Baby rabbits are healthier and grow faster with a specially designed baby rabbit food that is high in fat and fiber. In fact, baby rabbits are accustomed to the doe's milk that is high in fat and low in sugar (Coates et. al. 1964).
Baby rabbits don't produce enough enzymes needed to digest excess starch (sugar) until later in life. Feeding baby rabbits a diet with a lot of grain or grain by-products makes them more likely to get diarrhea. A rabbit feed higher in fat and lower in carbohydrates helps baby bunnies make the switch from the doe's milk at weaning and provides the energy they need for healthy growth.
As baby bunnies get older they still naturally use fat as an energy source. In fact, rabbits need a high fiber diet because good bacteria ferment fiber in the caecum to produce the healthy fats rabbits use.
Scientific studies show that increasing the fat content of rabbit food will improve protein AND energy efficiency as well as improve the feed conversion ratio (easily by 20%) for growing rabbits (Arrington et. al.1974).
Most commercial rabbit feeds don't have near enough fat and fall short of the needs of baby bunnies. Generally, they have less than 3% crude fat when research shows that baby rabbit food should have around 8% fat when balanced with high quality protein.
If you choose a healthy rabbit food that has a higher fat content for your growing bunny rabbits then make sure it is using oil from natural sources and not simply refined vegetable oil or worse, rendered animal fat. This is because when adding fat to a rabbit's diet you should also be adding vitamin E, which whole oil seeds from plants naturally have.
• Whole oil seeds are naturally high in vitamin E.
• Rendered animal fat or refined vegetable oils ARE NOT!
To learn more about a high fat natural baby rabbit food check out naturalrabbitfood.com
Arrington, L.R., J.K. Platt, and D.E. Franke 1974. Fat Utilization by Rabbits. Journalof Animal Science 38:76-80.
Coates, M.E., MargretE. Gregory, and S.Y. Thompson 1964. The Composition of Rabbit's Milk. British Journal of Nutrition 18:583-586
David Sherwood has grown up raising rabbits for fun and profit. His advanced academic and real world experience have given him extensive knowledge that will help you understand and solve many of the problems that face those who raise rabbits. To learn more about his qualifications and to get 'common sense' answers to rabbit questions, go to http://naturalrabbitfood.com
To learn more about the importance of using a balanced natural rabbit food and to see it's unique and proven formulation (now commercially available), go to: http://naturalrabbitfood.com/baby-rabbit-food/
To learn more about the importance of using a balanced natural rabbit food and to see it's unique and proven formulation (now commercially available), go to: http://naturalrabbitfood.com/baby-rabbit-food/
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