What leaves of fruit trees can be added to the diet of rabbits
Balanced feed for domesticated rodents is the primary concern of rabbit breeders who breed furry animals. Can rabbits be given tree leaves?
Can rabbits be given leaves?
Green complementary foods are a source of nutrients and vitamins that are necessary for the growth of rodents. Even experienced farmers are afraid to add walnut leaves to young rabbits. What leaves can be fed to rabbits?
Green rabbit food
Farmers give walnut leaves to rabbits at their own peril and risk.
Young leaves are a real storehouse of vitamins, but not all types of leaves are good for animals. Rodents living in cages or aviaries are very demanding on food. Experienced rabbit breeders add only high-quality food to the rodent feeder and especially carefully select vitamin supplements. Turnip leaves, sunflower leaves, tomato stems after harvesting tomatoes or Jerusalem artichoke - what can you feed to rodents?
The farmer provides not only dry food rich in useful microelements, but also dry grass in winter or fresh greens in summer. Lettuce leaves help babies to quench their thirst in particularly hot weather, and beetroot stalks strengthen the immune system of rodents. If the breeder does not provide specialized nutritional supplements to fluffy animals, the fluffy ones quickly weaken and can become sick over time. Is it okay to give rabbits leaves from vegetables and from trees that grow in any vegetable garden or in a farmer's garden? An experienced rabbit breeder does not give anything to his own pets, otherwise mass diseases cannot be avoided.
Twig food is a special treat for rodents, but a herd of rabbits will not be full from just one greenery. Even in summer, it is impossible to feed animals only with grass. A balanced diet is the basis; the health of all inhabitants of the enclosure depends on it. Every farmer, even a beginner, should know about what can and can not be eaten by homemade pussies. Without a proper diet, adults will not be able to produce offspring, and their fur will not be able to sell in the future. What can and cannot be added to the rabbit feeder?
Tree leaves for animals
Leaves can be given to rabbits, but only in limited quantities and only a few times a week. Daily green complementary foods will only be useful in combination with dry mixes. The diet of the rabbit is especially important, which expects the offspring. Females are transferred to a separate diet, which should also include green complementary foods.
Leaves from trees are free food that can be harvested in minutes. Profitable complementary foods can dilute expensive mixtures, but you should not give any leaves either. What does an experienced rabbit breeder give to rabbits? In the rodent feeder, they put not only leaves, but also branches. The structure of the lower and upper jaw of fluffy animals allows you to kill solid food. You should not be afraid for the teeth of rodents.
Cheap food is also extremely high in calories.Branch food for rabbits contains many active substances, protein and vitamins. The dried leaves remain beneficial to rodents throughout the year. The shrewd farmer who has stocked greens since the summer provides wholesome food for the rabbits all year round. Dried branches contain up to 40 g of protein, which is especially useful for furry animals in winter.
What are the healthiest leaves? Experienced rabbit breeders know how important it is to adjust not only the quantity, but also the quality of the feed. Twigs are useful:
- acacia;
- poplar;
- elm;
- ash.
The best type of twig feed is acacia during active flowering.
Acacia branches contain both vitamins and useful trace elements that accelerate the growth of animals. Amino acids and protein contained in acacia branches are necessary for rabbits during the period of growth and jigging from the rabbit. Oak leaves are valuable for young animals, which starts active growth immediately after separation from the female. The transition of rabbits to a normal diet is a special period for a farmer, when his care determines the well-being of adults.
Sunflower or raspberry leaves can only be fed to adults with a strong digestive system. Rabbits are given leaves from fruit trees. It is important that green complementary foods consist of plants that grow in the region where the herd of rabbits lives. Leaves cannot replace all food, but they can significantly diversify the diet of fluffy rodents. What twigs will rabbits like?
What can and can not be given to rabbits
The farmer should know what plants can be fed to rabbits and what should be kept away from fluffs so as not to harm the rodents. There will be no harm from raspberries or currants, but the juice of some vegetables or trees is harmful and dangerous. Before putting the twigs into the feeder, the person goes through the greens again. What plants will help strengthen the body of rabbits?
The leaves of trees are not only nutritious, they have medicinal properties. If the farmer gives green complementary food to all rabbits, the flock is less sick and can tolerate sudden changes in temperature more easily. The leaves of trees help with various diseases, and domestic rodents can suffer from them. Helping rabbits from tree leaves is carried out as follows:
- Walnut leaves help with diarrhea (loose stools) and various disorders of the digestive system. For the treatment of rodents, you will need broken leaves of a walnut, which have just started to grow. Older stems are less nutritious and healthy. You can make dried food for the winter from walnuts.
- Oak leaves are needed to kill bacterial diseases. The bactericidal properties of tannins are used to treat humans and are suitable for rabbits. Oak branches can be used to prevent infectious diseases in rabbits.
- Coniferous branches are needed to maintain the immunity of rabbits. Coniferous branches are used in the winter season, when problems arise with other greens. The vitamins contained in the needles help to strengthen the protective mechanisms of the rodent's body. Maple leaves or crushed strawberry stalks have similar properties.
- The grass that will protect rabbits from any disease grows in the fields. You can feed the rodents with carrot tops, millennials and plantains. You can prepare such grass from summer and give it to rodents in dried form along with dry mixtures in winter. Herbs strengthen the immune system of rodents and help them survive the cold season.
Use oak branches, rhubarb, alder and willow in limited quantities.
Green complementary foods will help animals overcome illness or improve the functioning of the digestive system, but such leaves should not be given all the time. Useful green complementary foods can harm rodents, especially young animals that have not had time to get stronger.
The fauna is arranged in such a way that the plant, which is in the forest or in the fields, helps rodents get rid of infections or bacterial diseases.The green fodder you need is easy to obtain, and the prudent farmer has been stocking up on this type of supplement since summer. For convenience, the branch is frayed, and the leaves are dried and folded into small dry boxes.
Contraindications for rodents
For a more delicious complementary food, rabbit breeders experiment with herbs and add branches, which, albeit tasty, are not very useful for rabbits. Poisonous substances cause symptoms of poisoning in rodents, the weakest rabbits can even die. In no case should you put elder, bird cherry or buckthorn in the feeder of fluffy animals. Wolf berries and lilacs are poisonous to adult rodents and young animals.
Stone fruit trees can also cause disease in weak rabbits. The rodent's body does not perceive radish greens well, but the roots will only benefit the animals. Side effects of taking greens are digestive upset and diarrhea.
Harvesting leaves
Preparing green food for winter is easy. It is important that all plants are clean (greens are cleaned in advance) and harvested in the fields, away from highways and roads. The amount of grass is collected that will be useful to the farmer throughout the year. Stocking up for several years in advance is not profitable. The fresher the food is, the more benefits it will bring to rodents. It is impossible to use wet, rotten dried food, even after additional drying.
It is difficult for a farmer, especially with a small farm, to provide food for all animals. In search of savings in the summer season, rabbit breeders stock up on free greens that grow in a vegetable garden or garden. Despite all the advantages of such food, you cannot give any branches to rodents. Only those herbs are selected that will definitely not harm the rabbits.