feeding mom

[werecatrising]

The babies started nibbling on their own at 2 weeks old. They mostly eat the alfalfa leaves, but are starting to go for the pellets to. Is it safe for them to starte eating greens now? They will be 3 weeks old tommorow. Or should I continue to seperate mom when I give her a salad?

 

[BlueGiants]

Just my personal opinion, I don't allow the babies to have any greens until they are over 12 weeks. They can have oats, Hay and Pellets. (I give the babiesoats when I seperate Momma to give her greens. That way the doe doesn't scoff up all the oats instead of the babies.)

Greens are introduced after 12 weeks, slowly, one at a time, to make sure there are no adverse reactions.

 

[aurora369]

In the past while fostering moms and babies, I would allow the babies to eat what mom ate. I would only do one veggie at a time, and monitor for a couple days after before introducing another veggie to salad time.

None of my babies had adverse effects, but if you want to play it safe, stick to hay, pellets and oatmeal.

--Dawn

 

[Hazel]

For people who look at this thread, I'm just curious. When I got my buns I heard differing things, so I decided to go ahead and let the buns have just a bit of veggies and see how they did. They LOVED it and had no problems. I know some buns do but I'm confused about the age thing...

Buns in the wild would be nibbling at the greens around them wouldn't they?? So why can't our house buns do the same? I'm just curious.

 

[aurora369]

I believe it has to do with rabbits being notorious for not handling changes in diet very well, especially babies.

If a baby is fed veggies while growing up, then feeding them at home should be fine. Many breeders do not feed veggies because it's too expensive and difficult to monitor all the babies for signs of upset stomaches.

A very slow and very carefully monitored introduction to veggies can be done with young babies. But you have to watch them for any signs of loose/runny poos and hydrate them immediately. Start off with one piece of parsley (or equivalent of another veggie), and then watch them for a couple days. Then increase the amount and monitor again.

It's really a lot of trouble for someone to do at such a young age. So it's easier to start later. Also, the gut is not going through the change in gut flora that a weaning bunny goes through.

I'm sure others will chime in with more information and experience. This was just my best guess based on experience.

--Dawn

 

[Hazel]

Thanks!