Stinging nettles from the garden

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

brerrabbit

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2023
Messages
50
Reaction score
42
Location
UK
I'm struggling in finding out whether or not rabbits can eat the common stinging nettles that are growing in my garden?

Some places list them as safe and nutritious, while others state that they can cause discomfort or injury to the rabbit. Can anyone advise?
 
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) should be safe to feed to rabbits. Rabbits eat a lot of things we humans would think are impossible to eat because of thorns ect. for example blackberry/brumble or raspberry leaves (rubus varieties). My bunnies love those and eat them with thorns, no problem.

Most rabbits prefer dried stinging nettle, though. It makes a good addition to hay in winter. You could try to feed fresh young leaves and see if they eat them, sometimes they wait for a few hours before they eat it. If they don't like it you can try to feed it as hay (pick and hang to dry just like kitchen herbs). I only know the common European versions of stinging nettle, though, so should you be located somewhere else I'm not sure about your local varieties.

Stinging nettle as I know it has a lot of of protein. So it shouldn't be fed in high amounts, only as an addition in a mix of lots of different fresh greens/grass, hay, ect.

Where I live, a more natural diet for pet rabbits is recommended (vs mainly hay/pellets based diet) so I feed many different wild herbs and leaves daily. They can choose what they prefer to eat that way and leave out things that are not tasty/not good for them in high amounts.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top