Rabbit

Oryctolagus cuniculus

Natural diet Rabbit

Rabbits are herbivorous foragers, consuming a diverse diet including grasses, leaves, roots and more. It is common for rabbits to consume their own feces (coprophagy).

Grasses

Herbs

Leaves

Feeding advice Rabbit

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 3 kg and eats 5% of its body weight, it will get

3 x 0,05 = 0,15 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

5% Concentrates
2,5% Leafy greens and cabbages
2,5% Other vegetables
90% Grass, alfalfa, roughage

Proportions (fresh product)

0,05 x 0,15 kg = 8 g concentrates
0,03 x 0,15 kg = 4 g leafy greens and cabbages
0,03 x 0,15 kg = 4 g other vegetables
0,9 x 0,15 kg = 135 g grass, alfalfa, roughage

Feeding advice Rabbit

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 3 kg and eats 5% of its body weight, it will get

3 x 0,05 = 0,15 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

5% Concentrates
2,5% Leafy greens and cabbages
2,5% Other vegetables
90% Grass, alfalfa, roughage

Proportions (fresh product)

0,05 x 0,15 kg = 8 g concentrates
0,03 x 0,15 kg = 4 g leafy greens and cabbages
0,03 x 0,15 kg = 4 g other vegetables
0,9 x 0,15 kg = 135 g grass, alfalfa, roughage

Diet Suggestions

In moderation

Other vegetables

Not recommended

Fruits

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Dental disease
Malocclusion
Cecal Impaction
Obesity
Heart problems
Fatty liver disease

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughages (read more about browsers and grazers).
Grass hay is preferred over lucerne hay as it is lower in protein and calcium.
Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging their feed. Besides this, scatter feeding is also a good option (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

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