AlfalfaPelletsForRabbits

Alfalfa Pellets For Rabbits

When we are at the feed store in town, we commonly hear questions about feeding alfalfa rabbit pellets.  The question of alfalfa hay pellets for rabbits is also a common discussion in our local circle of rabbit owners that we interact with. So what is it about alfalfa pellets for rabbits?

This is one of our most important articles for new rabbit owners!
Feeding alfalfa to your weaned bunnies from age seven weeks to about six month
is a proven method for boosting their health
and longevity!

A quality alfalfa rabbit pellet is good for baby bunnies, or kits, that have nursed exclusively on mother rabbit’s milk for their first seven weeks.  Toward the end of the seven-week nursing period the baby rabbits can be transitioned to a quality alfalfa pellet. 

These young Bunnies need calcium and higher protein for their rapid growth and development.  They are building bones and muscles. At 6 months of age, transition the rapidly maturing rabbit to a diet of grass hays, some grass pellets, and some leafy green vegetables. 

Kits or bunnies mature best if they have mother rabbit’s milk for the first seven weeks.  Their stomachs and digestive systems work best with mother’s milk and are not ready for solid foods in this newborn stage.

So, when asked, “Are alfalfa pellets good for rabbits?”, you can say yes for newly weaned rabbits through to the age of about 6 months.  Alfalfa bunny pellets are wonderful for rabbits age 7 weeks to 6 months.

What Is Alfalfa?

Alfalfa is a legume rather than a grass.  Like grass, alfalfa grows wild and is also cultivated by farmers. The cultivated alfalfa is cut, allowed to dry and then is baled or bagged as feed for many domesticated animals such as rabbits, cows, horses, etc.  

Alfalfa hay is generally higher in protein and two times higher in calcium than grass hays.  Alfalfa may also cause bloat in animals that are not used to eating it. In addition, most species of alfalfa are leafier than most grasses.

AlfalfaForYoungRabbits

Here is a nice little video of a small homestead couple harvesting Alfalfa.

Is Alfalfa Good For Rabbits?

Alfalfa is good for young growing bunnies but is a bit rich for adult bunnies.  

As mentioned above, Alfalfa helps provide the extra protein and calcium that young growing bunnies (weaning after being on their mothers for seven weeks) need for development of strong bones and muscles.

According to Webmd, 1 cup of alfalfa sprouts provides the following nutrients:

  • Calories: 7.6
  • Protein: 1.3 grams
  • Fat: 0.2 grams
  • Carbohydrates : 0.7 grams
  • Fiber : 0.6 grams
  • Sugar: 0.1 grams

Additionally, alfalfa may be low in calories, but it has several significant nutrients that make it a powerhouse food. It contains:

  • Copper
  • Folate
  • Iron
  • Magnesium
  • Manganese
  • Vitamin B1
  • Vitamin B2
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin K

Alfalfa also has beneficial compounds such as alkaloids, coumarins, and flavonoids.

Fresh Alfalfa for Rabbits

Fresh alfalfa is good for a young rabbit.  The alfalfa is higher in protein and calcium than most grasses like timothy or orchard grass.  The rapidly growing young rabbit benefits from the extra protein and calcium as it help develop strong bones and muscle mass.

Adult rabbits can eat some fresh alfalfa, but they do not need the extra calcium.  The extra calcium is not beneficial to the adult rabbit.

Alfalfa Hay For Rabbits

As with fresh alfalfa, alfalfa hay is good for young growing bunnies that are newly weaned.  The extra protein and calcium in alfalfa hay helps the young rabbits grow strong bones and muscles.  The extra calcium can be detrimental for mature rabbits aged 6 months and older.

Calcium Bad for Rabbits?

Again, young rabbits that are still growing and developing bones benefit from the higher calcium levels in alfalfa.  Adult rabbits do not need the extra calcium. In fact, an excess of calcium may cause calcium deposits in a rabbit’s urinary tract, kidneys, ureters, bladder.  Moreover, excess calcium may form a “sludge” in the rabbit’s kidneys or bladder, known as “bladder sludge”.

Here is a great video with awesome visuals regarding rabbit “bladder sludge” due to excess calcium!

What Is In Alfalfa Pellets?

A quality manufactured alfalfa pellet consists of harvested alfalfa hay that is dried and then ground into alfalfa meal.  The meal is compacted and formed into small pellets of various sizes by a pellet mill machine.  

Alfalfa pellets are high in protein and calcium.  The pellets also contain vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients, or trace nutrients, that are specifically formulated for rabbits. We note that some rabbits may not be getting enough micro-nutrients from their primary diet of hay.  So, it may be beneficial to provide a quality manufactured pellet to your rabbit as an augmentation to its primary diet of grass hays. 

See below for the number of pellets to feed your rabbits. Generally, manufactured pellets have about 22% crude fiber, about 14% crude protein, about 1% fat and about 1% calcium.

Alfalfa Pellets For Baby Rabbits

Alfalfa pellets can be very beneficial for baby rabbits.  After nursing on their mother’s for seven weeks, the baby rabbit benefits from a high protein, high calcium alfalfa pellet.  So, from about 7 weeks to about 6 months of age, the young rabbit benefits from alfalfa pellets. At 6 months of age, slowly transition the rapidly maturing rabbit to a diet of grass hays, some grass pellets, and some leafy green vegetables. 

What is Crude Fiber vs Dietary Fiber in Rabbit Feed

Again, the crude fiber content of alfalfa pellets is usually around 22%.  But, what does crude fiber mean?

Well, when speaking of the science of crude fiber and dietary fiber, we quickly get very technical and frankly beyond my paygrade. So, here is one of the best quotes that made some sense to me.

Dietary fiber is the sum of soluble and non soluble fiber from plant based foods which contains pectins, gums, and mucilage, while crude fiber is the insoluble part of cell wall of plants which is mostly consisted of cellulose (and also lignin in woody plants). Crude fiber is less fermentable and may only have some benefits in peristaltic movement while dietary fiber is highly fermentable and may positively affect bowel movement and metabolism like lipid profile and glycemic control.

Abbasi, Behnood. (2019). Re: Based on nutrition, what is the difference between dietary fiber and crude fiber ?

My interpretation is that crude fiber is a subset of dietary fiber.  The crude subset being less helpful to the rabbit’s specific digestive system. This would seem to support the statements that feeding only pellets to adult rabbits, and not hay, may make your rabbit’s digestive system less healthy and more fragile.

Further, fiber helps move hair and other indigestible items, that the rabbit ingests while grooming itself and other rabbits, through the rabbit’s digestive system quickly. Without adequate fiber the rabbit’s digestive system literally slows down and things like hair balls begin to pile up and create significant health problems for your rabbit.

What is Crude Protein in Rabbit Feed?

Crude protein is a technical term.  Rather than try to explain it in my words, here are some helpful quotes.

However, the term “crude protein” does not refer to or measure how much protein is present in forages. So what exactly is crude protein? Crude protein is a chemical analysis of the forage that calculates the amount of nitrogen, which is the building block for amino acids that form proteins. This is then used to estimate the amount of true protein and non-protein nitrogen. To calculate crude protein, total nitrogen is determined, then multiplied by 6.25 (there is 1 part N for every 6.25 parts protein in most forages). 

Nutrition-101-crude-protein

The “crude” term refers to the approximate amount of protein in foods that is calculated from the determined nitrogen content. While this percentage suggests the amount of protein in the food, it does not provide insight into the quality of the nutrient itself.

Food Labels and Nutrition

Again, the science gets very deep very quickly.  My interpretation is that there is lots of wiggle room in the term crude protein.  So, it goes without saying that if you choose to supplement your rabbit’s diet with pellets, then it is important to provide a quality pellet.

Do Female Rabbits Need More Protein Than Male Rabbits?

The Ministry of Agriculture in Cairo, Egypt published a study in the Egyptian Journal of Rabbit Science called Effect of Dietary Protein Levels on Rabbits Performance.  The key findings of the study were:

  • The number of live kits at birth and at weaning, along with the bunny weights at birth and at weaning, increased significantly when the Doe’s were provided with a 16% to 18% protein diet, rather than just a 14% protein diet.
  • The kits’ milk intake also improved significantly when mother rabbits were provided with the higher protein diet.

We surmise that pregnant and nursing mother rabbits, or Does, should receive a higher protein diet. A sixteen percent to eighteen percent protein diet seems to help the doe and her kits perform better, as in be healthier and hardier, than with a 14% protein diet.  But most mature male rabbits, or Bucks, are healthy on a well-balanced 14% protein diet.

Timothy Pellets for Rabbits?

There are rabbit pellets made primarily with timothy hay instead of alfalfa.  Like the alfalfa-based pellets, the timothy pellets are also manufactured to contain nutrients formulated for rabbits. These timothy pellets are for augmenting the diet of the mature rabbit that does not need the extra calcium found in the alfalfa pellet.

Click for: Our Guide to What Can Rabbits Eat!

Are Pellets Good For Rabbits?

Yes, a quality alfalfa rabbit pellet can help provide young rabbits with the protein and calcium they need as they develop strong bones and muscle. An adult rabbit can benefit from a grass-based pellet, such as a rabbit timothy pellet or a pellet that is a mix of timothy and orchard grass hay. 

Rabbit pellets are manufactured to include vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients in the proper ratio for rabbit health and longevity. Pellets may be used to augment the adult rabbit’s primary diet of grass hays, and green leafy vegetables.

How Much Alfalfa Pellet Feed To Rabbit?

Some veterinarians recommend that rabbit owners view rabbit pellets as a vitamin; meaning your adult rabbit may have a little bit every day, but it is not to be provided in large or unlimited amounts. 

Access to alfalfa pellets should be limited to something near 1/8 cup for each 5lbs of rabbit body weight per day. Additionally, The House Rabbit Society makes an excellent point about not buying more than six weeks of feed at a time because and it may begin to mold or spoil.

For more regarding number of pellets to feed rabbits.

What If My Rabbit Eats Pellets But Not Hay?

If your rabbit eats pellets but will not eat hay, or will not eat enough hay, then you have a problem. 

The calories and nutrients found in manufactured pellets are more than what the adult rabbit needs.  A diet based primarily on pellets may likely lead to obesity and serious digestive system problems.

Personal Experience With Rabbit Pellets

I admit that when we started raising rabbits we fed mostly pellets to our adult rabbits. Interestingly, my local veterinarian was casual about it and did not advise me differently. But over time, we learned that we need to wean our rabbits off of free access to pellets and limit their pellet intake to a maximum of 1/8 of a cup per day.

So our recommendation is to continue to wean the stubborn rabbits off of the pellets and provide plenty of quality hay. When the rabbits get hungry enough, they will eat the hay and a hay based diet will become their happy and healthy norm.

Why Feed Alfalfa Pellets?

Alfalfa rabbit pellets are beneficial for newly weaned bunnies between the ages of about seven weeks and six months. The extra protein and calcium in alfalfa pellets help develop the strong bones and muscles that the bunny needs for a happy and healthy life.

Alfalfa Pellet Hardness and Rabbit Teeth

Rabbits have teeth that keep growing, their teeth grow throughout their life. So if a rabbit’s teeth are not worn down by eating and gnawing, then the teeth become overgrown or may wear unevenly. Overgrown or mal-formed teeth can be very painful for the rabbit and will likely lead to other problems for the rabbit, such as malnutrition.

Rabbit alfalfa pellets are hard and a quality pellet does not easily crumble.  Pellets and grass hay help properly wear down the rabbit’s teeth and keep the rabbit’s dental hygiene healthy.

Can I Make Rabbit Pellets?

Yes, if you wish to, you can make your own rabbit pellets.   Here is an article about making your own pellets using a pellet mill machine.

Here is a short video of a rabbit pellet mill machine making feed pellets.  This machine is small scale and meant for a hobby farm.

Final Thoughts

Feeding a quality alfalfa pellet to newly weaned bunnies, until they are about six months old, is a proven method for raising healthier, stronger rabbits. Alfalfa is a legume hay and has a higher protein and calcium content than other typical grass hays like timothy and orchard grass.

Commercial Alfalfa pellets also include vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients formulated for rabbit health. This higher level of protein and calcium found in alfalfa pellets help young rabbits grow strong bones and muscles.

However, the higher calcium levels found in alfalfa pellets can be detrimental for adult rabbits; leading to obesity and discouraging the adult rabbit to eat enough hay, or long fiber, to maintain healthy digestion.

Finally, the extra calcium found in alfalfa pellets may cause “bladder sludge” and other harmful urinary system issues in adult rabbits, so while these pellets are great for newly mature rabbits, be aware when offering alfalfa pellets to aged and fully adult rabbits!

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