Breeding rabbits at home can be a profitable small business, even for beginners. It may not bring in a lot of money right away, but the income will be consistent. Rabbits are prized for their fur and meat, and breeding them is quite simple. The most important thing when raising animals is their diet. It determines the quality of their meat and the healthy appearance of their fur. Feeding rabbits at home includes basic recommendations and advice. Later, you can learn to combine specific diets yourself.
So, what should a rabbit eat? How should you feed it properly, and what should its diet include? The following tips will help novice breeders avoid critical mistakes in raising rabbits. Start with plant-based feed, grain, hay, and other common combinations.
Features of the rabbit's body
[sc name=»info-dashed» text=»When choosing food for rabbits, you should consider the specific needs of their digestive system. These animals have relatively weak stomach muscles. However, they still need to constantly fill their stomachs with sufficient amounts of water and food. This food then enters the small intestine, where it is broken down. Only then do the important amino acids and sugar enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the animal's body.»]
This structure of the gastrointestinal tract requires constant feeding. Animals may require up to 60 meals per day.
Therefore, it's important to ensure rabbit hutches always have enough food for healthy nutrition, and fresh water is always available. Otherwise, the animals will starve and not receive the necessary nutrients in the required quantities, leading to illness. Beginners should take this into account when feeding rabbits at home!
Another, albeit not entirely pleasant, characteristic of long-eared bats is that they can eat their own waste. This behavior is called coprophagy.
Rabbits obtain vitamin B by eating their own waste. This is because rabbits can only obtain this nutrient from their own droppings. This is because the rapid digestion of food prevents all nutrients from reaching the body and is excreted in the feces. Nighttime droppings are the richest in vitamins.
If rabbits are deprived of this food, they will become ill and develop poorly. It's also important to remember that overfeeding is also unacceptable. This will cause the rabbits to become so full that they lose interest in the litter, which will also negatively impact their health.
- For those who also keep chickens, it will be interesting to know what to do if chickens lay small eggs.
Video about feeding rabbits:
What food to choose for rabbits
In fact, feeding rabbits at home isn't difficult for beginners. These animals are easy-to-care-for, although they often get sick. With a properly formulated diet, this negative factor can be eliminated. The choice of food for your rabbits should be based on the current season.
In warm weather, the best option for feeding is green food:
- fresh grass, wild;
- young woody shoots;
- fresh green leaves.
This type of feed is beneficial for rabbits' health, and it also makes feeding less expensive. When choosing herbs for their diet, consider wild varieties. These include clover and wormwood, yarrow, or nettle. You can also add fireweed, shepherd's purse, or plantain to their diet. Rabbits will also enjoy sorrel and burdock. These herbs are easy to gather yourself, saving you money.
[sc name=»info-attention» text=»You can add small amounts of legumes and vegetable tops, such as beetroot or rhubarb, to your diet. Avoid adding too many cabbage leaves, keeping in mind the specifics of your digestive system.»]
Individual characteristics
Every rabbit has its own preferences. Some may prefer dandelions, while others prefer rapeseed. But this doesn't mean their diet should be monotonous.
It's important to feed rabbits a variety of herbs daily, regardless of their preferences. Only in this way will their bodies receive all the nutrients they need for health and proper development. You can separate the feeding, alternating herbs or mixing several herbs simultaneously in equal proportions.
Hay is often used as feed at home. It's important to choose only high-quality hay; it should be soft and leafy. It contains essential minerals and vitamins for rabbits.
There are countless guides available on what to feed rabbits at home for beginners, and the best diet variations to use. Animals are very demanding when it comes to the quality of their food. Some extraneous additives can negatively impact their health. What else can you add to your rabbits' food?
- Animals love juicy foods: watermelon or melon rinds, zucchini, carrots, and beets. These foods can be safely added to their diet.
- Rabbits will enjoy fish or meat meal as small treats.
- Oilcake, bran and compound feed can also be added to the diet in small quantities.
- Animals should be fed grains and legumes rarely and in very small quantities.
Rabbits can safely be fed compound feed, especially in winter when fresh grass becomes scarce. Bird feed should be strictly excluded from the diet. Allowed compound feed provides animals with sufficient protein and other beneficial minerals.
[sc name=»info-hand» text=»Don't give animals sweets. Simple carbohydrates found in candy and other sweets can seriously harm their health. Not many farmers offer their pets foods high in sweets, especially sugar beets.»]
Feeding Features by Season
Video tutorials on what to feed rabbits at home for beginners are designed specifically as visual aids. They can be used to create a suitable diet for your animals. By strictly following the recommendations, you can develop a personalized diet for your pets.
As the seasons change, so does the diet:
- Spring – the main diet is green food.
- Summer – herbs and fresh vegetables, as well as tops.
- Autumn – leftover vegetables and introducing compound feed. In addition to vegetables, you can feed rabbits indoors in the fall, adding compound feed to keep them going strong in the cold.
- Winter – roughage: straw and hay, grains of cereal crops prepared in summer, compound feed.
Important to know for beginners! In winter, it's especially important to ensure your rabbits are fed a healthy diet. It's best to mix different types of food during this period.
To ensure that animals receive the necessary nutrients during the winter, fresh coniferous branches can be occasionally added to their diet.
Important tips for beginners
To raise healthy rabbits, it's important to follow professional feeding tips. Professional home breeders recommend that beginners buy only a few rabbits. As you become more familiar with feeding and caring for rabbits, you can expand your flock.
If feeding mash or vegetables, make sure the feeders are kept clean. If there's any food left after half an hour, discard it and clean the feeders. A smaller portion can be given at the next feeding. This will help you determine the right amount of food for your animals, ensuring they're satisfied without leaving any surplus.
It is important to follow the feeding regime for rabbits. In this case, the animals will get used to feeding times. They won't pounce on the food, which will allow it to be better digested. The gastrointestinal tract of these animals is quite fragile and often leads to illness—this is important for beginners to understand.
In fact, rabbits have the longest list of diseases of all domestic animals.
Any new diet should be introduced gradually, monitoring the animals' reactions. Beginning farmers unsure what to feed their pet rabbits at home are advised to purchase commercial feed, vegetables, and fruits. This will provide the optimal diet.
Animal fattening
A lot of information has been provided for beginners on what to feed small rabbits at home. Now we'll discuss larger animals that you're preparing for slaughter. There are several secrets that will help you achieve maximum weight. You can fatten animals for meat at any age, starting at three months. One month is usually sufficient for fattening rabbits at home, with the right feeding techniques.
Proper fattening is carried out according to the following principle:
- During the first 10 days after the start of fattening, the diet consists of 50% concentrated feed.
- After 10 days of feeding, nutritious foods are introduced into the diet: oats and bran, peas, or corn. These foods allow the animals to store fat.
- It is important to minimize the amount of hay and completely exclude root vegetables from the diet.
[sc name=»info» text=»The maximum amount of food is reserved for the last 10 days of the fattening period. Any food except hay, as well as succulent and roughage feeds, are suitable here. You can find videos online on feeding rabbits at home for beginners, where you can learn everything in detail.»]
When fattening rabbits at home, it's best to place them in individual cages. During this time, the hutch should be darkened. This is because these animals prefer feeding at night to during the day. Therefore, daylight hours can be artificially reduced to 7-8 hours during the fattening period. After a month of this diet, the rabbits become sedentary and plump. Their fur acquires the desired shine and softness.
Video about rabbit breeding: