This is a direct quote from her. I am not posting her name though.
The does who need the most feed will eat the most, so that helps.
Free feeding though doesn’t necessarily mean not knowing how much you’re providing. I’m gonna detail my info below, but remember, feed to appetite. You want empty, or nearly empty, feeders but not frantically hungry rabbits at feeding time. They should come to the feed and start eating right away, but they shouldn’t be so hungry they are fighting for feeder space.
On average, documented over 3 years with hundreds of rabbits and hundreds of litters both in colonies and cages…..
Not pregnant rabbits over 4 months old will consume about 6 oz of pellets daily when fed to appetite (which means they aren’t frantically feed seeking at feeding time, but have none left and are definitely interested in feed and will begin to eat pretty much immediately).
Does who ARE bred, but not nursing a litter, will generally eat 2-3oz more each day the 2nd and 3rd week of gestation, but 2-3oz LESS the last 3-5 days.
Does will, within 48 hours of kindle (and breed back in colony or intensive rhythm cage cycles), increase daily consumption by (in addition to their normal 6 oz):
1/2 – 1 oz per kit, the first week
1-2 oz per kit the 2nd week
Most does will “max out” around 12oz of pellets daily by the end of the 2nd week…they typically can’t consume more.
Beginning the third week though, kits are consuming feed on their own even in colonies. Adding up to 2oz per kit to the does 6oz ration provides enough for the does actual consumption (9-12oz usually) and the kits (usually about 1oz per kit).
By the 4th week, kits will consume 2-3oz daily but the doe is about to kindle again and her consumption will have dropped back to 4-6 oz daily.
Kits from 5-7 weeks old will eat up to 1oz per week of age, but from 8-12 weeks they will eat 10-12 oz daily
Between 2-16 weeks of age, they will decrease consumption to about 6oz a day by 16 weeks old.