Rabbit Diet!

[wooly_queen]

I have 2 wooly does that I need to lose weight! My first doe is a really good show doe for me. It is just about border line...I don't want her to go over the limit. The other doe is one that is getting older and I want to get a live litter from her. She has been a bit large for a while and I want to shrink her down so I can breed her with my Chin. buck before she is much too old. So how do I get them to lose a few pounds. I would like for them to lose about half a pound at least. If you know anything about rabbit weight loss...the info would be very much appreciated. :happybunny:

 

[kherrmann3]

When I needed my Nethie and Lionlop to lose a little weight, I just cut back on their timothy pellets and gave them more timothy hay. It worked pretty well. In a month or two, my little Nethie lost the extra ounces that I needed him to. Same with the lionlop!

Note: My Nethie weighed in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. Not THAT overweight, he just is built big. Now he's 3 pounds 10 ounces, or something like that.

 

[wooly_queen]

Ok....so cut down on pellets and give more hay instead? lol Is that what I do?

 

[naturestee]

Yup! Be careful to do any reductions slowly. It's not healthy for any animal to drop weight quickly. Also, exercise. Let them out more if you can, give them more toys, etc.

Make sure it's grass hay, not alfalfa. Alfalfa is rich, just like the pellets.

How old is your older doe? If she's never had babies before there's a point where you shouldn't breed them as it becomes unsafe. I think smaller breeds is around a year? The Rabbitry people would know more about that.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

If you don't want her to lose a lot, then just cut back her feed in the morning to about half the normal amount (but do it slowly) and feed her the regular amount in the evening. Rabbits are more active at dawn and dusk and so they can eat more(well,thesame amount) in the night. Just make sure she has unlimited amounts of hay.

That's what I'm doing with 8 out of 10 of my rabbits, except they're working their way down to no pellets in the morning for some of them who need to lose quite a bit of weight. I have to give my bunners hay 2 to 3 times a day now

Emily

 

[wooly_queen]

I know about the age thing. She is getting up there and thats why I want to start now. And I only feed my rabbits once a day. They eat anywhere between 4 and 6 p.m. because I get home around then from school. My parents refuse to feed them for me unless I am gone for the night or something so I have to do it myself. On Fridays they don't eat until about 7 or 8 because I volunteer after school late that day. But anyway, I have been giving them less pellets the last couple days and some straw, because thats all I have.

 

[naturestee]

Do get hay when you can. Not all rabbits will eat straw because it isn't very tastyand it doesn't have much for nutrition. Hay is really good for their digestive system- especially those wooly buns of yours when they're molting.

If you ask around with horse people, you can probably find somegood grass hay bales for pretty cheap, and some horse people or other rabbit people might sell you some flakes if you don't have somewhere to store a whole bale.

 

[wooly_queen]

It's weird because they always go to munching the straw...never thought it looked very tastey either... lol That is what they sell in bales at Tractor Supply. I use it to warm them up because its freezing here in the winter and they are all outside. But I am actually in 4-H and we are going to a horse club that is starting rabbits ad we are teaching them showmanship...maybe the lady Penny has some around that I could buy...or at least she might know where to get some good stuff. Thanks a lot guys!:brownbunny:bunnyheart