2015-11-26

Day 1 - The Native American Winter Horse Feed Experiment

Despite the title of this post, this experiment is on rabbits. It was inspired from reading biographical stories of American Indians and fur trappers on how they fed their horses during the winter months, primarily on cotton wood bark, stems and branches.

Today I started the experiment with three white kits that are 6 weeks old and were born October 14, 2015.  I weighed 4 brown kits out of the same litter and am keeping pellets in front of these but they'll still get some forage. Up until now they've been eating some forage, apples and have had pellets always available. I've stacked all my Jerusalem Artichoke stalks that froze recently, thinking I was going to chip them. I gave some to the rabbits to eat and they loved them! They only left the older 1/3 base part of the stalk but even chewed on those pretty heavily. These plants were nearly 12 foot tall. Every part of that pant is usable and it grows like a weed.

I've gathered fresh branches from Chinese elm, Russian olive and cottonwood. I'll also include the Jerusalem artichoke stalks in their feed. No pellets will be given going forward.

I've got a scale that is accurate down to the half ounce and weighed all the kits.

Those in the experiment weighed in ounces: 43.5, 48.0, 42.5

The siblings left as the control weighed in ounces: 43.5, 46.5, 47.5, 48.5

Chowing down on tree limbs
Upon placement in the pen the test subjects are already enjoying their tree branches
I'll be weighing everyone again on Sunday and provide an update. If everyone is losing weight, I'll be ending the experiment.

Stay tuned!


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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 27, 2015 at 1:59 PM

    Do you have a youtube channel - this would be fascinating to watch! Very interested in this! :)

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    Replies
    1. David ScholesDecember 7, 2015 at 11:29 PM

      I've thought about starting one but haven't done it yet. I do think actually seeing certain activities, plants and where I find them, would be helpful.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2016 at 9:03 PM

      Please let me know - I would be your first subscriber! :)

      Delete
  2. LadydragonNovember 27, 2015 at 9:44 PM

    I would love to know how this works out for you I also feed forage, the rabbits are in tractors that get moved twice a day. I recently pruned some plum trees and so I gave those to the rabbits but after 3 days they had nibbled a little but only a little so I pulled most of the twigs out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David ScholesDecember 7, 2015 at 11:32 PM

      Stone fruit limbs are a little risky but like you've witnessed, if it's not good for them they usually will not eat much of it. Mine love apple twigs.

      Delete
  3. عبدالقادر كرزازيJanuary 25, 2018 at 4:17 AM

    Thanks my friend David Scholes , I benefited a lot from you , I am a rabbit breeder from the state of Algeria, I do not speak English, I speak Arabic only, Welcome to my blog : https://gninah.blogspot.com/ , thank you , thank you , Thank you my friend , Good-bye .
    _____
    Your Friend: Abdelkader

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