Picking Fresh Greens for Rabbits

Every year around April or May, I transition my rabbits from a pellet diet to a regular green diet. I used to grow fodder for them, but I started looking at all the fat cotton tails running around the property and thought why am I bothering to grow this? We have a virtual smorgasbord for them to eat for free. It was a hand slap to the forehead moment.

Before moving up to the Cockeyed Homestead, I had a suburban homestead of an acre sized lot. Think of swimming pools and well manicured lots until I moved into it. I grew wild roses for rose hips. My front yard was typical suburbia unless you looked closer at my hedges and realized it was neatly trimmed rosemary. If you looked at my 3'x25' gorgeous flower bed and you breathed the scent of of herbs surrounded by insect deterrent/beneficial insect attractant flowers.

Behind the 8' wood privacy fence to the backyard was where suburbia stopped and where Murphey's Madness took over. Almost 1/4 acre was an organic garden or as organic as it could be, with pecan and fruit trees, a small chick chateau, rabbit cages, dogs and cats, composting bins, and a rain water catchment systems.

Jennifer, it's her 33rd birthday in a couple of days

My now pastry chef daughter and semi homesteader got her start at home. She work along side me in our galley style kitchen creating to die for pastries and chocolates. Even sugar-free versions her insulin dependent, old mother could eat. Competition pieces for various culinary contests and wedding cakes were made in that very kitchen.  She also learned useful skills like canning and preserving that she helped grow. So it wasn't that bad living with old Mom and Dad except when they turned up the stereo too loud and were dancing. "Some people have to wake up early in the morning! Ya know?" But I digress...

Even the game room (26'x16') was solar powered. It was our youngest daughter's teenage sanctuary. It had all the modern conveniences. She had a sitting area, telephone, a jukebox, a stereo, a television, a wet bar with running cold water (courtesy of rain harvesting), a mini fridge, microwave, composting toilet in a private closet space, air conditioner and/or ceiling fans, a small wood stove, electronic darts, and even a pool table. She could runaway from home and never leave home. Not that she ran all that at once. We were teaching her about amp hours on the batteries and survival. How to live off grid and she juggled it all in her decision making. Her other choice was to come inside where one or both of her parents were. Yuck! But I digress yet again, but the was building accurate...

But even before all of that, I was hunting. I'd follow rabbit tracks. I'd see what they nibbled on and what they devoured so I learned where to place my snares. Later, I used the same tactics for wild pigs and deer. I don't believe in catch and release. It was hunt and eat even though I had to money to purchase what I wanted. I was learning and refining skills I might need one day.

So when it came to finding fresh greens for rabbit food. I had a

poplar seedling

basic knowledge. I'm still learning. On this cockeyed property, what looks like a disaster of a yard is actually a gold mine in fresh eating for all. Variety of different grasses, plantain, wild violets, clover, wild strawberries, blackberry bushes galore, hibiscus, dandelions, and assorted other yummy things growing wild and only moderately under control. It's just there for the picking so I do. Along with those our property is loaded with tulip poplar, oak, other fruit trees and bushes we've planted, and sweet gum trees. Every year they shed a small ton of seeds. These sprout up every spring through summer. The rabbits love these. Not to mention what we grow in our garden for all of us to enjoy. Now we even grow 50% of their hay intake too in our orchard. Cha-Ching!

If your not sure whether it's healthy for a rabbit to eat, do your research. I'm still doing it. That's what books and the internet is for. Don't just take my word for it. Read various sites. While I'm at it, I'll add this caveat. Be careful. On our property, it grows the way nature intended (about 2/3 are still wild) within reason no chemicals, fertilizers (composted chicken waste and rabbit manure only), or pesticides with minor emissions from our lawn tractor or our vehicles (we may drive 25 miles a month baring doctor visits or trips). Our weed whacker, small chainsaw and cultivator are electric. Still I hand pull their greens daily and rinse them well before feeding them to our rabbits. Who knows what might have urinated on them during the night.

lemon balm

 I rotate what I pick to feed our rabbits each day. The constant is the broader leaf grass that they favor, violet leaves, and plantain. I'll throw in some dandelions. The rest alternates between a smattering of clover (it can be hard on their kidneys), chicken planted strawberries with strawberries (it's all over our yard now), blackberry leaves, poplar, sweet gum, and oak seedlings. Later, will be hibiscus and roses flowers and leaves. Then there's the herb gardens to add to their meals. In fact, as spring turns to summer, and then again to fall the smorgasbord changes. During winter, it's hay, and commercial pellets again.  With each feeding, their feces are checked for signs of digestive upset. For that there is lemon balm growing in my garden for that. It works for people too.

It's usually an early morning chore for me rain or shine. I love getting busy in the sunshine especially since my pain levels have dropped between 0-2. I have time to commune with nature and my Father. I don't mind tending to the critters unless there's snow or ice. During winter feeding the chickens and rabbits is Mel's job. Even though the job is easier with just hay and pellets. She gets out of her seasonal depression a bit and get some weakened sunshine.

My feeding ratio is 65% of the rabbit's body weight. Our smallest rabbit is, Ebony a lionhead/Jersey Woolie cross, is 1 3/4 lbs sheared weight so it's mostly bunny. Let's do some math, fun right? Convert the weight into decimals 1.75. Now, multiply that  by 0. 65. <Er, um, it's too early in  the morning for that! Grabbing my calculator!> 1.13 ozs of fresh green stuff per day for her. For our big girl, Cara a English/Satin cross, is 8 lbs sheared weight. She gets 5.2 ozs of green stuff each morning. A big difference. Yes, I weigh the greens too for each bunny. Yes it's mainly grass and weeds, but no sense in wasting what God provided us either. I'm also an equal opportunity chef when it comes to my rabbits. I'll make sure every rabbit get a proportional amount of alternating goodies bits in their breakfast.

Rabbits do not gorge themselves. They will move away or trample uneaten green stuff. Once they trample it, they won't eat it. I feed their greens to them in the same spot as their empty J feeders.  For us, we just brush the uneaten bits under the cages to compost, or our two disabled hens that live in the rabbitry will eat them.

In the mid afternoon, they'll be let out of their cages to bunny hop and binky to their hearts content. They may graze a bit on the grains that have sprouted from feeding the hens...all rabbit friendly too. Then, after an hour, they are put back in their cages ready for a nap.

So you could say my knowledge of feeding rabbits fresh greens has been decades in the making. Almost half a century worth since I first set my first rabbit snare at age 12. But there's hope for you to learn now. Look around your yard for some of the things I talked about here and check it out.

Trapped in an urban life style? Ever go hiking? How about parks with wooded areas? Away from chemically treated areas. Start foraging. Or, grab some seeds and flower pots. Grow them organically. Get your buns some fresh grown weeds. They'll do them and you some good. Just look at the "weeds" in my fresh salad post.

On a sad note. This morning when I went out to the rabbitry to feed our precious bundles their breakfast wild salad, I found Angus, one our English Angora bucks had died during the night. We named him Angus after a YouTube contest. With his heavy facial furnishings he reminded of the cartoon sheepdog on the Bugs Bunny. Oops! Just googled it and the sheep dog's name was Sam. Well, I named Angus. It fit.

We'd lift his fur  covering his eyes each morning to say good morning to him. "Are you in there?" He'd even gladly let us comb his hair away from his face. Having just sheared him at the end of March, his fur was already 3" long partially covering his eyes.

He'll be sorely missed.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo