Meat rabbits require crude protein (min. 16%), crude fat (min. 3%), and crude fiber (min. 20% and max. 25%).
So, they eat grass, hay, garden harvest, dried vegetation, and pellets. It’s your duty to understand what feed your bunnies need and in what quantity.
Here are some great feed options for meat rabbits, as well as some food that you should avoid feeding them.
Commercial Feed Options for Meat Rabbits
Pellets are ready-made and convenient feed for rabbits.
When feeding pellets, make sure you provide 16% protein pellets for meat rabbits, including bucks, nursing does, and grow-outs.
Nursing does may require 18% protein pellets if they are bred frequently and appear thin.
Besides, you need to allow young rabbits (under 6 -8 months), gestating and nursing does, as many pellets as they want. The young need plenty of protein and calcium to properly develop bones and muscles.
I often provide a daily rotation of pellets to the bunnies over 4 months. Feed your adult rabbit 3/4 to 1 cup of pellets every day. You can reduce the portion if there is still some leftover the next day.
- Adult bucks (not Flemish giants) = 1/2 cup per day
- Does (not Flemish, not milking) = 1/2 cup per day
- Flemish up to 3/4 or 1 cup per day
- Does 2 weeks pregnant = 3/4 cup per day
- Milking = free feed
My buns receive two feeds of pellets a day, one in the morning and the other in the evening. They feel so excited when I open the food tub that they run over, honking.
Overconsumption of pellets can lead to obesity in rabbits, so there needs to be a certain limitation. You can find two types of pellets, such as alfalfa and timothy, in the market.
It is ideal to feed alfalfa-based pellets to 6-8-month-olds and timothy-based pellets to those above.
What I feel is that commercial alfalfa-based pellets have additional protein, calories, and less fiber than timothy-based ones.
Make sure that you finish feeding pellets to your animals within 6 months.
Natural and Forage-Based Feeding Options
Pellet-free feeds can come from your backyard or garden, for which you need not pay anything. Rabbits are herbivores, so they live on plants and grains.
You can allow your bunnies in the garden to pasture. They will hop around and eat grass, vegetables, leaves, and bark from trees.
If raised in a pen or cage, feed them the following:
Grass and Hay: They provide fiber content. Alfalfa, timothy, orchard grass, wheat grass, bermuda grass, and meadow grass are some favorites.
Leafy Greens: Feed 1 – 3 cups of greens every day to your 4 lbs animals. Consider kale, spinach, wildflowers, fescue, dandelion, clover, arugula, watercress, and baby bok choy.
Weeds and Wild Plants: Purslane, plantain, chickweed
Herbs: Basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, oregano, thyme, rosemary
Vegetables (Occasional Treats): Carrots, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, kohlrabi, parsnip, summer squash, zucchini
Fruits (Occasional Treats): Bananas, apples (without seeds), blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, papaya, peaches, pears, mango, pineapple, or grapes
Trees: Apple, hazel, oak, bamboo, and hawthorne
Grains and Homegrown Feed Options
Are grains needed after pellets and natural feeds?
Yes! Rabbits need to stay warm in the winter when frost and snow are everywhere, and they need to live on grass hay.
They burn energy and calories to keep themselves warm, and grains provide carbs, fiber, and protein. Mom rabbit will need calories when lactating.
Barley, oats, wheat, sunflower seeds, or BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds), grain sorghums, and rye are some common grains rabbits feed on.
You can feed them whole grains. Milled feed, such as bran, middlings, and shorts, is also ideal.
Besides, you can sprout the grains and seeds or grow fodder from them. Your bunnies will love the moistened grains and nutritious greens.
Additionally, it is wise to mix grains with forage to achieve a balanced diet.
I often mix alfalfa pellets, whole oats, barley, split peas, wheat berries, and sunflower seeds, as well as provide free-choice alfalfa hay and greens whenever available.
And alfalfa hay must be your base.
Feeding Stages of Meat Rabbits
Kits (baby rabbits) ⇒Milk (for a few days) ⇒transition to solid food
Growers (3 – 8 months) ⇒ High protein for rapid growth
Breeding Bucks and Does ⇒ Nutritious feed for fertility and recovery
Finishing Rabbits (before processing) ⇒ Energy-rich feed for meat quality
Supplements
Like humans, rabbits may need supplements if they face a deficiency in the normal diet.
Some health conditions also prevent animals from absorbing nutrients, causing them to become weak and thin. At that time, bunnies also require a boost feed dose.
The supplements help boost the immune system.
It’s essential for nursing does, sick rabbits, or those that have undergone a period of stress. Some common supplements include apple cider vinegar, organic rolled oats, and herbs.
But, I don’t recommend giving particular supplements to your bunnies until you have knowledge about them or unless you consult a professional.
What Not to Feed Meat Rabbits
Anything in excessive consumption is harmful. But apart from that, you need to avoid feeding your meat rabbits the following strictly:
Processed Grains: Bread, crackers, cereal, rice, and anything that contains lots of carbohydrates.
Junk Food: Chips, cookies, candy
Meat and Eggs
Dairy Products: Milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream
Nuts and Nut Products
Iceberg lettuce. has Lactucarium
Avocado
Rhubarb
Nightshade Plants: Potato tops, tomato leaves, eggplant vines and leaves,
Sugary fruits: Peas
Cauliflower
Corn, Apple seed
Tip for Feeding Meat Rabbits
- 90% of a rabbit’s diet comes from grass. So, they can eat grass hay as much as they want. I haven’t found any bunnies crying over overconsuming.
- Don’t give your rabbit a single feed to eat. Mix the palette and natural feed and make a balanced diet.
- Feed various sedges, grasses, and other herbaceous plants in the summer.
- Hay, dried vegetation, bark, twigs, and buds from trees such as sumac, willow, black cherry, and holly are considered ideal for winter feed.
- Also, provide clean, unfrozen water 2-3 times a day in winter.
- Don’t transit the particular feed at once. Do it slowly! Mix the two feeds together, gradually increasing the new feed and decreasing the old one over 1-2 weeks.
- Feed your animal according to its health condition. If rabbits appear unwell, sluggish, or thin, or their coats are dull and they are losing hair, it’s a sign that they need more feed and perhaps more protein.
- Also, if you feel their back and ribs and detect a sharp, jutting bone, you need to make a change in their diet and increase their intake.
- If you want to raise rabbits for meat or want your bunnies to gain weight, provide them with a mixture of good hay, pellets, and greens.
- If you’re only a beginner, avoid feeding your animals garden and kitchen scraps.
Final Thoughts
It’s not that tough to arrange feed for meat rabbits. They can be almost self-sufficient if you have a pasture meadow.
Alternatively, you can plant grass, leafy greens, and crops in the backyard for them, thereby reducing feed costs. Only you need a protein source to complete their diet.
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