What to feed a decorative rabbit: a list of products at home

When an animal is purchased to keep at home, every aspect of its maintenance is carefully considered, from housing arrangements to visits to the veterinarian, from the possibility of walking to existing diseases and protection from them. And the main question for most owners is how to feed a domestic decorative rabbit so that it remains strong, strong and he althy.

What do rabbits eat at home?

To avoid gross mistakes in feeding a pet, you must have a minimum set of knowledge on the selection of food and menu preparation for rabbits. The diet should be balanced, complete, contain enough calories, vitamins and minerals.To this end, it includes coarse and juicy products, cereals, animal feed, specialized additives.

Roughage

In nature, rabbits eat what they can easily get, including branches of trees and shrubs, leaves, dry grass. When keeping at home, they need to provide similar products, for example, hay, the same plant shoots, tough pieces of branches. This is necessary because rabbits, like all rodents, constantly grow teeth. Without constant grinding while eating, they will grow, causing suffering to animals and preventing normal food intake.

Juicy natural food

This list includes fresh grass, vegetables, and silage. They supply the body with vitamins, minerals, saturate with he althy juices, diversify the menu, make it complete. Carrots and cabbage are considered traditional rabbit food, but this is a misconception by people far from animal breeding or veterinary practice.In fact, these vegetables can be given in limited quantities, because carrots are high in carbohydrates, and excess cabbage will lead to bloating.

But domestic rabbits will gladly eat stalks of chard, celery, shoots and inflorescences of broccoli and cauliflower, kale leaves, carrot leaves, strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, romaine lettuce. From root vegetables in limited quantities, you can give carrots, beets, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips.

Fruits and berries

Many people have the impression that rabbits can be fed almost anything, including fruits and berries. Indeed, these animals are happy to eat juicy crispy apples, they can also gnaw on other fruits, and have a snack on a sweet berry. But such products should not be the basis of the diet, because they contain a lot of carbohydrates and sugars, which can cause indigestion for domestic rabbits.

Green foods for rabbits

Rabbits can be given spinach (without fanaticism, because it contains oxalic acid), kale, young shoots and greens of kitchen herbs and some spices, such as parsley, celery, dill, coriander, rosemary, sage, thyme , mint. But all these products cannot be the basis of daily pet food, as they are additives to the basic assortment. It should consist of hay, grass, branches with the addition of succulent fodder, leaves, fruits, grains.

Vitamin & Mineral Supplements

In order for pets to be strong and he althy, live long, their diet must contain many useful components. In summer, they get them from fresh natural food, so mineral and vitamin supplements are most often added to food in the cold season or for weakened, sick, young rabbits, pregnant and lactating females.

They are not used in every feeding, but as needed, calculating the dosage for each individual animal. It is best to have a professional calculate the dose of supplements.

Daily Diet

The ideal food for domestic rabbits can be considered specially prepared compound feed for them. It contains essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and is a balanced, finished product that is he althy for pets and makes life easier for pet rabbit owners. However, it can be no more than 10% of the total food volume, as it can cause metabolic disorders. It is given once a day, supplemented with grass, hay, succulent fodder.

Although animals must be constantly fed, giving too much or too little food is harmful. A pet must be accustomed to the regime, giving food strictly at certain hours. Properly calculate and build the menu will help this memo for beginner rabbit breeders:

1. The basis of the diet: hay - 80%.
2. Concentrated feed - 10%.
3. Grass, vegetables, fruits - 10%.
4. Nuts, sunflower seeds, croutons, an apple - occasionally and only as a reward or treat.

Rabbits should always have unlimited water. It must be kept clean.

Not Recommended and Dangerous Products for Ornamental Rabbits

Domestic rabbits are forbidden to give plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, Aroid, Umbrella, Nightshade, Liliaceae, Cruciferous, Clove, Norichnikovyh. They are toxic and contain poisonous substances that can not only poison animals, but also cause death.

It is forbidden to add onions, garlic, raw potatoes, lentils, soybeans, beans, raw, wet peas, branches of stone fruits to rabbits.

It is necessary to limit the consumption of white cabbage, carrots, cooked potatoes, oak branches, coniferous trees. You can not give food from your table, especially fresh bread, pastries, sweets, fatty foods, convenience foods. Rabbits may enjoy chewing on a piece of chocolate with nuts and even eating toffee, but such food can become a source of illness and even death for them.

How to prepare food for the winter

The basis of nutrition for ornamental rabbits, as well as those intended for industrial breeding, is high-quality hay. It can be harvested throughout the warm season, carefully choosing the varieties of grass. Perfect for timothy, clover, alfalfa, nettle.

You can collect branches of tree species, avoiding those that are harmful or dangerous to pets in large quantities. Dried brooms will be an invaluable support in winter, when it will be impossible to get them in nature.Coniferous branches are also harvested in small quantities. Greens are full of vitamins, but excess essential oils and resins can harm digestion.

It is also useful to collect and dry the tops of kitchen plants, herbs. If it is possible to store root crops, for example, in a basement or in a cold place, a large refrigerator, it is a good idea to stock up on cabbages, carrots, other useful root crops, pumpkins, and apples. Using chicken eggs, you can collect the peeled shell, dry it, grind it into flour and use it as a mineral supplement.

Feed storage methods

Dry brooms and hay are stored in a ventilated cold room with low humidity. Juicy feed is best stored in a cellar, basement or refrigerator, compound feed is kept in ventilated boxes, in dry rooms. It is important to periodically inspect supplies for mold, insects or rodents. Spoiled or contaminated food should not be used for feeding.

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