Over-flowing nestboxes! The past week has seen a boom in baby bunnies. We have 1 new litter of Mini Rex (opals) with one more due adding to the 2 litters we had. We have 2 litters of Cinnamons -- one that delivered 12! And, 4 litters of Mini Lops. All were large litters (6-8) and doing well.
With all the discussion about feed here in the NW, I will report that several months ago I switched back to Del's Rabbit Feed (16%). Yes...just the "cheap" stuff if anything is cheap anymore. What we found with the Phaus' was inconsistency in the food itself as well as our Cinnamons not gaining weight as they should.
With the Del's we have had a rabbits gaining weight as they should and after the switch, we are now seeing litters again. In the winter, after feeding Phaus' for the summer/fall, we had problems with the does not taking. I also attribute part this to the weather.
With the Del's we do supplement a bit with sunflower seeds, rolled oats and raw pumpkin seeds. (Papaya during molt is also added to those who need it.) We have also been using grass hay since fall with no problems.
In the beginning years with rabbits, all we fed was Del's. We didn't experiment with the "fancy" brands and our rabbits did just fine. When Emily did start to try the others, all I really noticed was an increase in the food bill!
I do understand that adding anything (even the few items) does add to the cost of feeding, but we added those even when feeding more expensive brands. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. There are so many variables that each plays a role in having healthy and thriving rabbits.
