Knowing how many rabbit pellets to feed your rabbit each day is very important information that will shape the health and happiness of your homestead, farm or pet rabbits for their entire lifetime.
When you just start out with raising rabbits, it can be hard to know what a balanced and healthy amount of pellets per day is! This is something we first struggled with with our own rabbits, offering them way too many pellets per day. Fortunately, we found a good balance and want to share with you our best advice, so read on!
A widely agreed upon amount of rabbit pellets per day is about 1/4th cup of pellets per six pounds of rabbit body weight per day.
Some quick tips when it comes to rabbits and pellets:
- Do not provide an unlimited number of pellets throughout the day to your bunnies.
- Do not feed rabbits moldy pellets.
- If there are pellets left over for the next day, then reduce the daily amount accordingly!
Most experienced rabbit owners agree that a mix of pellets, hay and green leafy vegetables is the best for mature rabbits.
Our recommendation is to start out with a baseline diet of hay and leafy green vegetables and supplement that baseline with some quality pellets.
In addition, we recommend feeding the hay and leafy greens in the morning and then the supplemental pellets in the evening. This helps ensure that your rabbits have more time to fill up on hay and leafy greens! As time goes by and you gain experience, you can modify the mix between pellets, hay and leafy green vegetables.
Now some people do not like the idea of feeding a manufactured or processed food (pellets) to their rabbits. They prefer to feed raw, fresh foods to their rabbits. On the other hand, some rabbit farmers see the benefit in feeding manufactured pellets because these pellets contain a broad mix of vitamins, minerals, and supplements that are formulated specifically for rabbits.
Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of feeding pellets to rabbits helps us understand the guidance for the correct amount of pellets to feed rabbits. So, let’s gets right into the nitty gritty of the pros and cons of feeding pellets.
Why Are Pellets Good for Rabbits
Nutrients
Pellets contain vitamins, minerals, and supplements specifically formulated for rabbit health and can act as a daily multi-vitamin supplement. While feeding a non-pelleted diet to your rabbits is possible, it requires an more experienced and disciplined owner who can provide the careful balance of nutrition from hay and a balanced mix of daily vegetables.
Convenience
Pellets are easy to measure, easy to prepare, and easy to provide. They are a quick and effective way to supplement your bunny’s diet.
Accessibility
Pellets are readily available at the pet store or feed store throughout the year and can be purchased quickly when you run out.
Storagability
Pellets are easy to store and have a relatively long shelf life if kept dry and covered.
Quality
Quality manufacturing processes are used in making rabbit pellets. Pellets do not need to be refrigerated, like green leafy vegetables, so shipping is also very reliable.
Why Are Pellets Bad for Rabbits:
Nutrients
What is really in the Pellets? Rabbit pellets can have a long and complex list of ingredients that most rabbit owners do not understand. We recommend asking the following questions about the pellets you offer your rabbits:
- Were the ingredients sprayed with insecticides and other chemicals?
- Are there preservatives, additives and fillers mixed in with the vitamins and nutrients?
Too Easy and Too Convenient
The long shelf-life and year round accessibility of pellets make feeding rabbits pellets almost too easy. In fact, feeding pellets to rabbits is so convenient that it can encourage the development of bad rabbit-raising habits, like relying on pellets too much and forgetting to incorporate the important hay and clean leafy vegetables that are necessary for your rabbit’s longterm health.
I will be the first to admit that, when I was a new rabbit owner, I made this mistake! Don’t let the convenience of pellets fool you into thinking they are all your rabbits need.
Quantity
Feeding only pellets (or mostly pellets) to your rabbits is not a healthy practice. Pellets have their place as part of the rabbit’s balanced diet, but they are not and should not be treated as their primary source of food.
Quality
Think about the qualilty of the pellets you buy and offer to your rabbits, such as:
- How long have these rabbit pellets been on the shelf?
- Are they beginning to mold?
- Did they get damp sitting on the loading dock at the store?
Note that while some pellets are tightly compressed and dense, other pellets are not as compressed and are not as dense. There is variability in the amount of material by volume among pellet producers.
Can Baby Bunnies Eat Pellets?
No, baby bunnies should only ingest their mother’s milk. Three- and four-week-old bunnies that are beginning to leave the nest to explore during the day and then return to the nest at night to nurse may begin to eat a few pellets. Beginning to eat adult rabbit food is part of the weaning process, so nibbling on a few pellets is okay for these almost-weened rabbits.
Discuss Feeding Rabbit Pellets with Your Veterinarian
We suggest discussing your rabbit’s diet with your veterinarian. Veterinarians will often recommend several different types or brands of pellets for you to choose from, or perhaps blend into your rabbit’s diet.
Your veterinarian can also elaborate on and explain some of the complex ingredients in manufactured pellets. Further, if your rabbit seems either over-weight or under-weight, then your veterinarian can help you modify your rabbit’s diet for better long-term health and happiness.
A Great Resource for Rabbit Diet
This post provides you with the basics regarding how much rabbit pellets to feed your rabbit. For more information about providing your rabbit with a healthy diet, including discussion of fruits, veggies, and leafy greens, check out our posts on Fruits Rabbits Can Eat, Veggies Rabbits Can Eat, and Herbs Rabbit Can Eat.
House Rabbit Society also publishes a guide for quantities of food to feed your rabbit. Again, this quick guide is referenced by many across the internet and is helpful for many new rabbit owners!
Final Thoughts On How Much Rabbit Pellets Per Day
This How Much Rabbit Pellets post is part of our larger post about What Can Rabbits Eat? Please click and give it a read as it is full of great information and I guarantee you will learn something valuable.
As we discussed throughout this article there are pros and cons to feeding pellets to your rabbits. The general rule of thumb is to use pellets to augment your rabbit’s balanced diet of hay and leafy green vegetables. That means using about one-quarter cup of pellets to each 6 pounds of rabbit body weight each day.
This amount of pellets will ensure they remain as a “side dish”, which is a good practice for new or less experienced rabbit owners. We recommend keeping high quality hay and grasses as your rabbits’ main entre with a nice supplement of leafy vegetables, fruit treats, and nutritious herbs rounding out their well-balanced diet.
Finally, always observe your rabbits and be sure to talk with your veterinarian about what and how much you are feeding your rabbits. And let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below!