Help with feeding 9 week old bunnies

[d0tti]

We have 3 flemish x NZ white, males, currently 9 weeks old. We have been getting conflicting results when searching and asking what they can eat.
We've been feeding them meadow hay and pellets (we fill the bowl up when it is empty), some green vegetables too. HELP! I am worried we are under feeding them !

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Unlimited alfalfa hay,unlimited timothy pellets,a few plain oats (steel cut is best) and nothing else....No veggies until 4-6 months...Good luck

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I wouldn't recommend timothy pellets for young kits because they would have to be fed a LOT of them to meet their dietary needs, and unlimited pellets isn't really ideal for any age.

A growth formula is best (higher in protein/fat), which is typically an alfalfa pellet. Young kits need a richer pellet than adult rabbits. With that being said, if you offer unlimited pellets, kits are much more likely to completely ignore their hay which commonly causes digestive issues in young rabbits. Instead, it's usually best to offer a limited amount twice daily (whatever they will clean up quickly). This is usually about the same as one complete adult ration (sometimes one and one half) twice daily, with hay in between. This offers them more pellets and more nutrients, but also encourages grazing during the day.

I don't recommend vegetables until closer to 6 months, but others start their kits immediately.

Whether you feed grass or alfalfa hay at this age is up to you. My kits get timothy (grass) and do great on that.

 

[d0tti]

What about lucerene hay? The rabbits tend to ignore the hay we give them and pick out the pellets. We have some pasture hay which was recommended by some chick at the pet store, and some pellets which i dont even know how much protein is in it, the package was plain from some fodder store, recommended by some rabbit rescue lady.

Poor babies, i feel like im starving them if i don't give them pellets

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Katie/Fraggles has it right.

 

[Imbrium]

d0tti wrote:

What about lucerene hay? The rabbits tend to ignore the hay we give them and pick out the pellets. We have some pasture hay which was recommended by some chick at the pet store, and some pellets which i dont even know how much protein is in it, the package was plain from some fodder store, recommended by some rabbit rescue lady.

Poor babies, i feel like im starving them if i don't give them pellets

lucrene hay is the same thing as alfalfa

I fed significantly more pellets than an adult would get but not actually unlimited pellets until 12 weeks, which is when House Rabbit Society says you can start introducing veggies. unlimited pellets CAN be ok with a bunny like my Nala who nibbles at them here and there without going overboard... doesn't work with bunnies like my Gaz who will sit there and gorge themselves on the pellets, though. I gave about 2/3 cup pellets twice a day for two bunnies until they started veggies, then decreased it to 1/2 cup or a little less twice a day.