Can rabbits be given raw potatoes: rules for introducing into the diet

In the autumn-winter period, the diet of herbivores lacks vitamins and microelements that they received with greens. Rabbit breeders introduce vegetables as complementary foods to the main diet. The question remains, is it possible to give rabbits potatoes raw or boiled? The consequences of feeding tubers depend on the form and volume in which the animals eat them.

Can rabbits eat potatoes

Potato is a valuable vegetable crop. Tubers include:

• carbs;
• vitamins;
• macro and micronutrients;
• fiber;
• amino acids.

Raw tuber contains vitamins B, C, H, PP, folic acid. Of the extensive list of minerals, potatoes are richest in potassium, magnesium, and iron.

The source of carbohydrates is starch, the content of which in potatoes is from 10 to 25%, depending on the variety and ripening period. In 100 grams of starch, carbohydrates make up 80%, fats account for 0%, proteins - 0.1%. The calorie content of potatoes is determined by the starch content: 327 kilocalories/100 grams.

Raw

Under natural conditions, rabbits do not eat raw potatoes. The reason is starch, which is poorly absorbed without heat treatment. But because of the vitamin content, it makes sense to accustom the animals to eating raw potatoes in small quantities.

Tubers can be given:

• peeled;
• peeled (clean);
• whole;
• cut into pieces;
• separately;
• as part of a mash with other vegetables and herbs.

Potatoes must be he althy, ripe, free of damage, rot, greenery, sprouts and eyes.

Cooked

Boiled potatoes can be used to feed the animals, as it is easily digestible and gives a good weight gain. During heat treatment, most of the vitamins are destroyed, but starch and fiber are preserved. For rabbits, a boiled product will be useful from 1 month. Meat breed rabbits can be fed boiled potatoes daily up to 50% of the weight of the feed.

Boiled potatoes can be given:

• mixed with compound feed;
• as part of moistened mixers;
• separately.

Based on boiled potatoes, you can cook acorn briquettes with the addition of bran and water. Acorns are astringent and help in the treatment of animals with intestinal upset.

Dried and crushed acorns are mixed with boiled potatoes, a small amount of bran and water to a doughy state.

The resulting mass is laid out in molds and dried in the oven or in the sun until it becomes dry and light, like cookies. Briquettes are not only a therapeutic and prophylactic product, but also satisfy the natural need of rabbits to gnaw. The addition of briquettes to the diet protects the cage from destruction.

Potato tops

You can feed rabbits with potato tops if there are no traces of pesticides from the Colorado potato beetle on it. In dry summers, potato tops are harvested as an addition to hay and branch fodder. In summer, the tops are dried before being given to rabbits. Stems and leaves should be clean and free from disease.

Potato Peeling

Potato peels are added to feed in small amounts after boiling or drying. The peel should be clean, without eyes and greenery. Boiled and dried peelings are crushed and mixed with the main feed as a vitamin-carbohydrate supplement.

Rules of introducing into the diet

Potatoes are not a natural food base for rabbits, which requires knowledge about their introduction into complementary foods.

For youngsters

Raw potatoes are offered to rabbits after 3 months, when their digestive system is able to absorb starch without heat treatment.The initial portion is 10-20 grams, in the form of finely chopped pieces. The maximum amount is 50-70 grams per day mixed with grain, compound feed. Boiled vegetables are given starting from 1 month. Potatoes are introduced into the diet of young rabbits in the autumn-winter period to increase the calorie content of the feed. The amount of boiled tubers in the feed mixture should not exceed 10%.

For adults

Rabbits, starting from 4 months of age, potatoes are given raw and boiled. Meat breeds for quick weight gain can be given up to 200 grams of boiled potatoes (or up to 50% of the total feed weight) per day. Raw tubers give in crushed or whole form no more than 70 grams. Decorative animals boiled product should be given with caution so as not to cause obesity. With cage content, the daily allowance should not exceed 50 grams, free-range - 70 grams.

When is it better not to give potatoes

Tubes, neither raw nor boiled, are given to rabbits after birth and during lactation. Starch will cause blockage of the mammary glands and the death of rabbits. The vegetable is contraindicated in breeding animals (males and females) a week before mating. High-calorie food leads to obesity, which affects the reproductive abilities of animals. Males and females who have gained excess weight refuse to mate. Animals weakened after an illness or having problems with digestion (liquid feces) do not enter raw potatoes into the diet.

Helpful tips

For the introduction of raw potatoes into complementary foods, you should choose varieties with a low starch content. Such a vegetable is easier to digest by the digestive system of animals, and will not cause obesity. Potatoes do not contain protein. The predominance of this vegetable crop in the feed will cause muscle atrophy, the degeneration of muscle tissue into fatty tissue.

Green or sprouted potatoes are harmful to animals, both raw and cooked, due to solanine, a toxic substance.The content of vegetable glycoside (alkaloid) in he althy tubers used for food is 0.01%. During germination and in the light, its percentage in the composition of the vegetable crop increases dramatically. The organic compound has a bitter taste. Ingestion, both by humans and animals, can cause poisoning. For rabbits, the lethal dose is 0.06-0.12 grams per kilogram of live weight.

In potato tops, flowers contain the most solanine (0.73%). Feeding haulm in large quantities before and during flowering can lead to the death of animals.

In the stems and leaves, the alkaloid content changes during the growing season:

• before flowering - from 0.085 to 0.114%
• during flowering - 0.055%;
• after flowering - 0.037%;
• in dried leaves - 0.01%.

Solanine irritates the intestinal mucosa and affects the nervous system. In a mild form of poisoning, diarrhea is observed in rabbits, in severe cases, a disorder in coordination of movement, staggering of the buttocks, and a reduced reaction to external stimuli.

Before boiling potatoes, the eyes and sprouts of the tubers should be removed. Water after boiling the tubers should not be used in the diet of animals.

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