Homegrown foods for rabbits

I need to look into chayote. I have never heard of it, but above where you said it looks like a muppet butt, I died laughing. Sounds kind of like merlitons in appearance. But anyway, I am always looking for stuff to grow for my animals, especially low maintenance! I grew radishes in my garden this year, but our wild rabbit population ate most of my winter garden, so fences are the next investment. I hate the way it looks for every inch of property to be fenced, but if you are serious about homesteading, it has to be functional moreso than attractive. I also want to have the perennial kale others mentioned. I have a lot of kale and it is basically a perennial here but it is the regular small kind. You can't pick it very often really. A large bush of kale sounds amazing. I harvest lots of sweet potatoes every fall and I save all the vines at that time. I feed them to the animals and I take the nice looking ones and stick the ends in water to root them. I plant all these in pots and kewp in the greenhouse through winter. They are slow growing in winter but these are my starts in spring. Rabbits also love sweet potatoes. Supposedly you shouldn't feed them too many but I do feed them a sliver a day and it is a favorite for them along with banana peels.

chayote is mirliton (or pipinola, choko, or chuchu, as we call it here...). definitely VERY low maintenance!!

Mine also would sell their souls for banana peels. They only get bananas if i have to give them some sort of med (ear mites are a problem here when it's wet in the winter and I often have to treat it, putting it in banana is the only way i have success), but they get peels whenever I have them.
For some reason my rabbits won't eat the hay that's sold here (supposedly Tifton?) and will only eat alfalfa, but that gets pricey real fast and I know it's not great for them. So for most of the year they eat my garden/kitchen/yard waste, cut some tall grass when pickings are slim or I have paid work that stops me from working in the garden, and they only get pellets as a supplement when it's really cold.

Tereza Okava wrote:chayote is mirliton (or pipinola, choko, or chuchu, as we call it here...). definitely VERY low maintenance!!

Mine also would sell their souls for banana peels. They only get bananas if i have to give them some sort of med (ear mites are a problem here when it's wet in the winter and I often have to treat it, putting it in banana is the only way i have success), but they get peels whenever I have them.
For some reason my rabbits won't eat the hay that's sold here (supposedly Tifton?) and will only eat alfalfa, but that gets pricey real fast and I know it's not great for them. So for most of the year they eat my garden/kitchen/yard waste, cut some tall grass when pickings are slim or I have paid work that stops me from working in the garden, and they only get pellets as a supplement when it's really cold.

I honestly don't even know what type of hay mine get. It is what is sold at the locally owned feed store in square bales. I can't store or handle round bales, which are in the fields all around us, although I have used rotted ones in my gardening countless times. I just smell the hay I buy and if it smells like grass and still has a slightly green look it's probably good. The rabbits eat it pretty well. Obviously they eat it last if anything fresh is available. I grow alfalfa in my garden and it is very easy to grow. I do give them some of that from time to time but as I said the wild rabbits have been aggravating this year. We actually ate some of them because, after all, we have been feeding them out pretty much. My meat rabbits love the fresh alfalfa. Another thing they love is winter peas. That is another very easy thing to grow throughout winter. You can grow it in pots even and just trim it occasionally but it will grow up a fence or something especially thick in early spring.

I heard sunchoke tubers rabbits like as well. If they like violets those grow like crazy and can probably be kept in a cold frame or greenhouse floor during the winter. I wonder if they will eat stinging nettle? I know chickens do but I don’t know about rabbits.

Yes they like stinging nettle. They also like all the types of dead nettle as well.

grass clippings from a non gas mower i used a push mower carroys beets potatos bananas with peel apples grape leaves black berry vines with leaves and comfrey the list goes on and on but how about something fun for you .

my friends here have a great list . https://riseandshinerabbitry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/medicinal-herbs-for-rabbits.pdf

Yes I have used rise and shine rabbitry list a lot when I started out. I live in Louisiana and have not had to buy anything except hay. The rabbits do seem to get burnt out on some of the things growing in winter. But Spring is practically here with lots of things starting to grow now, much more to grow in the coming weeks. I am going to try sunchokes and mirliton starting spring after reading what everyone has posted here. I am hoping for a lot more stored 'hay' for next winter from everything I might dry this year. Hope everyone has survived the ice and cold.

oh i forgot a photo 13 kits 5 weeks old

12 kits 4 weeks old 1 of the kits is from another breeder at 8 weeks she needed a better line to improve so i traded her a buck for him and he made a great stew

Willow leaves and branches were always a favorite. And our neighbor who had a rabbit rescue sanctuary loved getting armloads of weeping willow branches for her bunnies. Most willows grow back quickly and there are often native varieties in many locations.

J. Adams wrote:Willow leaves and branches were always a favorite. And our neighbor who had a rabbit rescue sanctuary loved getting armloads of weeping willow branches for her bunnies. Most willows grow back quickly and there are often native varieties in many locations.

If I can get my hindquarters in gear this summer,  I'm going to harvest as much tree hay as possible from my willows, mulberry, callery pear, elm and silver maple to see if I can get my rabbits off commercial feed in the winter.