Update - The Native American Winter Horse Feed Experiment

On day 4, I weighed the three rabbits and they had lost about 3 ounces each. Looking at the feed I noticed that they were not eating as much as I'd normally suspect. My suspicion is that they needed more time to transition from pellets and the large supply of apples they had been eating. So, for now I'm stopping the experiment. I will try again later. 

Over the last week I've just been putting a small amount of pellets in a bowl and am gradually seeing the limbs getting stripped more thoroughly. I'm not expecting to ever get fast weight gain on winter tree limbs alone but would like to see if they can get some growth. I'll try again over a few days and monitor their weight and will post another update on how that goes.

I always try to give a few small branches daily to my rabbits. I've noticed since doing that, I've had no problems with weaning stress or digestive diseases. I believe the coarse fiber helps regulate the good bacteria in their gut and prevents the bad from taking over.

I've got a few more does to breed over the next week. That's sometimes tricky when the days get short. I've also noticed the percentage of males in my litters is higher in winter and my female count is higher in spring. I'll write more about this and my upcoming mini feed experiment next week.