Features of the daily ration for rabbits

Proper nutrition is the main source of energy for any living organism. And rabbits are no exception to this rule. Each farmer has repeatedly faced the problem of calculating the daily feed rate for these eared animals. In the wild, the rodent itself seeks food and is able to make up for the lack of nutrients. But how to make a balanced diet for feeding rabbits at home? To do this, you need to know what and in what quantity pets are required.The diet of rabbits consists of the main feed and feed additives. The lion’s share of the rodent’s menu is made up of solid cereals and compound feed. Also, the pet just needs to be given greens or hay.

Content
  1. Various types of rabbit food
  2. Green lure
  3. Rough types of food
  4. Hay
  5. Branches <
  6. Succulent types of food
  7. Concentrated types of food
  8. Vitamins and minerals in the rodent feed
  9. Table of norms for daily nutrition of the rabbit
  10. Conclusion

Рацион кроликов в сутки

Diet of rabbits per day

Ra Power rabbits ion must contain all complex minerals to enhance bones, so to be administered additives such as chalk or bone meal. The rodent must receive vitamins, otherwise health problems will begin due to weak immunity. A proper rabbit diet per day should contain at least a few vitamin supplements. What types of feed are there and how to calculate the daily rate for a pet?

Different types of feed for a rabbit

In the first place in the rabbit’s diet, there has always been, is and will be vegetable food.There are four main types of food:

  • coarse;
  • juicy;
  • green;
  • concentrated.

The feeding ration for farm rabbits must contain hay or vegetables without restriction. As a treat, you can give fruits and sweet root vegetables once a day. In addition, the pet needs mineral components. Chalk or salt pebbles, which are sold in any specialized store, are suitable for this.

Green lure

In the warm season, this type of food is the most easily accessible for rabbit owners. In early spring, the first plants begin to appear, and the dwarf pet will be provided with greenery until late autumn. Green lure consists of:

  • wild herbs;
  • cereal and bean sprouts;
  • vegetable tops.

Plants for complementary feeding can be independently prepared at home.

To do this, you need to know the types of grass, collection rules and processing methods. Wild herbs can have both healing properties and contain poison that can seriously injure the pet’s stomach. Do not collect plants near roadways and in dusty places. Before using the plants, it is advisable to rinse with boiled water – sometimes good grass can be pollinated by a toxic neighbor. Legumes must be carefully fed into the lure: they can cause diarrhea in the animal.

Green foods should be made diverse: so the actions of different herbs can cancel each other out and better absorbed by the pet. For example, it is better to introduce sugar beet or potato tops into lure with plants that have a fixing effect: oak leaves, hazel, or yarrow. This helps to avoid upset in the rabbit. Rabbits up to 4 months old are not recommended to give the tops of these vegetables: the stomachs of young animals are too weak and a breakdown can occur.

Rough types of food

This type of food should be on the menu eared in the necessary order. The daily diet of a young rabbit in the wild for one fourth consists of hay, hard grass and wood. At home, you should adhere to the same norm.

If the rabbit has an excess of roughage, this can adversely affect the furry’s digestive system. Stool disorder quickly depletes the long-eared and can even lead to the death of the pet.

Hay

Hay is harvested in late spring, when the grass has not yet begun to bloom.

The plants are mowed and moved, and then washed with water. It is required to carefully examine the grass on the workpiece: it should not be affected by insects or contain rot. After the future coarse food is laid out on linen cloth. When all the moisture is dry, the workpiece is taken out onto the street or balcony on a sunny day, but the grass is dried in the shade.Direct sunlight kills most vitamins in plants. The place where the drying takes place should be well ventilated, and the grass is laid out in one layer. This protects the hay from rot or coarsening.

Coarse hay that was cut after flowering can also be given to rabbits. To do this, grind the hard shoots into flour and add to regular feed.

For the winter, one rabbit needs at least 40 kg of dried grass. If the rabbits are intended for divorce, then you can add another 10-15 kg for each possible rabbit.

Diet and food for rabbits, compound feed, feeding rabbits in winter.
RABBIT FEEDING (feeding order)
RABBIT FOOD. Preparation of an inexpensive mix for rabbits (compound feed)

Branches

If there is a shortage of hay, feed first and nursing rabbits, as well as cubs. Adults who are not going to be allowed to mate can be fed with wheat straw. But the animals will not last long on this diet: straw is extremely poor in nutrients.

Tree branches are harvested in summer or at the end of spring. when young foliage already appears on the trees, but still does not grow to a rustling crown. This is the best time to collect branch feed. In winter, the rabbit often lacks vitamins and branches become an excellent addition to the main diet. Also, the rodent can grind its teeth against the bark, as a result, it will nibble less on the cage.

However, not all trees are suitable for eating, some can seriously undermine the health of the pet. From useful species, one can distinguish branches of maple, acacia, mountain ash, oak or alder. It is forbidden to give branches of elderberry, apricot or rosemary. These trees are extremely toxic to the rabbit. Birch branches can cause kidney disease, so they should be given sparingly. Some fruit trees contain prussic acid, which is also poisonous.

For better storage in winter, cut branches are tied into brooms and also dried on sunny days. If you do not have time to prepare the right amount of branch feed, do not despair. In winter, rodents can be given coniferous branches, which are also rich in vitamins. From mid-autumn to early March, these trees lose some resin and essential oil, therefore they are safe for the pet. Thorny branches should be introduced into lure carefully, starting with 10 g per day. After the dosage, you can increase up to 200 g per 1 adult.

Juicy types of complementary foods

In the summer, greens cope with providing the animal with vitamins. But what to do in the winter? Here succulent types of food come to the rescue: silage or root crops. Silage is a type of complementary food obtained by fermenting a shredded mass of green plants, root crops or tops. It is important to remember that juicy complementary foods are rich in vitamins, but poor in fiber and protein, so it makes up no more than 20% of the daily diet.

Raw materials and a storage place are needed to harvest silage. Turnip, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin or zucchini are perfect as raw materials. Silo is very easy to prepare at home, chop all the ingredients finely, and then ram them into a wooden barrel. If the farm is located on a farm, it is better to dig a special hole for these purposes and strengthen it with wood or cement.

After laying, you need to restrict access to air so that the fermentation process does not begin.To do this, you can use cling film or fill the barrel with wood dust.

The composition of the silo should be as follows:

  • 40% vegetable tops;
  • 30% legumes;
  • 10% root crops;
  • 20% mashed boiled potatoes.

Silage should be fermented for 1.5-2 months, and only after that they can feed rabbits. For a herd of 20 animals, 100 kg of juicy food is enough.

Silo is the first source of vitamins in the diet of furry dogs in the winter. On large farms, silage makes up 80% of the feed for long-eared.

Concentrated feed

This feed is deservedly ranked first in terms of nutritional value among rodents. Hard cereals contain a minimal amount of water, and at the same time are rich in protein. It is not surprising that when fattening meat, farmers give rabbits an increased amount of concentrated feed.

The optimal daily norm of grain in a pet’s food is 30-40% of the total feed per day. This may include wheat, oats, beans, corn, rye and peas.

The most neutral and healthy varieties of cereals are oats and rye. The leader of the legumes is corn. These additives can be given to the rabbit in its purest form. The remaining grains should be mixed or subjected to primary processing.

Cereals can be sprouted or bran bran. The first in line for this feed are pregnant females.They need a lot of protein for rabbits to be born healthy and strong.

Vitamins and minerals in rodent food

It’s no secret that the rabbit is a herbivore, but he, like other living things require non-plant origin minerals. The daily rate of nutrients depends on the age and weight of the rabbit. To replenish calcium and phosphorus in the body, rodents are given chalk, special salt and bone meal.

A couple of drops of fish oil per day is also considered a good supplement. If the rabbit lacks vitamin C, then you need to add a couple of drops of lemon juice to the water. It is important to remember that the lack of vitamins in the animal’s diet can lead to growth retardation, hair loss, rickets or exhaustion.

Rabbit daily dietary norm

There is a calculation table daily feed rate, which takes into account the age and weight of the rodent, time of year and physiological indicators. The feed must contain all the nutrients. Most of all, pregnant and lactating rabbits and babies require vitamins and minerals in the first month after weaning from their mother. Adults need least of all during periods of least activity of the body. If the purpose of the farm is animal hair, the amount of protein in the diet can be reduced, while increasing the amount of calcium with bone meal and chalk. When feeding meat, the diet of rabbits for the most part should consist of concentrated feed.

A nursing female and babies up to 2 months old are fed 4 times a day, young animals and adults 2-3 times. There are 2 types of feeding: three meals a day and four times, which are also divided by the seasons.

The winter diet for farm rabbits includes three meals a day for an adult:

  • 8 hours – 50% concentrated feed and hay;
  • 12 hours – the full rate of succulent feed;
  • 17 hours – 50% concentrated feed and hay.

In winter, the ration for farm rabbits includes four meals a day for an adult:

  • 6 hours – 30% concentrated feed, 40% hay;
  • 11 hours – 30% concentrated feed , 50% succulent feed;
  • 16 hours – 50% hay and succulent feed;
  • 19 hours – 30% concentrated feed, 25% of the daily rate of hay.

In winter, twig feed is given at night. If necessary, it can be alternated with dry additives, hay and root crops.

The introduction of root crops in the diet of fluffies also requires special observation. An overabundance of succulent food is a risk of indigestion in rabbits. Diarrhea leads to rapid dehydration and can even cause the death of a pet.

Three meals a day for an adult:

  • 6 hours – 50% concentrated food and 30% green;
  • 15 hours – 30% of the daily norm of green foods;
  • 19 hours – 50% of concentrated feed, 30% of greens and the full rate of roughage.

Summer four meals a day for an adult:

  • 6 hours – 30% concentrates, 15% grass;
  • 11 hours – 30% concentrated feed, 15% greens;
  • 16 hours – 50% of the daily norm of grass;
  • 19 hours – 30% of concentrated feed, 15% of grass and the full rate of roughage.

Balanced feeding of a rabbit is an urgent issue for all owners of a furry animal. The owner selects his own optimal menu for pets by trial and error.

The daily ration for the rabbit should be as balanced and saturated with vitamins, minerals and nutrients as possible.

Conclusion

If you just got yourself a decorative rabbit and don’t know where to start, refer to the table of feeding standards, and then customize them individually for your own pet. The ration for a decorative rabbit may differ slightly from the feeding system of a farm rabbit.

With the right feeding regimen, a furry friend will be protected from many diseases and will be pleased with activity and curiosity. Proper nutrition is the key to the growth, development and fertility of the pussies.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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