Meat Rabbit Diet, What, How Much, and When to Feed: The SR Rabbit Update for 10-4-16

I have had a few questions on what to feed meat rabbits, how much to feed them, and when to feed them so that is the topic of this week's rabbit update.

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[deselby]

For people with more than 50 rabbits, pellets are probably too expensive. We have goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, and geese. We don't feed any of them pellets because pellets are too expensive. Every Saturday our family spends about an hour harvesting natural foods that our animals will eat for the upcoming week. We feed our rabbits red and white clover and various grasses, and willow leaves, bamboo leaves, cattail stalks, and dandelions. With a slingblade a person can harvest enough food to feed 50 rabbits for a week in about 30 minutes. Its quick, its easy, and its free.

[connecticutwormsgardens]

Another great video. The right information without overcomplicating it. Thank you. I've been raising rabbits for the past 47 years. Yes, I'm getting pretty dang old LOL. One thing I have found over the almost half century is there are some rabbits that always act starving even if they've had more than a good ration of food. Those rabbits will eat themselves to obesity if you feed them based on their way they act. You said it beautifully, get to know your rabbits. That includes however those rabbits that are going to appear to be starving even when they've had more food than they need. Those rabbits don't get more the next day because they act that way, because they will always act that way no matter what you give them. In my experience it's usually a buck that displays this behavior but I have seen it amongst does as well

[BestFarmingTips]

I agree with you Chris, meat rabbits should primarily be given pellets. There are no two ways there. Try to give them anything else, they will have stunted growth and the farmer will subsequently spend more to get less. Like you rightly said, it's also not a great idea to give rabbits, especially young ones lots of greens, because they will easily die. I too primarily give my rabbits pellets, they are healthy and have all the nutrients a rabbit requires for it to have optimum growth.

[kopperlanimalrescue]

awesome im getting my first rabbit tomorrow. thanks for ur help love ur videos

[makennastone]

Thanks this really helped, I am adopting a rabbit that has only ever had pellets and hay and when I get him I wanted to replicate that until I can introduce greens into his diet so he doesn't get sick

[josephrosser]

Would you mind sharing the brand of 18 percent pellets and where to order. Having a difficult time finding more than 16. Thanks. Great videos.

[triciamartinez]

thanks man it's been a few years since I had rabbits and needed a refresher course very informative and to-the-point a lot of YouTube videos I hate because they just drag out forever thank you for being short sweet and to the point

[chrisfisk]

I’m interested in how you built your hay feeders above your hopper 😀

[hesterandmore]

Your videos are great your my favorite rabbit youtuber thank you so much for this information

[smileysuga]

Quick question do you know if there is such thing as giving a rabbit too much hay
I feed mine about three times a day and entire bowl

[richardshomestead]

I feed all adults that are not atm pregnant 1 oz per pound of body weight per day. Nursing doe get free feed to keep up their condition. I use my own dry grass out of yard mostly during this last summer. And fresh green grass, I do watch for loose stool if this happens I back off the fresh greens and back on dry grass or hay. During winter I buy timothy and orchard grass hay. As much as they can eat per day. And they get if needed get extra pellets in winter.

[mianicholas]

hi i have a colony of fifty rabbits they have all their babys in burrows i put straw in the rabbit court yard so that they can use it for nesting i feed my does alfafa a bale a week i also feed them lots of edible weeds they are very healthy bunnys but i was wondering if i should supplement their food the meat is delicious andyou are right rabbits should not be over fed i love your channel

[rhondasnair]

When I got my 1 rabbit They told me he would eat pellets that why they were feeding him hamster food. Omg! So I get him home and sure enough he's eating the pellets took him 2 days to eat them but now he eats them no problem he's lost a little weight but not a huge amount. Now he gets hay as well with his pellets had him about a month now and he seems so much happier able to hop around the cage now he was so big he just sat there before

[uftc]

I feed X-Cell 18% pellets. they get about 8-10 ounces in the morning and unlimited water (obviously), they also get veggies scarps if we have any from cooking that day. When a doe is bred at about day 15 we give them free feed. If there are 3+ rabbits in a cage than they will also get free feed.

[itsthatonechickagaincallth]

I feed 75-90% timothy hay, leafy greens twice a day, and timothy pellets as a supplement (I only really use alfalfa for babies). I think it's important to feed things like spinach, romain lettuce, or certain herbs like parsley. To make sure they're getting everything they need, and to save on costs I just grow them myself.

Also, I wouldn't put them on wire, as they can get sore hocks or suffer nail issues. I've seen so many rabbits get broken and bloody nails or infections and it's really not worth the risk.

[davebeard]

What do you do if you want to go away for a weekend???? is there any feeders that can keep them fed for a few

[thepredelite]

I wonder do you feed your rabbits vegetables sometimes or just hay and pellets for them

[marthamann]

Thank you! New rabbit owner(meat).God bless!!🙏

[paulsmith]

Hi Chis I feed my rabbits Timothy hey in the morning and I give them pellets in the evening. This is the diet the rabbits was on by the person I bought the rabbits from.

[smallplotsmallfry]

We are planning on getting meat rabbits this spring so thank you for your informational videos!