Lucerne Tree versus Pellet study
On three
separate occasions a NSW commercial rabbit breeder conducted a study using twenty youngsters divided into two groups. Each
group, from weaning age until three months old were fed either a diet consisting solely of commercial rabbit pellets (based
on lucerne hay) or foliage from Lucerne trees. Tree Lucerne (Cytisus palmensis) or otherwise known as Tagasaste, is an attractive
evergreen woody shrub/small tree with grey green leaves.
The tree is well renowned in agriculture circles
for providing nutritious livestock fodder. I found it interesting that the youngsters on the 'tree foliage' gained
weight at a slightly slower pace, however at the final weigh in both groups were on par. Another minor difference noted by
the breeder was that he thought the pellet group displayed a slightly healthier coat.
Food for thought and great food for bunnies!
Above: a healthy
Lucerne tree and on the right a close up of its foliage.
A Kitten's Week by Week Growth Chart
It's fascinating how tiny baby
rabbits double and quadruple in size in such relatively short period of time. A major influencing factor is because rabbit's
milk is very rich in comparison to many other mammals and certainly the composition of their milk is unique to their own species.
The newborn kitten was placed on a cup saucer measuring 15.24 cms (6 inches) across. Bear in mind the growth rate
example is basically applicable to breeds of comparative size, such as Mini Lop, Mini Rex and Jersey Wooly. If I took photos
of a kitten from a tiny or much larger breed the results would be considerably different. (for those that may question if
my methods were humane — to help maintain body warmth the photos were taken within a few minutes on a pre warmed plate
and cotton wool).
Below left: Day One
A butterfly marked Mini Cashmere
Lop just a few hours old and highly vulnerable! At this stage kits are hairless, eyes are closed and the only way of finding
their way around is by their senses (seeking warmth) and ability to crawl. A warm nest is essential for survival. The rounded
tummy indicates that the kit received a good start in life with a generous feed of mother's milk.
Below right: One Week Old
Not so naked now! The pink skin has developed a thin covering
of white and blue fur colour. If lost out its cozy nest he or she is still vulnerable to exposure. In three days time the
eyelids will open. 
Above left: Two Weeks Old Kits
at this age may start to nibble so it's highly advisable to line the nest with edible meadow hay. This practice begins
the natural process of weaning (as it is meant to occur in wild and domesticated rabbits) and surely helps avoid digestive
upsets in the future.
Above right: Three Weeks Old —
and starting to fill
up the plate! She's out of the nest box now and running around with siblings. She also drinks from the water bowl and
shares breakfast and dinner with her devoted mum Celeste.
Above left: Four Weeks Old One
of her brother's was curious as to what she was getting up to every week, so he came along to find out. He is a siamese
smoke colour and the other two littermates are red-eyed whites. During the week I noticed the kittens were jumping up on their
mum's resting shelf. It's quite a leap (10 inches/25.4 cms) for such littlies and no doubt from hereon the shelf will
become quite crowded.
Above right: Five Weeks Old
I decided to
call this little sweetie 'Anastasia'.
Anastasia and her littermates are very active and act as if they are always
pathetically hungry. Perhaps if they didn't spend so much time jumping up and down like yoyos from the elevated shelf,
they wouldn't work up so much of an appetite!
Left: Six Weeks Old Obviously it won't be long before she'll outgrow
the plate! You probably can't tell from the photo but due to the onset of her first moult and extensive rainfall (moisture
in the air) her soft baby coat is starting to matt. I'll probably clip Anastasia soon, so she doesn't have to put
up with the time consuming hassle of combing and brushing out felting/tangles.
Insect Eating Carnivores
Years ago someone told me they thought they saw their
rabbit eating a worm. Another time someone said they were convinced their bunny munched on a pupa.
Since the rabbits were digging in the garden at the time, I had my doubts about these case stories.
Being a bit
of a gardener, I thought maybe the owners could have mistaken the worm or pupa for a piece of root/plant material. Out of
curiosity I conducted an experiment on a few of my bunnies, but it was obvious they weren't in the slightest bit interested
in snacking on a worm.
Recently though, someone told me her rabbit scampered after a cockroach and enthusiastically
devoured it – making crunching noises and all! Conjures up a gross picture but nonetheless I thought it was interesting
info. Another pet owner reported seeing her rabbit eat a live stick insect. Makes you wonder whether similar to cats and dogs
sometimes needing to eat grass, if our rabbits occasionally need to eat fresh meat!
Meat Eaters?
Apart from eating insects, I received an e-mail about a young bunny
who
"cleaned a chicken bone of its meat. She did not eat the bone. There was only a little meat on it to begin with
but all she left of it was little bunny tooth scratches. Do you think she did that to satisfy chewing urges regarding to bone,
or well maybe she just likes chicken. I came here to look it up to make sure it couldn't hurt her. She is a spoiled house
bunny that is already litter trained. If it doesn't hurt her and she wants it . . . I don't see why she shouldn't
have it!"
To which I replied: I've also heard of bunnies eating dog or cat food but wouldn't
recommend regularly providing or allowing them to eat any kind of meat as part of their diet. This is simply because
they are herbivores (vegetarians) and who's to know what the consequences are of them eating 'foreign'
food or if it is detrimental to their digestive system. The trouble is, you won't know if chicken meat could hurt her
until it's too late, best to stick to a natural diet and lean on the cautious side is my advice!
Received
with thanks from Karen Deweske
"I was just reading about the rabbit that ate some chicken off a bone and read
about other people saying that their bunnies will eat dog or cat food. Well I have one of those bunnies! He is a house Rex
and his favorite food is Whiskas Cat dry, and not just any of them, but the Chicken and Rabbit flavour! It has never had any
effect on him and he has been eating it for 2 years now. I don't dare change the brand though he can eat other varieties
of Whiskas, however he does prefer the chicken and rabbit one. *LOL* It's quite funny watching three cats and a rabbit
at the food bowl but it's a different story when my little dog comes in and want's some too. Poor Malabu (the rabbit)
is chased away but he doesn't mind, he just comes running to tell me he has been brutally attacked *LOL*. Mind you, he
is bigger than the dog!"
Malabu's story has been included as simply another interesting
case example, please do not take it as an endorsement to feed any form of meat to bunnies. Although the mentioned cat food
advertised chicken and RABBIT flavoured, I very much doubt there'd be significant, if any, genuine rabbit meat in the
ingredients. Once again, I'll illiterate that it pays to be wary. Take for example when man decided to feed cattle
their own by-products and bovine bone meal, the consequence caused the horrific and highly infectious Mad Cow Disease. I guess
that in itself would be a good reason to avoid the unlikely (but who's to know or able to predict?) cause of Mad Rabbits
running around! J
There's an interesting story about this fellow . . . 
