For normal functioning of rabbits, roughage must be included in their diet. What branches can be given to rabbits, every farmer should know. Coarse foods contain the necessary components - fiber and tannin - which improve digestion.
What branches can be given to rabbits
Also, the regular use of roughage has an antifungal effect, as a result, the digestive tract improves and all other mechanisms work much more intensively. There are many vitamins, plant proteins (up to 8%), fats, digestible calcium, carotene, amino acids and nitrogen-free extractive substances and trace elements in woody greens. In autumn and winter, they will replace the green food, which is lacking during this period.
What branches can rabbits be given to diversify and improve their diet? Cherry branches suit rabbits well, and spruce or pine branches will be a great alternative for them. You can also give birch, young growth loves viburnum branches, many farmers give a mixture of sea buckthorn with maple branches. This type of roughage is very useful. It can not only be harvested in spring, summer, but also cut throughout the year. In rabbits, the incisors grow constantly, and so that they do not cause harm to the animal, they must be turned.
Branch feed trees
What tree branches can rabbits be given? Among all the trees listed above, it will be more beneficial for animals that which grows in the garden. Vegetation responds to various factors and produces its own composition of vitamins and other substances, which become a medicine for this area. Animals with an appetite eat many types of trees. The best options for them are:
- raspberry;
- poplar;
- maple;
- acacia;
- ash;
- cherry;
- gooseberry;
- currant;
- plum.
Rowan, apple tree branches can also be given to pets: this greatly facilitates the process of harvesting food. Rotten leaves must first be removed. In summer, pets love apple tree branches and eat them with appetite. In the wood of these species there is more protein, vitamins and calcium than in straw. In winter, animals experience a great lack of these substances, and therefore such branches are simply necessary for decorative rabbits.
Mountain ash grows almost everywhere in the wild, the search for poplar, elm and maple will also not be difficult. The branches of the apple tree in many grow in suburban areas.
Branches for rabbits can be given constantly and in large quantities, this will not bring harm. In early spring, not in the summer, twigs with unopened kidneys give eared ears to the diet: during this period they contain vitamins necessary for vitamin deficiency.
Unwanted branch feed
Another group of trees includes species that should not be abused. It includes:
- juniper;
- Birch;
- willow;
- alder;
- oak;
- Linden;
- Pine;
- spruce;
- apricot.
Oak tree branches for decorative rabbits and alder have a large number of fixing substances (tannins), with their help you can treat the indigestion characteristic of summer due to the large amount of green food and vegetable crops. In this case, you must be careful, as animals sometimes have constipation. Birch branches from the forest can become a diuretic for rabbits, which will subsequently lead to dehydration.
Healing branch feed
Willow branches have bactericidal qualities, and the beneficial properties of willow are good at treating diarrhea and bloating due to the content of salicylic acid. It also has an analgesic effect. The branches of linden, birch are added in the treatment of cystitis, they have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, and are also used for grinding teeth.
Rabbits eat well any fresh produce. Needles in the feed give even more limited. It is indispensable in the winter when there is no greens and vegetables. Recently cut branches of spruce, juniper and pine rabbits eat very well. Due to the high content of bactericidal substances and vitamins in them, it is unlikely that animals will suffer from infectious diseases.
In the winter, it is optimal to prepare birch and other tree branches for grinding teeth, otherwise malocclusion develops. If the teeth are not grinded, they begin to grow intensively, sometimes they bulge, turn around and even grow into soft tissues. This leads to dire consequences: at first the rabbit cannot eat fully, it is losing weight, it develops anorexia and concomitant diseases. To save a pet from such a fate, it is necessary to consult a specialist. Eared horns will cope on their own if they are constantly given twigs, and this also saves the cell from nibbling.
Prohibited Branch Feed
The most important thing is not to give your pets branches of poisonous tree species, which include:
- bird cherry;
- wolf bast;
- rosemary;
- elder;
- apricot;
- buckthorn.
Tree branches for rabbits, especially decorative ones, are dangerous. You can not rashly give any food. Such branches contain toxic substances. Also prohibited substances are found in lilacs, but rabbits will not want to eat it. Bone trees can be dangerous. Some farmers believe that they contain hydrocyanic acid, but many breeders refute this assertion, based on the fact that hydrocyanic acid is found only in the bone itself, but in the trunk and branches it is not.
Of course, there are farmers who take risks and give pets a taste of such food, but it can be dangerous. It is not advisable to feed rabbits with pear fruit, as they can cause bloating in the animal. This does not apply to wood, but pussies for pear branches do not feel much love.
Proper feeding of rabbits
Learning is gradual. Every day feeding rabbits with branch feed is undesirable, although it is possible. After 2 weeks, it is necessary to arrange the animals a break of up to 10 days. If this is not done, the pets eat without a break and themselves do not know the measure. The best regimen is to give rabbits branches every other day. You should be careful: since February, conifers begin to secrete resin, which gives the branches a bitter taste, and therefore they will have to be excluded from the diet.
Softwoods are advised to be included in the diet of individuals from October to March, during which period the reserves of vitamins in rabbits are minimal.
Another plus of feeding needles is the magical property of volatile, thanks to which the quality of animal fur is improved. When pets eat roughage, their body is filled with vitamin reserves. Spruce branches give infrequently, as they contain a lot of essential oils. But if an animal has a respiratory tract infection, the spruce content in the diet can be increased. Larch is rarely needed. Larch is also needed in the treatment of the respiratory tract.
Harvesting branch feed
The greatest need for solid food arises in rabbit breeders in the winter, although pets with great pleasure eat them year-round. Typically, tree branches for decorative rabbits are harvested in June, when a lot of young shoots of branches and foliage are still tender, and also while the rabbits have something to eat. Branches with a large number of leaves on them are chosen, because there are more nutrients in the wood. If you prepare such food for the future in advance, you don’t have to run after it in the snowdrifts in winter.
You should not cut branches from trees growing near the road or in the city: they have accumulated a lot of toxic substances and heavy metals, this will not benefit rabbits. The future food is cut into a length of 50-100 cm, not more than 1 cm in diameter, and collected in a broom, suspended - the food is ready. Dry products in dry, darkened rooms (attic, canopy, shed). Give pets only food of proper quality. Branches with a large diameter do not gnaw animals, they just gnaw at the bark, so it’s better to sort them right away so that you do not later remove the remains of food.
About twigs, rabbits grind their teeth well, so a couple of plump ones can be stocked. The branches must be monitored so that they do not over-read or yellow. Dry leaves can be chopped and added to the hay. Coniferous branches should be given to rabbits only fresh. If you follow the simple rules for caring for pets, you can raise healthy and active animals.
