@leahshomestead: Everyone went crazy when I shared a rabbit food pyramid… and I honestly didn’t expect it to hit a nerve. I’m not anti-pellet — we use pellets. But I am questioning how dependent we’ve become on feeding our animals only what we can buy instead of what we can grow. Rabbits are designed to eat mostly hay — about 80–90% of their diet — with fresh greens playing a huge role in digestion, minerals, and overall conditioning. Pellets have a place, but they were never meant to replace hay and greens. And no, this isn’t just about pet rabbits. This applies to meat rabbits and breeding stock too. This summer I’m going to show exactly how we’re feeding our rabbits using what we grow, what we forage, and how we realistically balance that with hay and limited pellets — no perfection, just real systems. If this made you uncomfortable, that’s okay. Follow along and watch it in action. — Roots & Rabbits Homestead 🤍#MeatRabbits #RabbitCare #HomesteadLife #RaisingRabbits #RabbitFeeding

mybronathan :

Rabbits weren't "designed" - they EVOLVED to adapt to the environmental conditions in which they LIVE. Rabbits that liked eating non-nutritious food didn't have as many babies & died off - leaving only those that liked eating NUTRITIOUS food. This enabled them to have MANY babies & FLOURISH. 👍🏻

Lilynx :

Being in vet med, I’ve often see rabbits develop serious digestive problems because they are not getting enough hay in their diet. Rabbits are hindgut fermenters, which means their digestive system depends on constant movement of high-fiber food to stay healthy. Hay provides the long, coarse fiber their gut needs to keep moving properly. Pellets alone do not provide enough of this type of fiber. When rabbits are fed mostly or only pellets, their digestion can slow down, which can lead to painful gastrointestinal stasis. In severe cases, this condition can be life-threatening. Rabbits have had to stay for many rounds of fluid therapy and meds to help their gut restart. For a rabbit to stay healthy, unlimited grass hay should make up the majority of the diet. Pellets should be given in controlled amounts, not as the main food source

ava🐸 :

a little bit different but i have pet rats; when i realized that they could be eating food scraps from my garden/grocery store, the wholeeee game changed. we save so much money on pellets now!

~Call_Me_Sky~ :

As somebody with a pet rabbit that chart was actually healthy for rabbits, I really like ur rabbit care even if they are meat rabbits you treat them well

tucker.337 :

tacomoo :

dude I got mine from had zero hay. all pellets 😒 2 of my 3 are like wtf is that. they have so much hay in there now. they'll learn. I got their hydroponic greens going already!

BullysBgone420 :

they love greens and veggies way more than pellets

Kendra :

100% agree

raulsoto2055 :

Do you ever do alfalfa hay instead of just regular hay for better forage

JJ :

I’m this close 🤏 to convincing my Aunt to do this too lmao its gotta be a team effort tho cause neither of us wanna dispatch the animals. We’re going to test it first by buying a couple live ones to see if we can even handle the process

Mrs_Cyclonic_Vortex :

where is that pyramid? lol

Dust Bunny :

I feel like the simplicity of life has diluted our knowledge in nutrition for both humans and animals. It would be nice to get back to more natural food instead of highly processed.

user7485631304811 :

Reducing your costs while maintaining nutritional needs is just smart

Gen❌️Kara :

can't wait for your garden video

Patricia Dunaway :

think you are correct

Kuma2✨️🐻✨️ :

I thought I was cursed somehow. You are the first person to inform me that they pretty much need to eat hay constantly. until now , I thought it was like a treat. Now my rabbits are very happy and are not dying. You have helped me so much. You are a blessing.

Provi John's :

this actually helps a lot bc we're gon be helping my mom w starting her farm and everything and she wants to do everything self sufficient and be as self sufficient as we can for us and the animals

「Kaydence || Klover』 :

What nutrients exactly are they getting from greens that they won't get from pellets? what's the exact breakdown of your rabbits' diet? Hay causes GI stasis and bloat. I've never had a rabbit bloat unless they're eating hay.

euphoricophelia 🖤 :

my rabbit refuses to eat greens 😒 hes a bum

homestdmom :

Whenever I sell rabbits, I always tell them 80% of their feed needs to come from hay next forragethen pellets, a very light hand with treat

🌈☆Nile☆🐾 :

90%???!? rabbits come into clinics every day quietly starving on these diets. hay is already the main ingredient in pellets. when you don't feed the recommended pellets you're only depriving your rabbits of important nutrients. rabbits "IN THE WILD" travel across vast grasslands searching for nutrient rich flowers, fruit, etc. the same old grass hay is simply not balanced for them.

Adam :

❤️❤️❤️

Madi at D&M Rabbitry :

The AI generated content was disappointing.