Expert opinion
Dobryshev Sergey Anatolievich
Professional rabbit breeder and hare breeder with 30 years of experience
In addition to greens, roughage and succulent feed, the diet of rabbits must necessarily contain cereals, which is necessary for their full development and rapid weight gain. This food is healthy even for small rabbits.
What grains can be given to rabbits?
Even novice rabbit breeders know that rabbits need to be fed greens, vegetables and grains. But there are still some products that for some reason are rarely used and undeservedly forgotten. These include cereals and tree branches, which are of exceptional benefit. There are many other animal products, such as fish oil and bone meal, but today we’ll talk about porridge. What grains can be given to rabbits?
Types of feed
Farmers use four types of feed, which they use when preparing diets for long-eared animals.
Green feed
Fresh grass is the best treat for rabbits. You can also offer your pets vegetable tops. The main rule for using green food is to use safe plants.
Herbs suitable for rabbits:
- meadow - clover, dandelion, plantain, wheatgrass, mouse peas;
- forest - nettle, hogweed;
- steppe - fireweed, wormwood, yarrow;
- tops – carrot, beet, cabbage, green salad.
Cornflower, foxglove, euphorbia, buttercup, and celandine are dangerous for long-eared plants.
Roughage
Rodents love branches, grass meal, and hay. Rodents need such food to wear down their incisors, and also such food helps animals retain body heat.
The best option is cereal and legume hay, it is especially rich in nutrients. Farmers also give their clients meadow, forest and steppe hay. The main thing is to make sure that there are no harmful herbs in it, and also that this roughage does not become moldy. Otherwise the animal will get sick.
Branches for roughage begin to be prepared in June. They are cut from trees and straight from the leaves and hung to dry. From the branches you can prepare a special flour, which is also added to animal food. This feeding improves the skin, and the rabbits' appetite increases.
Juicy feed
These are root vegetables and vegetables that are introduced into the diet of long-eared animals. Rabbits readily eat pumpkin and zucchini, potatoes, turnips, and turnips. The animals are also given vegetable scraps and fruits. Juicy food contains a lot of vitamins.
Carrots are considered the most useful component of succulent feed. This vegetable can be given to rabbits up to half a kilogram per day. You can introduce cabbage into your diet, but not too much. Lagomorphs will also be happy with fodder beets, but they are given along with legumes and grains. This composition helps improve blood, and the animal better resists diseases.
Farmers prepare silage from crushed and compacted green mixture especially for pets. But such treats are not given in large quantities right away, but are gradually introduced, increasing the portion from 50 grams.
Concentrated feed
This food will be needed when winter comes. The nutritional mixture includes cereals and feed, bran and animal products. This is nutritious food that will allow rabbits to survive until spring without much trouble. As a rule, this mixture makes up 2/3 of the animal's serving.
Concentrated feed should be crushed and water added before giving to the animal. If the menu includes green food, then a smaller amount of concentrates is added.
Grain feed mixtures
This is a fairly convenient food, because the livestock breeder can independently diversify the diet of his charges, taking into account their needs and health status. Dry grains - barley, wheat, oats, corn - are mixed. Add bran and seeds. This composition is already ready to introduce food into the diet. This grain mixture can also be steamed, yeasted, and crushed. The main condition is to take into account the weight and size of the animal when preparing portions.
A good grain mixture usually contains:
- half a serving – oats;
- the second half consists of 2 parts each of corn and wheat and 1 part of barley.
Cereals in the diet
Cereals should definitely be given; they are extremely useful even for baby rabbits. For the little ones, boiled millet is mixed with succulent food. Adults mix it with a variety of grains. There are many healthy cereals for rabbits: rice, pearl barley, oatmeal and flakes, millet, rolled oats and others. You can give the cereal whole or cook porridge and mash, then they are suitable even for small rabbits. Make sure that the food is fully cooked, otherwise it may cause damage. By the way, barley groats are considered the most useful.
Oats for rabbits: feeding, useful information
Oats are the standard food for granivores. Due to its high energy value, it is widely used for fattening rabbits. On the other hand, the input rate is reduced for adult animals; they do not need excess energy; vitamins and minerals of succulent feed and feed additives are more important. Before feeding, oats are crushed, ground, steamed, and yeasted.
Photo. You can't do without grain when fattening rabbits
Is it possible to give pearl barley to rabbits?
In its composition, pearl barley is very similar to barley. But as a result of processing, it loses some of its nutrients. At the same time, the cereal remains extremely useful, especially for wool.
Nutritional value of pearl barley per 100 grams:
- Squirrels - 9.9 in the city.
- Fats - 1.16 g.
- Carbohydrates: - 62 g.
- Dietary fiber - 15 g.
- Ash - 1.1 g.
- Water - 10 g.
Nutritional content per 100 grams - 364 kcal. Cereals are very useful due to the content of the following substances:
- Vitamins: A, E, K, and group B.
- Macroelements: potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium.
- Microelements: copper, selenium, iron, zinc, manganese.
You can offer self-made mixtures with grains, or buy ready-made ones. The mash contains up to 40% pearl barley, the rest comes from other products. For rabbits up to 5 months old, the content in the mixture does not exceed 20%. When selecting feed, make sure that the amount of cereal does not exceed 15% of the total mass.
Let's get back to dosages. An adult rabbit is given 80 grams per day. During the mating period - 95, during pregnancy - 85. It is recommended to change the portion every day, that is, give 60-95 g. In winter, one individual eats up to 180 g. Barley is given along with other products.
Features of the digestive system of rabbits
The main food of lagomorphs is hard-to-digest fiber. The beginning of the digestive system is in the oral cavity, where food is crushed and moistened with saliva. An adult has 28 teeth, a young animal has only 16. When food is chewed, it rolls into the stomach, but since the muscles of this organ have weak muscles, the movement of food along the digestive tract is only possible if a new portion of food is pressed from above. Therefore, a rabbit cannot be put on a starvation diet; the animal will become seriously ill, since the digestive system will not work properly.
The volume of a rabbit's stomach is approximately 200 ml. It is single chambered. When food enters the stomach, it begins to be processed by gastric juice. The processed food then passes from the stomach to the intestines. This is where the final breakdown of food takes place. The proteins, fats, and carbohydrates formed in this process nourish the animal’s body. In the large intestine, fiber is broken down, which the rabbit’s stomach cannot process.
Food is processed in approximately 9 hours.
Rabbit breeders need to be careful when choosing food for their pets. The fact is that rodents can vomit the food they started eating if the food is not of very high quality. Any foreign elements will provoke a gag reflex.
Is it possible to give rolled oats to rabbits?
Rolled oat flakes are obtained by heat treatment of grain oats. Due to this, at a high cost, the nutritional value is slightly lower than that of ordinary oats. Moreover, it is quite useful. Often given to rabbits to speed up weight gain. Add to the diet of young animals with growth problems and weight gain. Make sure that your decorative rabbit does not overeat rolled oats, as this can lead to obesity.
Read also: What to feed rabbits at home: types of feed, norms and feeding regimen
You can serve it dry or steam it with boiling water for 5 minutes. Cooking is not recommended, as the porridge loses nutrients and can be harmful.
Hercules porridge is recommended for young animals up to 6 months old. At an older age, it is better to refrain from feeding this product. For adults, a mixture of finely chopped raw carrots and rolled oats is better.
Like other new foods, they need to be introduced into the diet gradually so that the body gradually gets used to them. Start with minimal doses and, in the absence of negative reactions, gradually increase.
Barley
Barley is an excellent supplier of protein, which is very important for raising rabbits for meat. It also contains a large amount of protein and many vitamins. Barley is a particularly useful addition to the rabbit menu in winter, when there is no fresh grass.
Barley is well absorbed by the body of rabbits and improves their immunity. However, barley should be given to rabbits in limited quantities so as not to cause obesity in the rodents.
Rabbits can be offered sprouted barley sprouts, which contain more nutrients than dry grains. The recommended methods are steaming and yeasting.
How to include red beets and raw potatoes in the diet of rabbits can be found in our article.
Is it possible to give pearl barley to rabbits: or why do you need an accordion for your butt?
Pearl barley can certainly be given to rabbits. Idiomatic expressions in Russian such as why does a goat need an accordion, why does a goat need an accordion, are widely used in colloquial speech. Idioms express the meaninglessness of any action. In this case, the irony is expressed about feeding rabbits with a relatively expensive food product. Pearl barley is barley, a product purified from films and other useful surface parts of the grain. Why then is it considered that giving pearl barley to rabbits is just not reasonable?
Photo. Pearl barley can be fed to rabbits
Benefits and harms
The benefits of certain types of cereals are invaluable. Wheat, pearl barley, oatmeal, barley and corn cereals can be safely given - when rabbits eat any of these cereals, their body receives the required amount of vitamins, useful micro- and macroelements. If you exclude these cereals from the rabbit menu, this can lead to a slowdown in their growth and deterioration in their health. On the contrary, rice, rye and millet cereals should not be present in the diet.
Due to a weak digestive system, the consumption of such cereals increases the volume of mucus secreted in the stomach in rabbits and provokes further inflammation of the mucous membrane.
Barley for people and rabbits
Several names are associated with pearl barley. Pearls are the ancient name for pearls. Soldiers eat shrapnel, a slang name for pearl barley porridge. Cereals that are intended for human consumption undergo special processing to give them a better presentation. Does the rabbit need a commercial type of porridge? In this case, the grain loses some of its useful substances in the surface films and scales. Well-cooked pearl barley porridge looks attractive in a dining room or even a restaurant and goes well with meat dishes. A person supplements the lack of nutrients with vitamins and minerals from other dishes.
What to pay attention to
Food for rabbits should not only be correct and healthy, but also of high quality. When creating a menu for a rabbit, you need to take into account several important factors:
- Stale food. Any food, be it grass or vegetables, must certainly be fresh. Do not feed rabbits rotten, moldy grass or silage, frozen or dirty root crops. All food must be clean and fresh. Even a small speck of mold on grass or a branch can lead to dire consequences. You should not give straw to animals. The only exception is a small amount of oatmeal or pea.
- Food for other animals. You should not give rabbits food intended for cats, hamsters, chinchillas, rats or birds. They contain very few nutrients, especially calcium and fiber. Such foods can cause swelling of internal organs, obesity and other problems. It is not recommended to offer rabbits store-bought treats (cereal mixtures, muesli, etc.). They can lead to serious disruptions in the digestive system.
Only proper nutrition can keep your pets healthy.
If a rabbit's diet is balanced and includes all the necessary types of feed, then it does not need additional vitamin and mineral supplements. Special vitamin complexes, for example, Chiktonik, can be given to rabbits only in winter. And then only when necessary. If the fur has become dull and matted, or the appetite has worsened, this is a reason to resort to vitamin supplements.
Nutritional value of pearl barley and barley for rabbits
Refined grain contains a significantly depleted nutritional composition compared to coarse grain.
- 100 grams of pearl barley contains 224 kcal of metabolic energy. Vegetable proteins up to 3.2 grams, carbohydrates 22.3 grams, fats 0.4 grams.
- 100 grams of feed barley contains 280 metabolic energy, crude protein (protein) - 10.6, crude fiber (carbohydrates) 5.5 grams and crude fat 2.7 grams
I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the numbers, but it’s obvious that some of the nutritional properties are lost during grinding. Therefore, if you find on the Internet the same nutritional composition of barley and pearl barley, this is logically incorrect. Same for barley groats. Barley groats – dert (crushed grains). Nutrients are not lost; grinding is not provided for in the technology for producing this type of cereal.
Read also: Interesting facts about rabbits - about care, breeding and maintenance
Can rabbits be given bananas or banana peels?
For the full development and growth of decorative rabbits, their diet should be varied and include vegetables, herbs, hay, and combined feed.
At the same time, many owners also often pamper their pets with a variety of fruits. Not all such delicacies are useful for the animal, and therefore questions arise about the advisability of including them on the menu.
And especially often today people ask online whether decorative rabbits can have bananas.
The effect of bananas on the animal's body
Despite the fact that many rabbits eat this delicacy with great pleasure, it does not provide any particular benefit to the body. On the contrary, if exotic fruits are frequently consumed by animals, they can cause certain problems with the body.
There are several reasons for this phenomenon:
- Bananas are juicy fruits with tender flesh. The digestive system of rabbits is quite difficult to cope with such food. Therefore, large volumes and frequent feeding can cause digestive problems.
- The high calorie content of the product leads to weight gain in animals. This can cause a decrease in activity, which contributes to weakening of the immune system in such animals.
- Often, various chemical compositions are used for rapid fruit growth. Chemicals are also used to increase the shelf life of exotic fruits. It is not always possible to remove these chemical compounds by washing or heat treatment, which means that harmful substances gradually accumulate in the tissues of the animal.
All these points apply only to the pulp of the fruit. If the question concerns whether banana peels can be fed to rabbits, then the answer is likely to be positive. This food contains a large amount of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. This delicacy is especially rich in fiber - it helps improve the pet’s digestive function.
But you shouldn’t abuse such sweets either. You should pamper your baby no more than 1-2 times a week, and give the rabbits banana peels in small quantities. It's better to just wrap a piece of apple with it.
Important! Remember that in comparison with pulp, the amount of chemicals in the skin can be many times greater
Cost of feed barley and pearl barley for rabbits
Prices for feed and food products can fluctuate significantly depending on purchase volumes, regions, and inflation levels. It is very difficult to show an accurate picture in terms of value. However, the ratio of feed and food grains will remain correct even after several years.
In 2017-2018, the cost of barley and pearl barley:
- (animal feeding) feed barley is offered for approximately 7 rubles/kg.
- (human nutrition) pearl barley, average cost 21-24 rubles/kg.
Perhaps someone will find other figures that are more correct for a particular region, but the ratio will remain with approximately the same difference of 3 times.
Feeding rules
Basic rules for feeding rabbits:
- Exceptionally high quality food.
- Balanced diet.
- Mandatory constant presence of water in the drinking bowl.
- Constant nutrition schedule.
- If the portion is combined, cereals are given first, then succulent types of food, and lastly grass or hay.
- New foods should be given in small portions at first, gradually increasing the volume. Transferring an animal from summer to winter nutrition is done in a similar way.
Why doesn't the rabbit eat oats?
If prepared correctly before feeding, it is well eaten by rabbits. Let us highlight two reasons (false and real).
- If you feed whole grains, the rabbit will shell the grains on its own. It seems that the rabbits do not eat, in fact the grain is eaten, only the husk remains. In short, if the rabbit does not look hungry, close this question.
- Do not eat moldy grain. It is not the mold that is dangerous, but its toxins. Toxins impart an unpleasant bitter taste to the grain. They cannot be destroyed by boiling. Sometimes the grain appears normal.
Adding feed sorbents reduces the risk of feed, but does not improve the taste. The most well-known mycotoxins are zearalenone, aflatoxin and their derivatives. Mycotoxins cause food refusal, in small quantities - infertility in rabbits, reduce the level of immunity, and sometimes cause death.
Mycotoxins are the main danger of grain feed, the cause of subclinical toxicosis in rabbits
It is difficult to exclude damage to oats by toxins, because they are metabolic products of microscopic fungi. The simplest diagnostic method is organoleptic. The taste and smell are bitter. Usually moist, rotten grain is affected by mycotoxins.
