Hi all. I'm adopting a 6 month old flemish giant cross (rescue said she will probably be 9 pounds-12 pounds in weight when fully grown) bunny in a week. I have a bale of hay already but I want to know, how much veg should I give her? (Now and when she's fully grown), also how much hay she will go through in a year? 2 bales?? Also, what type of pellets do I buy as I've been struggling to find pellets with no bad things like cereal, soybean hulls and maize etc with the right protein and fibre (which I read should be 16-18%) as the only pellets close to that I have found are either stockfeed ones with 18% fibre etc but it has cereals and maize which I don't want to give. Would it be okay for her to just have pellets with 13% crude protein and 16% fibre (or something similar) but in a larger quantity? Also any tips for a first time flemmie owner? Thanks in advance, my partner and I are very excited to bring our girl home.
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What to feed a flemish giant rabbit?
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She will need 2-3 cups of veggies per 6 pounds of body weight. Start out with small amounts and work your way up. Introduce veggies one at a time and stop feeding anything that causes problems.
Are they 50 pound bales of hay? 2 bales sounds about right. Possibly more if you put loose hay in the litter pan and it gets soiled or if she pulls a bunch out of a hay rack and it gets soiled.
I don't think you will find a pellet with no soybean hulls or cereals. The good news is adult rabbits only need 1/4 cup per 6 pound of body weight. Its more of a supplement to ensure they get what they need than anything else. Hay and veggies should make up most of her diet. Pick a plain pellet (no colorful bits, dried fruit etc) that is timothy based and it will be good enough.
Until she is 7 months old she will need 1/2 cup alfalfa based pellets per 6 pound of body weight.
Pellets only make up a small portion of their diet (thankfully). There are a couple options of soy, grain-free. The Garden Select line of Oxbow pellets are soy and wheat free. You may also want to check out Sherwood Rabbit food. You can see more on these (and a couple others) on the following page of my website:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/pellet-food.html
Be sure to find out from the rescue if they have been offering her any greens and, if so, which types. You don't want to make any changes to her diet until a couple weeks after she has settled into her new home. (That goes for pellets as well. Get some of the pellets she has been used to from the rescue and keep feeding those for the first week or so. After that you can start transitioning her to the new food.)
Once settled, you can gradually increase the amount and variety of greens. Check here for how to introduce new greens safely:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies....
Hay bales come in different sizes/weights, but typically, if you are buying any large bale, the price is super economical. I figured once it averaged me a mere $2/month (for 2 average size rabbits).