Trying my rabbits on some oats....

Jackie · #1 02/03/11, 01:31 AM

I have a number of rabbits that I have bought from various locations. A few I have raised myself. I don't feed my rabbits anything except pellets and hay....but I wanted to start feeding them some oats during the really cold weather. I have been waiting and waiting for about 3 months for a friend of mine to drop off a 55 gallon drum of oats. Today the oats were sitting in my driveway! yay! So I decided to try and experiment and put some oats into everyones feeder just too see what they thought. No sense mixing oats and pellets for a rabbit that wont eat oats. Well about half my rabbits dove in like it was candy and the other half looked at me like...well....aren't you going to feed us? I looked around and realized all the rabbits that dove into the oats were farm raised. The rabbits that were still staring at me had either been house pets or I raised them myself. I thought that was kinda neat. I guess a rabbit needs to learn to like oats. And who knew so many farmers fed oats? I guess it makes sense since most farmers I know would have oats kicking around. I do know a number of people that ONLY feed oats and hay to rabbits, although I would personally never try it.

hotzcatz · #2 02/03/11, 02:00 AM

We have the same thing happen here except it's ti leaves, banana leaves and guinea grass that the new rabbits aren't certain about. After awhile, they learn to dive right in when the unfamiliar foods are put in their space. But there are certain things they really like. Calf manna is something they will beg for as well as bananas.

#3 02/03/11, 06:35 AM

You are right. Rabbits usually prefer foods that they were weaned onto. All of my own rabbits that I have raised love oats, other grains, greens, and fruits. New ones that I buy don't even realize that it's food at first. Just give them some time and they'll come around.

jwal10 · #4 02/03/11, 11:14 AM

Heavy oat screenings are the only grain my rabbits get. They get clover hay, vegy's and grass too....James

FunnyRiverFarm · #5 02/03/11, 11:44 AM

Beware...if you mix the oats in with their pellets they will usually dig out all of the pellets to get to the oats...very wasteful little boogers!

TxMex · #6 02/03/11, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunnyRiverFarm

Beware...if you mix the oats in with their pellets they will usually dig out all of the pellets to get to the oats...very wasteful little boogers!

I have this exact same problem, but with sunflower seeds. They LOVE sunflower seeds! I have one doe that is so bad that she dumps everything out looking for more sunflower seeds. Sigh, course they are on a wire floor so that doesn't work so well for her. I've gotten to where I feed her a tiny bit several times a day so she can't waste as much.

Treewhisper · #7 02/03/11, 05:26 PM

My rabbits love banana peels. I throw in pineapple skins that I cut off when i'm cutting up a pineapple and they like that too. I havent tried mine on oats but would feeding oats and hay together be equivalent to or better than feeding just pellets??

MaggieJ · #8 02/03/11, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Treewhisper

My rabbits love banana peels. I throw in pineapple skins that I cut off when i'm cutting up a pineapple and they like that too. I havent tried mine on oats but would feeding oats and hay together be equivalent to or better than feeding just pellets??

Yes and no. You can certainly feed rabbits on alfalfa hay, some grass hay, grains and fresh foods... I've been doing it for over three years. But you really need to do your homework first. There are stickies on safe plants, natural feeding etc. at the top. Natural feeding is a fair bit of work. You can't just toss in hay and grain and consider your job done. The rabbits will also need a salt/mineral block.