Do you feed pellets? Why or why not?

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Jenk

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I hope that this post won't be moved to the Nutrition forum because I'm asking more out of curiosity than I am about a nutritional issue. Plus, I'd like to hear from as many bun owners as possible to get a "wide-lens" view of the subject.

1) If you feed your bun pellets, how much of them do you feed?

2) How much does your bun weigh?

3) Has your bun ever had digestive problems related--or likely related--to pellets and you cut hem out of his/her diet?

4) If you don't feed your bun pellets, does your bun retain a steady weight on hay and/or greens?

Thank you,

Jenk
 
1. All my rabbits used to get free feed, but I was having a lot of weight gain Now I ration them on weight. An oz per pound, so they all get around a 1/2 - 1 cup of pellets a day with oats and Black oil sunflowers seeds and a pinecone to play with
2. None weigh over 5 lbs..except Biscuit she's a fatty
3. Nopes
4. I think you should always feed your darlings pellets they get the protein and fiber from it
 
i feed all my buns on rabbit pellet. i give them a small cupful every other day and hay,broccolli,sweetcorn and other vegatables inbetween, i have never had any problems with any of my bunnys, they are not over weight as i take them to the vets regulary to be wieghed and checked over, hope that helps?:highfive:
 
1.My buns get 1/4 cup per day of pellets.


2. because Martie is a dwarf and its all he needs, and Jezz is a fatty so Im trying to get her to lose a bit of weight. They get some romaine lettuce every day along with all the timothy hay they want.


3.the only problems ive had were Martie getting hairballs a while ago, but thats unrelated to his pellets
 
1) If you feed your bun pellets, how much of them do you feed?

no pellets

2) How much does your bun weigh?

Peepers is 2.3lbs and Jenny is 4.6lbs

3) Has your bun ever had digestive problems related--or likely related--to pellets and you cut hem out of his/her diet?

my last rabbit did, I cut pellets out the last 6 months of her life permy vet,I loved the results,so I carried over to my current guys.

4) If you don't feed your bun pellets, does your bun retain a steady weight on hay and/or greens?

yes, my pellet free rabbits have never been fat or thin, they have always retained optimal weight and kept it perfectly steady.
 
[align=center]1) My rabbits practically get unlimited. They eat more hay and veggies than anything.

2) My dutch, Sabriel, weighs 4.5 lb, my mini-rex mix, Solara, weights 5-6 lb, my Flemish Giant, Silas, weight 11 lb or so.

3) Not as long as I've had them =]

4) I don't feed just pellets- I feed veggies and hay as well =] Unlimited hay.
 
1) If you feed your bun pellets, how much of them do you feed?
we are supposed to measure it out but to be honest we just hazard a guess. handful for Max and Wolfgang (Mini lop [in australia that is the smallest breed of lop available, i think it has a different name regionally but they dont get more than 2kgs or 4pounds ish] and netherland dwarf. Jemima and her four babies get unlimited. whenever the bowl is empty we fill-er-up. Jemima is a stray and she feels a bit thin and plus shes nursing so we want to feed her a lot

2) How much does your bun weigh?
Jemima 1.7kgs, Max 1.3kgs Wolfgang 1kg

3) Has your bun ever had digestive problems related--or likely related--to pellets and you cut hem out of his/her diet?
not really. occasional stasis/runny poops.

4) If you don't feed your bun pellets, does your bun retain a steady weight on hay and/or greens?
N/A
 
1. Korr and Amelia both get about 1/4 cup per day of Oxbow. Lillian and Ginny each get about 1/2 cup of Master Feeds.

2. Korr is about 4.5 pounds, Amelia 3.6 pounds (was just at the vet so more accurate), Lillian is about 10 or 11 pounds (not 100% sure) and Ginny is about 9 or 10 pounds.

3. Lillian does get some extra cecels, so I do have to give her a bit less but it is only maybe a tablespoon or so less than 1/2 a cup. I haven't cut them out, but do cat back a bit.


 
1) If you feed your bun pellets, how much of them do you feed? 1/4 cup spread over the two upper levels of her house (jump bunny! jump!)

2) How much does your bun weigh? 4.4 pounds

3) Has your bun ever had digestive problems related--or likely related--to pellets and you cut hem out of his/her diet? nope

4) If you don't feed your bun pellets, does your bun retain a steady weight on hay and/or greens?
With the pellets, greens, and hay her weight stays stedy at 4.5 pounds. She lost a little last week with the spay, but she's almost back to normal.
 
Jenk wrote:
I hope that this post won't be moved to the Nutrition forum because I'm asking more out of curiosity than I am about a nutritional issue. Plus, I'd like to hear from as many bun owners as possible to get a "wide-lens" view of the subject.

1) If you feed your bun pellets, how much of them do you feed? Just Bunny gets 1/4 to 1/2 cup every evening ( a reward for going into his cage at bed time) My outdoor rabbit at Mom and Dad's gets free choice oats/pellets and hay or grass and veggiesand he does just fine.

2) How much does your bun weigh? Under 5 lbs

3) Has your bun ever had digestive problems related--or likely related--to pellets and you cut hem out of his/her diet? No.

4) If you don't feed your bun pellets, does your bun retain a steady weight on hay and/or greens? My rabbits have almost always been on pellets, except my very first rabbit my parents bought for me when I was 2 yrs old. He was fed straight oats. They get unlimited grass and other greens in the summer and do just fine, unlimited hay in the winter and veggies when available. I do not quite understand why pellets are not recommended, after all they are chopped up and compressed hay.
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Thank you,

Jenk
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My bun gets as many pellets as she wants, along with hay that she hardly eats, and vegetables that she loves.

That has been her diet for 6 years, and she isn't fat.
 
memesbunnies wrote:

I do not quite understand why pellets are not recommended, after all they are chopped up and compressed hay.
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For some reason, most--if not all--of the rabbit-savvy vets in my area dislike pellets as part of a bun's diet. It's as if all the vets in my area attend all the same conferences and are taught all the same things about pellets--whether accurate or not.

My vet recently said she's not a fan of pellets because they're essentially "predigested" food. She also says that many buns who eat pellets can wind up with tooth issues. Still, I continue to feed a pre-measured amount of pellets that works for two of my bunners. (My third one, who has CPS, barely handles a miniscule amount of them.)
 
Pellets are not essential to a rabbit's diet, but they do provide some nutrients that the rabbit does not get from other sources. I don't understand your vet's remark about rabbits that eat pellets developing tooth issues. I wonder if she means rabbits who only eat pellets and not hay?
 
slavetoabunny wrote:
I don't understand your vet's remark about rabbits that eat pellets developing tooth issues. I wonder if she means rabbits who only eat pellets and not hay?
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It seems that all rabbit-savvy vets in my area sing this same tune, even when they know their patients also get unlimited hay. I can't explain it. :?
 
to be honest we dont have the money to have an entirely pellet free diet... we unfortunately can't afford to buy greens every day, so i figure a diet of just hay would probably starve them... pellets (in our mind) give them a pretty sound source of nutrition.
 
maxysmummy wrote:
to be honest we dont have the money to have an entirely pellet free diet... we unfortunately can't afford to buy greens every day, so i figure a diet of just hay would probably starve them... pellets (in our mind) give them a pretty sound source of nutrition.
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maxysmummy, I'm with you on the points that you've made. :D
 
I also agree with maxysmummy.

Ill choose this survey to answer about Rocky my Britannia Petite.

1) He gets unlimited Purina 50/50 blue and gray bag. I also have been sneaking in carrots and lettuce to him but not much because i hear of the upsets bunnies have if you introduce greens too fast.

2)Probably around 1.5 or 2lbs

3) This wasn't a situation where we cut out pellets but when we had californians we had one of the babies who had been transitioning from moms milk to the pellets get enteritis. He passed away after we tried to separate him and give him alot of hay. This has been the only incident where we have had a problem

4) Rocky's diet is still mostly pellets.
 
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