One of the things that can make a
non-pellet diet for rabbits hard is growing all the greens they need, especially if you're not a gardener.
However, if you have willow trees on your property, providing a natural diet for rabbits will be a little easier, at least during the growing season.
Willows contain only slightly less crude protein per pound than alfalfa (14% - 16%) but far more fiber (28% - 36%) which is great for rabbits! The calcium level (1.74%) is also good.
Identifying willow
I have provided some pictures of the leaves, bark, and growth habit of a black willow that is growing on our property, but most willow look fairly similar with narrow pointy leaves and a drooping growth habit.
PictureThis is a plant ID app that is very helpful in identifying plants.
Otherwise, tree books or asking someone who knows what a willow looks like are two good ways to identify them.
Feeding willow to rabbits
Willow can be used as the high fiber part of your rabbit's natural diet, so once they are used to it, about 4 feet total of willow branches per adult rabbit would be good starting point, but rabbits that are used to eating it usually won’t overeat so you should be able to give them as much as they want.
If your rabbits do get an upset stomach, just stop the willow for a few days until it goes away. Once your rabbit is feeling better slowly start feeding the willow but don’t give it free choice for maybe a week or two.
Willow is also a natural pain reliever and is thought to be a natural coccidiostat*, so it is beneficial to feed it to all your rabbits, even those that are on pasture (the tea made from the leaves is good for people too).
What if you don’t have willow trees?
If your property doesn’t have any willow trees already on it (or the branches are too high to reach) you could plant some, but a faster option is shrub willow.
About shrub willows
Shrub willows were developed by the Cornell University as a sustainable biomass for green energy. They have been working on creating fast growing pest and disease-free varieties of shrub willow.
The varieties of shrub willow they have been creating were selectively bred (not genetically modified) to be fast growing, pest free etc. without chemical additives.
While we have never tried growing shrub willow, we have done a little research, and it seems like a great idea.
Growing shrub willow
You can start your shrub willows by planting a cutting, which is a dormant new growth willow rod about 10"-12" long and 1/2"-1” in diameter, just before they leaf out in the spring. You then let them grow as is the entire first season. When they go dormant in the fall you cut them off cleanly 2" above the ground, this will encourage them to grow many vertical rods (called whips) the next season. From then on you can cut one or two whips at a time from each plant as you need them, repeating when more have grown to take their place.
Please let us know if you have ever tried this and have any tips or suggestions!
*A coccidiostat is something that is fed to animals to retard the life cycle or reduce the population of pathogenic coccidia which cause Coccidiosis, a highly contagious and deadly disease
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