24 AGRICUXTURE HANDBOOK NO. 3 09, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



feeding where legume hays are not 

 readily available. 



The grass hays ordinarily con- 

 tain only about half as much pro- 

 tein as legume hays. If you 

 feed them, include more pro- 

 tein supplement in the diet. If 

 they are cut before the plants are 

 in bloom, when the stems are fine 

 and there is a high proportion of 

 leaf, the grass hays are much more 

 suitable for feeding. They have 

 a higher protein content at this 

 time but they never contain as 

 much protein as legume hays. 



Hays furnish bulk or fiber in 

 addition to nutrients. Rabbits fed 

 insufficient bulk have soft drop- 

 pings that mash on the hutch floor 

 and cause increased labor in keep- 

 ing the hutch clean. They also may 

 chew their fur. If you feed young 

 rabbits too much bulk they will 

 not get enough nutrients for rapid 

 growth and market finish. 



Green Feed and Root Crops 



Rapid-growing plants, such as 

 grasses, palatable weeds, cereal 

 grains, and leafy garden vegetables 

 free from insecticides, are high in 

 vitamins, minerals, and proteins, 

 and make excellent feeds, espe- 

 cially for the breeding herd. Use 

 them in the diet when they fit into 

 the management program. 



Root crops, such as carrots, 

 sweetpotatoes, turnips, mangels, 

 beets, and Jerusalem- artichokes, 

 are desirable feeds throughout the 

 year, and are particularly good in 

 winter when green feeds are not 

 available. 



Fresh green feeds and root crops 

 should be used as supplements to 

 the concentrate part of the diet. 

 You will get best results when you 

 use variety. Fresh feeds contain 

 90 percent or more of water. Use 

 them only as supplements to grain 

 or pellets when choice carcasses are 



desired. You can use them to 

 maintain mature animals that are 

 not in production. 



Feed root crops and green feed 

 sparingly to rabbits that are un- 

 accustomed to them. There is no 

 danger in feeding fresh green feed 

 that is wet with dew or rain. Do 

 not use feed that has been piled 

 and become heated. 



Place green feed in a hay man- 

 ger; never throw it on the floor of 

 the hutch. Contaminated feed 

 may cause digestive disturbances 

 or re-infect rabbits with internal 

 parasites. Remove any feed that 

 is not readily consumed. 



Grains and Milled Feeds 



Use oats, wheat, barley, the grain 

 sorghums, buckwheat, and rye as 

 whole grains or as milled products. 

 You can feed the softer varieties 

 of corn whole, but there will be 

 considerable waste of the flinty 

 varieties unless you feed them in 

 meal or cracked form. The grains 

 are quite similar in their food 

 values and you can substitute one 

 for another on a pound-for-pound 

 basis without materially altering 

 the nutritive value of the ration. 



Milled-wheat products such as 

 bran, middlings, shorts, and red- 

 dog flour, and byproducts from 

 manufacturing foods from other 

 grains for human use may be in- 

 cluded in mash mixtures and 

 pellets. 



Rabbits eat sunflower seeds read- 

 ily, but because they have a much 

 higher value for other uses they 

 seldom are included in rabbit diets. 



Protein Supplements 



Soybean, peanut, sesame, cotton- 

 seed, and linseed meals are rich in 

 protein and desirable for balancing 

 rabbit rations. These feeds in meal 

 form are used in mashes and pel- 

 leted rations but are unsatisfactory 



