# Growing 100% of food for rabbits



## forfreedom (Dec 3, 2008)

Hello there, fellow homesteaders!

I post on HT rarely, but read intensely. My turn to ask a crazy question.

If you think 300 years back when first colonists arrived to this beautiful land, I don't imagine they had pellet food available at the feed store. So, they had to grow it. 

In true homesteading spirit I want to raise my own rabbits for meat, starting with classic two does and a buck and then having continious rabbit supply for me, DH, cocker spaniel, three cats and a proposed large dog. We are moving within a month or two on our cherished acre in Central Florida.

So far I tried my hand in growing tomatoes, beans, peas, eggplant and some carrots with reasonable success in containers, and sweet potatoes whereever they could sneak out with me not looking. Corn and cucumbers were dismal, but that could have been due to space restrictions.

Many websites say rabbits need protein - isn't there protein in beans? My point is - in Florida, where I don't venture to grow wheat, is it possible for me to produce all rabbit food with the addition of twigs that I could gather from surrounding woods? Or am I nuts?

Thinking ahead of pellet food - it might not be available, it might be contaminated, or I am might be just cheap as heck...:help:


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## Elsbet (Apr 2, 2009)

There's an interesting conversation on this at this site- http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/farmlife/msg0311014330470.html (And at least one familiar username in the discussion!)

I'm currently feeding our buns hay, greens from the garden and woods, and a horse cube (compacted alfalfa blocks) every day. We've not used pellets in over 3 weeks, and the buns are VERY healthy and active.
Some of what we feed our buns- and this IS NOT a suggestion for what you should feed- research the heck out of it and go SLOWLY!- is fresh grass, jerusalem artichoke tops and roots, carrot tops and roots, plantain leaves (not the banana, but the little broadleafed weed that grows in the lawn- Plantago major), parsley, mints, honeysuckle leaves (Lonicera Japonica, but I wouldn't personally hesitate to feed the shrub varieties if we had that available too, but NEVER the berries), kudzu leaves, a little clover and vetch (but not too much), apples, celery... I know there is other stuff, but I can't think of it off hand. 
There are great lists that can be found online about which plants are TOXIC for rabbits, too. TI believe there are toxic plant lists on this forum.

Work your buns into a new feeding routine SLOWLY. They can't handle huge changes all at once.
With an acre, you are going to be limited as to how much you can grow yourself, but you should be able to do quite a lot of it. Hay might be an issue for you, and buns really need it. But that's a minor cost since rabbits don't eat that much, and should be easy enough to get even if things do ever become unavailable or unreliable commercially.

Once you start getting those lovely bunny berries to put in your garden, too, you will be able to grow more and more food, so your garden and fruit production will increase for both you and the buns.

Good luck with it!


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

My rabbits haven't had pellets in three years. I feed hay, gathered greens (weeds) from April to November and a bit of mixed grain. In winter here greens are a challenge and they get more hay and just treat portions of greens and vegetables. They do fine, but it is WORK.

Just about everything I know about non-pelleted feed for rabbits is in the stickies at the top of the page. There's one on *Natural Feeding*, one on *Safe Plants *and one on *Natural Remedies*. Lots of "food for thought" there from many, many HTers.  There are a number of past threads that you can find by using the search feature and appropriate keywords too.

Edited to Add: Beans are not a good food for rabbits, but the leaves and stems of spent bean plants can be fed fresh or dried like hay. Sorry, I can't remember what the issue is with the beans themselves, but they contain something that is not good for the buns.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

I think that the beans are a problem due to them causing gas (if I am remembering right). Don't forget there are alot of edible flowers in most peoples flower beds- pansies, nasturtiums, roses (flowers, hips, leaves and canes), yarrow, echinacea (purple coneflower), amaranth, chamomile, etc. Then there are herbs- mint, basil, marjoram, etc.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

oh, it you are in florida- definitely "harvest"/weed out kudzu. From what I've read, rabbits love it and it is extremely invasive down south. And it grows super fast. I don't remember the site, but I read about a guy who is "haying" kudzu and feeds it to his cattle instead of hay. I *almost* wish I could get it in PA. Since it is categorized as an invasive plant and illegal to purposely plant, you could probably go to state game lands and harvest all you want for free all year round.


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## jhuebner (Mar 29, 2009)

Ok so this is a cross post... 

Here is a list of SAFE things for rabbits besides grassy hay and grains. NOT BEANS! http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/packet/abcvegi.html 

Here is are a couple of Lists of POISON plants for rabbits. http://www.allearssac.org/poison.html and http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/toxic.html

Now remember, you are raising domestic rabbits. You are attempting to do hundreds of years of "un-breeding" in their eating/digestive habbits. 

Unless you catch cotton tails (and they won't do well in captivity), remember they are domestic rabbits.

IMHO (in my humble opinion)

Oldhaus Fibers & Rabbits
JLH


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

jhuebner said:


> Now remember, you are raising domestic rabbits. You are attempting to do hundreds of years of "un-breeding" in their eating/digestive habbits.


This is true to a point, but until after World War II, most domestic rabbits were fed much as I feed mine: hay, grain and greens/vegetables. Pelleted food is a relatively recent thing. As long as you transition them slowly, I doubt you will have any problems with a non-pelleted diet.


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

I've fed my rabbits a wide variety of foods; in fact, when I was able to buy bales of hay, the only rabbits that got pellets were pregnant does and does with litters. I feed the rabbits veggie kitchen scraps mostly as treats now, but once I can get hay (small car + big bale of hay = no go) I plan on phasing out pellets. I was feeding hay, a bit of grain, grass, lawn trimmings (mulberry & jujube branches, palm fronds, windfall oranges, etc.) and didn't have any problems.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

living in Florida you have a WEALTH of feed available already with out haveing to PLANT ANYTHING, KUDZU is your BEST FRIEND Lol, its high in protien and rabbits love it, yes its invasive and a problem but it is actually good for what it was originally (or atleast PART of the reason) broght over for, i feed kudzu in large quantatys to my colony as often as i can gather it durring its growing season, 

there are LOTS of wild plants in both of our climats (i am in lower alabama) that are great for rabbits and available almost all year and in some cases they ARE available all year, durring the winter you can have a winter garden of Collards and Mustard and other greens, Turnips and Beets and all that,


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## MorrisonCorner (Jul 27, 2004)

*laugh*

I'll have you know the Mini Cooper? It's a four bale car... The husband wasn't very happy about the chaff but the guy at the feed store thought it was hysterical.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I will play the devils advocate here. I have been studing non-pellet diets.. and while I now feed my rabbits a lot of supplemental, I have come to the conclusion that it is not only easier to feed rabbits pellets, in the long run it is less expensive. Still, there is always the chance that (good) pellets will become unavailable in a certain area, or that ones economic situation will preclude their purchase. Back when rabbits were not fed pellets, they were a lot less inbred. 

Many of the rabbits in the last 50 years have been bred for show or weight gain and not for health (this has happened to a lot of animals, sheep goats, etc). I am purposefully cross breeding several widely different breeds so that "the perfect diet" will not be as an inportant an issue as it may be for some rabbits now. 

Variety is important. Confined rabbits whether in cages or colonies can not choose their own food, except among those provided. Hardly anyone is set up (nor would they have the time) to constantly monitor their (non-pelleted) feed to be sure the rabbits are getting the proper amounts of different vitamins and nutrients. So one needs to provide a wide variety to make sure that they get what they need. Vitamin, mineral, and micronutrient difficiencies may take 6 months or a year to show up.....just because a certain diet is non-toxic and doesn't kill the rabbits in a few weeks, does not mean that it will not cause long term breeding or health problems. If one is not feeding pellets, then alfalfa hay is one of the best forages one can base their diet on. As stated above, there are several places to find preffered and toxic foods along with the sticky here in the rabbit forum.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

A small dogleg left here.....do rabbits waste feed like chickens do? That is, do they strew grains around in an attempt to get to just the right one? I know our feedmill will pelletize any mix we want....would that be of value for the grain portion of my rabbits' diet? They can mix in the vitamins, etc. that are needed....


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> A small dogleg left here.....do rabbits waste feed like chickens do? That is, do they strew grains around in an attempt to get to just the right one? I know our feedmill will pelletize any mix we want....would that be of value for the grain portion of my rabbits' diet? They can mix in the vitamins, etc. that are needed....


Some rabbits waste a lot of grain, others do not. Mine sometimes manage to leave back the cracked corn in their crock... I don't know how they manage to sift it out. If this happens, I just throw it to the chickens. If they are consistently wasting grain, I suspect overfeeding may be the cause. It tends to make for picky rabbits who will only eat their favourite parts.


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## forfreedom (Dec 3, 2008)

Thanks for great answers! Interestingly, peas were not found on either - safe list and unsafe list. I would have imagined that peas would be OK. I frankly don't like beans that much and could grow peas instead.

Kudzu is an interesting thought. If I could recognize it when I see it...


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## Elsbet (Apr 2, 2009)

I understand what you are saying about it being easier to feed pellets, o, but that it is less expensive? My buns are being fed almost for free from the garden and yard and woods. Only thing we pay for is their hay, which we'd have to buy anyway.
I think too, glossy coats, energy, alertness, growth, etc are good indicators of how the longterm health of the rabbit will be. If kits are thriving on a diet like that, I would think the adults would, too.

Many of the plants we have here in our gardens are not American natives, but came with European settlers. Plantain, which is on nearly every lawn in the US, for example, and some of our garden veggies. These are plants that have been used for rabbit forage in Europe, so the rabbits are already adapted to it.
And, think about how well rabbits do when introduced to other countries- look at what they've done to Australia! I think rabbits can adapt to new forages more easily than we give them credit for, lol.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Peas - vines, pods and fruit - can be fed, but some rabbits don't like them much. Consider growing some sunflowers for the buns... both foliage and seeds are excellent.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

Kudzu is that huge thick big leafy vine that covers EVERYTHING non tended in the south east, it is like a big solid green blanket covering trees fences houses cars anything it can get ahold of, shouldnt be hard to find, 

maybe my mix breed mut rabbits are special but they have done great on the 99.9% non pelleted diet they get, i leave that extra .01% off because every once in a GREATE WHILE they have gotten some pellets mixed in with the grain, when i dont have time to gather greens, 

its not so much the breeding of the animal as the diet it was personally raised on, any time you change the diet on ANY animal it will take a period of time to adjust, not because we have bred it for how ever many generations to eat only pellets or kibble or what ever, but because it personally has to adjust its own stomack to a new diet, the kits born in a colony that start out eating hay and greens dont have any problem regardless of breed, we can see that here on this list in thoughs that have pure stock in their colony as apposed to my mutt rabbits, 

yes we have bred certain breeds to grow a certain way on a Concentraited Pellet diet, and yes we cant always expect to get the same results on a natural diet just because expecting a rabbit to bulk up like that is not always natural, but that doesnt make the rabbit any less healthy


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## denaliguide (Aug 30, 2008)

the minimum ration as that causes them to be a bit more careful.

I been on grain all winter, and when the first cut of hay comes in, they will be eating lots of that too.

Dont think you need pellets. IMO, they are more trouble than they are worth.

Feeding grain and naturals outweighs them easily IMO.

DG



MaggieJ said:


> Some rabbits waste a lot of grain, others do not. Mine sometimes manage to leave back the cracked corn in their crock... I don't know how they manage to sift it out. If this happens, I just throw it to the chickens. If they are consistently wasting grain, I suspect overfeeding may be the cause. It tends to make for picky rabbits who will only eat their favourite parts.


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