hay right away (taking into account the high quality of the food), there is no need to chew it; soon the animal will taste the herbs and switch to new food.
What kind of hay is prohibited to give?
When making hay for rabbits, it is important to pay attention to the natural characteristics of the plants, since the ingestion of poisonous herbs can undermine the health of the animals. The following should not get into the workpieces:
- cicuta;
- celandine;
- Colchicum;
- henbane;
- buttercup;
- hemlock;
- cheremitsa;
- marsh marigold;
- digitalis;
- lily of the valley;
- larkspur;
- spurge;
- dope;
- wormwood (chernobyl);
- raven eye;
- lumbago;
- wild radish.
If you are not completely sure that the plant is safe for animals, it is better not to add it to hay.
In addition to toxic plant crops, dry plants are not eaten:
- collected near chemical waste disposal sites and highways;
- with signs of dampness, mold, freezing;
- with slugs (due to the risk of helminth infection);
- the storage time of which exceeds 1 year.
If during storage the appearance of the hay has deteriorated and signs of dampness have appeared, it must be disposed of.
