Pet
Food
Review

Rabbit Foods - Making a choice

Whilst there are not as many rabbit foods in the pet stores as there are dog and cat foods, making the correct choice for your pets is still an important one. There are a wide variety of prepared commercial foods - often in pellet form - which are available to feed to rabbits. Most of these are NOT a complete and balanced ration. If they are, the packet should bear the words COMPLETE FOOD.

The main thing to consider with rabbits, and this has been stressed elsewhere is that you shouldn't rely on those convenient pelleted foods as the main source of food for a rabbit.

Veterinary advice, and that of major rabbit welfare groups emphasise the importance of trying to match the natural diet of a rabbit in the wild i.e. grass/hay/herbs/vegetables and some fruit. Fiber is vital to the normal function of the digestive system in rabbits. Fresh grass hay and vegetables should make up the bulk of the diet for house rabbits. Feeding a diet consisting mainly of pellets may result in obesity and increase the likelihood of digestive problems. While there is some fibre in pellets, it is finely ground and does not appear to stimulate intestinal function as well as fiber found in grass hays.

Provide your rabbit with unlimited hay and grass. Ensure that the hay is good quality. If you do buy large quantities of hay, store it carefully to prevent it becoming damp or mouldy - do not store it in plastic bags. Provide the hay in a hay rack to prevent it from being contaminated by droppings. Allow the grass in your garden to grow long and pick it daily to give to your rabbit, or allow your rabbit to graze directly by placing it in a secure run on your lawn.

Treats, in whatever form should be considered as that and not part of the normal diet. Too many treats can lead to weight gain and loss of condition.

Here's a comparison of a few of the foods available. Not listed are straight hay or simple herb mixtures, as the range and quality variation is too large.

Hay

Hay grown in the UK varies in quality. Cheaper hay tends to be threshed rye grass hay, a by-product of grass grown to harvest the seeds. Meadow hay has more feed value but, again, the quality can vary according to the soil it is grown in and the plants it includes.

Quite a few hay products available in the UK are grown in countries such as Poland, or come from large US suppliers such as Oxbow.

Timothy hay is the best known of all the top quality hays and very popular amongst cavy, rabbit and chinchilla keepers. The importance of Timothy hay has been well established for many years in the US by companies such as Oxbow Hay who have done a lot of research on rabbit and cavy diet and their products have gained popularity in the UK in recent years.

There is no way to guarantee how hay will look or feel from one year to the next. The more mature the hay is the coarser and stemier it will be. But maturity is not the only deciding factor on when to bale hay. Weather plays a big factor in how the hay will look and feel after it is harvested. If there is not enough rain the hay will be shorter, have a narrow leaf, and has more of a tendancy to be brittle and shatter into fines.

A year with more adequate moisture will result in leaves that are wider. Too much rain during harvest time can delay the harvest. The ground has to be dry to allow the machinery in the fields to cut the hay. A week of sunny, clear weather is needed in order to allow enough time to allow the hay to dry, be baled and stored.

If the humidity is high during the drying process, the hay takes longer to dry and can also make the hay turn brown

There is a wide variety of hay out there, so it's not a boring diet for your rabbit. Oxbow offers a choice of Botanical Hay, Western Timothy, Orchard Grass, Oat Hay, Brome Hay, Haycakes, and Salad Style Grass Hay Blend. All grass hays, they insist are nutritionally beneficial and can be fed interchangeably..

Despite the cost, good quality hay keeps pets happier and healthier.

For an excellent explanation of the different qualities of hays go to the Herbal Hay website