shared post from FB
Part 2 of 4
This is part of a series of posts to answer the question of alternative sustainable rabbit feeds that will support production and profitability
What can be sustainably grown on the homestead/farm and in the backyard for rabbits, that will constitute good nutrition will be briefly visited here. I will not go over the whole list, and not in detail.
Spent brewers grains – If you happen to have access to a local brewery, using spent brewers grains as rabbit feed is an option. The biggest concern, I will point out is that you will need to be vigilant about molds that can grow in the spent brewers grains if not used right way, especially in the warmer time of the year. Spent brewers grains are mostly barley, which is basically like cooked cereal. There is no alcohol content in them. Some breweries do ‘designer’ batches, and they may include other ingredients. Make sure you know what is in the source you bring home. A huge word of caution: Sometimes breweries use hops. These may or may not be included in the spent grains. Be sure you know when or if the brewery uses hops in a batch. Dogs are attracted to hops, and if they eat them, it will kill them. We do not bring hops on to our farm (even though people say they make a great natural wormer for chickens). Spent brewers grains commonly do not contain hops. The main reason we started using spent grain was for a feed for our commercial scale redworm farm. We started feeding it to our goats (increased milk production in goats and cows), and to our pigs. I have occasionally fed it to our chickens, peafowl, and quail and fish. And I also have fed some to our rabbits. But the main reason we have been using it on our farm was as a bulk feed source to support our large scale redworm farm. I am not sure we would be spending the time and gas $$ to go get the spent grain weekly, if it were not for this need for the redworm farm. But it is otherwise free a free source of feed. It contains 27-33% protein DM. Studies show that rabbit fed spent grain as 25- 45% of their diets do well. And there is evidence that being fed spent grain excusively for short periods give acceptable results as well. You can see some of this study info supported online on Feedipedia. But mostly this is using dried spent grains. We have a wood burning stove going all winter to heat our house, so I can dry the spent grain there (if you do not mind the smell of barley), to be able to feed dried grains. Or I can feed it out wet (being careful to only do this with fresh spent grain). I just wanted to point out this alternative source of feed. It can be sustainable if you are saving $$ from not buying rabbit feed, or gaining other benefit from bringing the spent grain to your place (or bringing it home when you happen to otherwise be going to town). We have been bringing spent brewers grains to our farm for over 18 years. This is actually NOT a mainstay for our rabbit’s diets though. In fact they rarely get any. There are so many other better options on my place. However this is a good alternative feed source for rabbits and other livestock.
Azolla is an excellent feed for rabbits. We grow Azolla caroliniana ( also called Azolla Filiculoides, and sometimes commonly called ‘pacific mosquito fern’) , which is a native species, in kiddie pools and totes, etc.. This is truly a sustainable feed source. I simply add non-chlorinated water to a container, add some worm castings as the nutrient source (you can use bunny poo for nutrient source if you choose), and then add a little bit of azolla. As you add the azolla to the water, gently rubbing it between your palms will break it apart and encourage fast reproduction. It reproduces by vegetative cloning. Once the pool is covered with the azolla, you can start harvesting to feed to your rabbits. It will double in mass in as little as 3 days (but may take a bit longer) so it is truly a sustainable and reliable feed source. Most instructions for growing azolla call for adding 1 KG of cow dung to a pool pf azolla every two weeks for high production. But with cow dung, you also need to add a phosphorous source. But I recommend using worm castings instead for a few reasons. Worm castings are completely clean. The gut of the worm consumes and kills pathogens associated with human and animals diseases such as salmonella and those associated with manure – think E. coli. Worm castings contain plant available nutrients in a form plants can uptake directly. And you do not need to add a phosphorous source to the azolla pools if you use worm castings. This is a demonstration of why/how true sustainable farming/homesteading works. It is a connected web of sustainability (feed bunny poo to the worms, which make worm castings, which feed the azolla to feed your rabbits, which in turn feeds feed you). You can scoop the azolla off the water’s surface, and feed it directly, or let it dry some (in the shade) first. If you use manure (rather than worm castings) as a nutrient source, you will want to rinse the azolla first before presenting it to your rabbits. Azolla is a common livestock feed source in places other than N. America. As a hint: an area of 4-4.5sq m that is about 10 cm deep can grow enough to provide 2kg/day of azolla to supplement 2 dairy cows. Studies show (they are available online) that including azolla up to 60 percent of the diet does not adversely change the meat output, or health or production of a rabbit as compared to a commercial pelleted diet. This is good news for sustainable management.
More to follow in parts 3-4.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Backyard.Meat.Rabbits/permalink/1364684436988819/