Feeding Hay, Treats and Supplements
The topic of feeding hay or other supplements to rabbits in addition to a commercially formulated pelleted feed comes up fairly frequently.
On a routine basis, as advised by our veterinarian, we feed our rabbits a diet of strictly pellets and water. They thrive and produce excellently on that, with extremely low rates (almost non-existent) of any sort of potentially feed-related issues such as enteritis or overgrown teeth. We do give occasional treats and use hay and plants medicinally as needed, but it is not a major part of their diets.
If your feed has the right balance of nutrients and enough fiber, and you consistently stay with the same type of feed, your risk of enteritis actually goes down by not supplementing with other foods. And, as long as a rabbit's teeth are not misaligned (which is generally hereditary or due to an injury rather than being caused by feed), a pelleted diet should be plenty of chewing to keep their teeth worn down. You can always provide a branch or piece of untreated wood for them to chew on if you feel they need that.
My veterinarian, who has raised rabbits commercially and was involved in rabbit food research, feels that feeding hay or other supplements on a regular basis will throw off the nutritional balance of the feed. Commercial pellets are developed with much clinical research and testing to be the most optimum, complete nutrition possible for a rabbit. Many people are concerned about pellets being less "natural", but remember that pellets are simply hay and grains in a more convenient, carefully-balanced form. A good commercial rabbit pellet does not contain a bunch of ingredients that would not be naturally present in a rabbit's diet, unlike many cat and dog kibbles.
I look for a quality feed with long fibers (hay that has only been ground once is preferable to a feed that uses hay pellets and regrinds them again) with as much or more fiber than protein and close to a 2:1 calcium to phosphorous ratio, no odd ingredients (I avoid things like molasses or other added sugars, as well as medications in feed), and the correct balance of nutrients. I do actually break up the pellets and both look at and taste them to check for length of fibers as well as for freshness, flavor and other features. I purchase both 16% and 18% feed from the same mill so I can tweak the protein and fiber balance as needed for individual rabbits' needs, and tend to mix it half and half most of the time for the commercial-breed rabbits.
I feed a good quality complete feed that is mostly hay already and is intended to be fed as a complete ration, so I generally only give hay in nestboxes, when a rabbit is moulting and goes off feed, or other situations where hay may be helpful for a specific reason. I do also occasionally give a small amount of hay as a treat, but not on a regular basis. When I do use hay, it is locally-grown grass hay. I also use various herbs and plants medicinally as needed.
One feed I used previously was formulated to be fed with hay and had been tested that way during development of the recipe, so it can vary by feed brand, and you do want to check with the manufacturer if in doubt.
However, most commercial rabbit pellets are formulated to be fed as a complete diet. Adding hay or other supplements can skew the percentage of nutrients in the diet even if it doesn't reduce the amount of pellets the rabbit is eating.
For example, the ideal calcium to phosphorous balance for rabbits is 2:1 (twice as much calcium as phosphorous). Ideally a pelleted feed would have that ratio, along with being balanced with other nutrients.
But alfalfa hay has 1.24% calcium and only 0.22% phosphorous--almost a 6:1 Ca/P ratio.
So if your rabbit normally eats 4 oz. of pellets, and you add 4 oz. of alfalfa hay--even if the rabbit still eats all the pellets, the Ca/P balance in the diet is now closer to 4:1. Now, simply because of adding 4 oz. of alfafa hay along with your 4 oz. of pellets, you may see your rabbits start to get calcium sludge in the urine, possibly develop bladder and kidney stones, and perhaps come up with fertility and milk production problems along with other symptoms of calcium overdose and/or phosphorous deficiency, depending on how bad the imbalance was and how the rabbits handled it.
This is because the rabbit is now getting too much calcium in the diet in relation to the amount of phosphorous, and it's not getting enough phosphorous for its body to absorb and handle the calcium appropriately.
Now, it can also work the other way. Early bloom orchard grass hay has 0.24% calcium and 0.30% phosphorous, and whole oats (such as rolled oats) have approximately 0.05% calcium and 0.34% phosphorous (almost 1:7 Ca/P ratio). So, if you know your feed has too much calcium in relation to the phosphorous, you can increase the phosphorous percentage in the diet by adding something that is higher in phosphorous than in calcium, such as one of these things.
HOWEVER, that can then mess up the percentages of other nutrients, and skew the balance of your feed a different direction. :) So it's a good idea to know and think through what the nutrient balance of each thing you add is, and how it will affect the overall nutritional balance for your rabbits.
I have more information and links to a few sources on nutrient balance for rabbits and the nutritional content of various hays, grains, etc. posted in our page on nutrition: http://shinysatins.weebly.com/nutrition.html
If you are feeding a non-pellet-based diet, the same principles about balancing nutrients apply . . . it's just a little more complicated since you're starting from scratch and creating the right balance yourself.
On a routine basis, as advised by our veterinarian, we feed our rabbits a diet of strictly pellets and water. They thrive and produce excellently on that, with extremely low rates (almost non-existent) of any sort of potentially feed-related issues such as enteritis or overgrown teeth. We do give occasional treats and use hay and plants medicinally as needed, but it is not a major part of their diets.
If your feed has the right balance of nutrients and enough fiber, and you consistently stay with the same type of feed, your risk of enteritis actually goes down by not supplementing with other foods. And, as long as a rabbit's teeth are not misaligned (which is generally hereditary or due to an injury rather than being caused by feed), a pelleted diet should be plenty of chewing to keep their teeth worn down. You can always provide a branch or piece of untreated wood for them to chew on if you feel they need that.
My veterinarian, who has raised rabbits commercially and was involved in rabbit food research, feels that feeding hay or other supplements on a regular basis will throw off the nutritional balance of the feed. Commercial pellets are developed with much clinical research and testing to be the most optimum, complete nutrition possible for a rabbit. Many people are concerned about pellets being less "natural", but remember that pellets are simply hay and grains in a more convenient, carefully-balanced form. A good commercial rabbit pellet does not contain a bunch of ingredients that would not be naturally present in a rabbit's diet, unlike many cat and dog kibbles.
I look for a quality feed with long fibers (hay that has only been ground once is preferable to a feed that uses hay pellets and regrinds them again) with as much or more fiber than protein and close to a 2:1 calcium to phosphorous ratio, no odd ingredients (I avoid things like molasses or other added sugars, as well as medications in feed), and the correct balance of nutrients. I do actually break up the pellets and both look at and taste them to check for length of fibers as well as for freshness, flavor and other features. I purchase both 16% and 18% feed from the same mill so I can tweak the protein and fiber balance as needed for individual rabbits' needs, and tend to mix it half and half most of the time for the commercial-breed rabbits.
I feed a good quality complete feed that is mostly hay already and is intended to be fed as a complete ration, so I generally only give hay in nestboxes, when a rabbit is moulting and goes off feed, or other situations where hay may be helpful for a specific reason. I do also occasionally give a small amount of hay as a treat, but not on a regular basis. When I do use hay, it is locally-grown grass hay. I also use various herbs and plants medicinally as needed.
One feed I used previously was formulated to be fed with hay and had been tested that way during development of the recipe, so it can vary by feed brand, and you do want to check with the manufacturer if in doubt.
However, most commercial rabbit pellets are formulated to be fed as a complete diet. Adding hay or other supplements can skew the percentage of nutrients in the diet even if it doesn't reduce the amount of pellets the rabbit is eating.
For example, the ideal calcium to phosphorous balance for rabbits is 2:1 (twice as much calcium as phosphorous). Ideally a pelleted feed would have that ratio, along with being balanced with other nutrients.
But alfalfa hay has 1.24% calcium and only 0.22% phosphorous--almost a 6:1 Ca/P ratio.
So if your rabbit normally eats 4 oz. of pellets, and you add 4 oz. of alfalfa hay--even if the rabbit still eats all the pellets, the Ca/P balance in the diet is now closer to 4:1. Now, simply because of adding 4 oz. of alfafa hay along with your 4 oz. of pellets, you may see your rabbits start to get calcium sludge in the urine, possibly develop bladder and kidney stones, and perhaps come up with fertility and milk production problems along with other symptoms of calcium overdose and/or phosphorous deficiency, depending on how bad the imbalance was and how the rabbits handled it.
This is because the rabbit is now getting too much calcium in the diet in relation to the amount of phosphorous, and it's not getting enough phosphorous for its body to absorb and handle the calcium appropriately.
Now, it can also work the other way. Early bloom orchard grass hay has 0.24% calcium and 0.30% phosphorous, and whole oats (such as rolled oats) have approximately 0.05% calcium and 0.34% phosphorous (almost 1:7 Ca/P ratio). So, if you know your feed has too much calcium in relation to the phosphorous, you can increase the phosphorous percentage in the diet by adding something that is higher in phosphorous than in calcium, such as one of these things.
HOWEVER, that can then mess up the percentages of other nutrients, and skew the balance of your feed a different direction. :) So it's a good idea to know and think through what the nutrient balance of each thing you add is, and how it will affect the overall nutritional balance for your rabbits.
I have more information and links to a few sources on nutrient balance for rabbits and the nutritional content of various hays, grains, etc. posted in our page on nutrition: http://shinysatins.weebly.com/nutrition.html
If you are feeding a non-pellet-based diet, the same principles about balancing nutrients apply . . . it's just a little more complicated since you're starting from scratch and creating the right balance yourself.
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