What to feed a nursing doe?

[SimplyBritt]

We are fostering a mama bunny that has 2 babies that are two days old and I can not find anything on feeding nursing does. I'm giving her alfalfa pellets and will more than likely buy some alfalfa hay for her as well but what vegetables do I feed her that will help give her what she needs and what vegetables should I stay away from? For our other two we normally buy a mixture of kale, endive, watercress, parsley, mustard greens, turnip and collard greens.

 

[woahlookitsme]

The Pellets will give her the most nutrients that she needs for the babies right now. If you are feeding alfalfa pellets then you don't necessarily need alfalfa hay as well. She and the babies more so need lots of fresh Timothy hay or another long stem hay of choice.

If she does not normally eat veggies then I would stay away from them until the babies are weaned. If you wanted to give her a little bit of your others veggies that may be fine but just watch closely for any digestive upsets

 

[SimplyBritt]

Will orchard grass hay be okay? That's the hay that I have right now and the bale will probably last another 4 months.

 

[JBun]

Orchard grass is fine. The main thing is increasing her pellet amount, as she will have higher feed requirements while nursing. Usually they end up needing 2-3 times the normal pellet amount. So over the next few days you want to gradually increase the pellet amount.

With my doe, I gradually increased her pellets til she was getting an unlimited amount, but she would also still eat a good handful of hay as well. I'm not sure if most people feed unlimited pellets or not, but this is what worked for my rabbit.

 

[SimplyBritt]

That's what I was working towards JBun. I'm still switching her over from timothy pellets and increasing her amount as well. How much should I increase? I was giving her a little over half a cup, she weighed 7 lbs when I first got her and on top of that no one knew she was pregnant when I got her.