Have I been underfeeding my bun?

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EbunnysMum

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I adopted a bunny about a month ago, and since then, she has been a chow hound. I thought she may be a regular sized rabbit, and older, but new information has come to light and now I think she is much younger and a Flemmie. If she is a Flemmie, have I been feeding her too little? How long until I can safely know what breed she is? Am I gonna make her overweight if I feed her like a Flemmie and she isn't one? She keeps growing length wise as well as gaining weight...

She gets roughly 1/8 c pellets (Kaytee stuff she was eating before she came here, I plan on switching to proper Oxbow pellets when I know which will be 'proper') once per day

She gets roughly 1 cup veggies (cilantro, spinach, red leaf lettuce, beet tops, bell pepper - she loves all veg we have given her)

She gets unlimited 2nd cut alfalfa hay from local ranch...

Unlimited water from crock (she drinks well)

Any help is appreciated, I am scared I haven't been feeding enough, or too much, or.....Yeah, I am that Bunny Mama :shock::biggrin:
 
Hi Ruth Anne, how old is Ebunny?

If she is still a baby under 6 months she should be having unlimited Alfalpha pellets daily.

Mine get veggies twice a day 4 - 5 different types of greens for breakfast and dinner. I'll say it's more than 1 cup per serving.

I' m sure some peopkl will say it's too much but that's what they are use to so that's what they get. Also the Vet told us 13 years ago to feed greens twice a day.

I think i'm doing soome thing right as my Beautiful Buttercup lived to be 13, Jackie was 8. Daisy Mae is 7 so I don't think i'm over feeding them.

For pellets they get 1/8 of a cup twice daily. They usually don't finish it all daily.

Susan:)
 
Thanks Susan! I estimate Ebunny to be just around five or six months. She is a rescue, hence the confusion, lol. I would say that you do things right, with such glorious buns at such mature ages.

I did want to mention that Ebunny has no extra skin or 'dust ruffle' as of right now. She is very solid little bun, but has defined shape (not a beach ball with ears, lol)...

I found a picture on the Flemmie page that could be her twin...
Berry-BlackBuck.jpg
 
How much would you say she weighs right now?
The general rule of thumb for adult rabbits is 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lbs of body weight per day so personally I would probably up her pellets if she's been eating them all. Alfalfa hay is higher in protein than grass hays so it's likely she's been getting a good bit of nutrition out of her hay anyway.
 
If she is your avatar, I'd say she is a flemish for sure, or at least a mix that takes after flemish significantly. Because flemmie's have a slower maturation rate, I free-fed mine, and planned to do so until she was a year old. They'll grow until they're 18 months, whereas small breeds stop at 6 months or so. She also got about 4 cups of veggies daily, once a day.
 
plasticbunny wrote:
If she is your avatar, I'd say she is a flemish for sure, or at least a mix that takes after flemish significantly. Because flemmie's have a slower maturation rate, I free-fed mine, and planned to do so until she was a year old. They'll grow until they're 18 months, whereas small breeds stop at 6 months or so. She also got about 4 cups of veggies daily, once a day.

She is indeed the gorgeous bun in my avatar! So nice to hear from other Flemish owners/slaves, lol! I am so happy to hear that she could be Flemish, I would be happy with her no matter what! Thank you for replying :biggrin2:
 
missyscove wrote:
How much would you say she weighs right now?
The general rule of thumb for adult rabbits is 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lbs of body weight per day so personally I would probably up her pellets if she's been eating them all. Alfalfa hay is higher in protein than grass hays so it's likely she's been getting a good bit of nutrition out of her hay anyway.

I estimate her weight at about 8-10lbs. (She weighs roughly what my cats do). I will have more exacts when she gets her vet visit in a couple weeks. I am definitely increasing her pellets a bit, but I am glad the alfalfa is helpful:D
 

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