Adults and Alfalfa Hay

[coco_puffs]

Hi all:

It's been a very long time since I've participated. I lost my Coco-pop and and in my grief I ignored the many wonderful sentiments left for me here regarding his loss. I'm sorry for that - I don't know how to deal with attention or grief and I didn't know how to deal with the sentiments about my boy. He is now in our garden and soon I will find a little garden rabbit to mark his place out there. I miss my little Coco puff so much

There has been much happening but to make a long story short, I have four rescue rabbits and I want to know if it's really OK to feed adult buns a "snack sized" amount of alfalfa hay.

From everything I've read they say "don't do it." But our vet today said it's OK in small amounts.

I would love to hear from experienced rabbit owners.

I have a new blog - to tell our convoluted story and show off my sweet Coco pop and my new babies, and my rescue buns, please see http://beautifulbunnies.wordpress.com/

Thank you for reading

 

[Watermelons]

I lost my last rabbit due to kidney failure from the high protein of alfalfa into adulthood.
There are plenty of people who do it, and their animals don't seem any worse for ware.
Personally, I would never do it. Why risk something if the animal doesn't need the extra protein?
Tons of other things that make great treats

 

[Imbrium]

I would say that unless a rabbit has a history of calcium-related issues, there's no harm in feeding small amounts of alfalfa as long as it's not their primary source of hay. I actually feed my girls (who are about 16 months old now) an 80% orchard/20% alfalfa blend from Sierra Valley Hay because it's the ONLY grass hay they'll eat (and I tried around 14 different hays) and my vet doesn't think it'll cause any problems.

 

[missyscove]

My buns get literally one or two strands of alfalfa on occasion as a treat, but I was also trying to increase their protein a bit when Cricket was sick and I was trying to put a bit of weight on her.

 

[akane]

Small amounts aren't going to do any harm. All rabbit breeders around here use alfalfa only because few people grow quality grass hay. It's near impossible to get grass hay that isn't weed hay (someone just let wild grasses take over the field) or imported compressed bales that are too expensive. Their rabbits aren't dying early of kidney failure. We have the same thing with horses who are quite similar to rabbits in digestion and they just drink more and pee out more concentrated smellier urine to get rid of the excess protein while still living in to their 20s or I've ridden a few 40 year olds. We covered it in vet class and found excess protein within reason does not harm most animals. Only those genetically prone to a weak organ end up having health problems.

 

[majorv]

Those are some cute lops! Is there a special reason you want to feed them alfalfa? I agree that small amounts shouldn't be a problem. We sometimes use it with young rabbits and with adults who need to gain weight.

 

[coco_puffs]

Those are some cute lops! Is there a special reason you want to feed them alfalfa? I agree that small amounts shouldn't be a problem. We sometimes use it with young rabbits and with adults who need to gain weight.

Thank you all!

And thank you Majorv - we love our babies. They actually rescued their mother. She was at a kill shelter and was most certainly bound for euthanasia. They discovered she was pregnant and sent her to "Luv-a-Bun Rabbit Rescue" (Megan is SO great!) and we adopted two of the babies. We are having so much fun with them.

I wanted to give one of my dwarfs Alfalfa as a snack to break up her long afternoons. She's on the max end of her weight scale and we just started taking her pellets away during the day. She will just sit at that bowl and overeat if we don't regulate it. So - I figured Alfalfa could be a treat during the boring times of the day. I guess we wouldn't "feed" it to her, just give it as a snack. And it sounds like that's OK in small doses.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

A little bit for a treat is alright. We also use it with our youngsters til 6 months and have given it to our elder buns to keep up their weight.

 

[Millinex]

Alfalfa is fine unless the rabbit has other medical problems. All my rabbits get alfalfa hay pretty regularly, never had an issue. I use the mini blocks sold as horse food from tractor supply.

 

[missyscove]

I wanted to give one of my dwarfs Alfalfa as a snack to break up her long afternoons. She's on the max end of her weight scale and we just started taking her pellets away during the day. She will just sit at that bowl and overeat if we don't regulate it. So - I figured Alfalfa could be a treat during the boring times of the day. I guess we wouldn't "feed" it to her, just give it as a snack. And it sounds like that's OK in small doses.

Adult rabbits not being used for some sort of production (e.g. breeding) should be on a limited amount of pellets anyway. Are you measuring out her daily ration of pellets? The general rule is about 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lbs of body weight. I've found with bunnies who learn to love their pellets that the pellets can be treat in and of themselves and I make my buns work for them. I scoop out their daily ration in the morning and they get a little for breakfast, then some throughout the day as a reward when they go back to their cage, out of their plastic treat ball, shoved in toilet paper tubes, from my hands when they work on their tricks, etc.

Just removing a bowl of pellets you're free feeding probably won't do the trick; you really should be measuring.

 

[kukupecpec]

I have alfalfa in excess because of my other animals, so that is the majority of the hay offered to my bunnies. They are just reaching a year now and have stopped growing so I'm thinking about switching to a grass hay.

I was wondering about using Alfalfa as a winter feed? My buns live outside so I want to make sure their diet helps keep them warm as well as healthy. I certainly don't want to risk their health by feeding alfalfa too late into life though.

Also, what about feeding alfalfa to pregnant or nursing does? Is the extra protein beneficial to them?

 

[majorv]

Our rabbits stay outside and do fine in the winter on grass hay. We just give them extra to snuggle in when the temps dip. Rather than feeding alfalfa to nursing does we may top dress with a little calf manna. What's the protein % in your pellets?

 

[kukupecpec]

Their pellets are marked as 16% minimum.

Is calf manna baby cow food?