when to stop free feeding a rabbit

[chickenmama109]

hi i have a 8 week old rabbit and and i free feed her when do i stop and how much do i feed thanks for all help

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

As long as they are in good condition, not fat, I will free feed up to when they level out to eating the same amount I give an adult rabbit, which seems to be around 4-6 months on average.

 

[chickenmama109]

As long as they are in good condition, not fat, I will free feed up to when they level out to eating the same amount I give an adult rabbit, which seems to be around 4-6 months on average.

Thanks for your help

 

[Wyandottes7]

I usually stop free feeding at 3 months, but then give about twice as much as a normal adult ration until about 5 months. Thereafter I feed the normal adult amount. This has worked for me, but I predominately raise small breeds, which grow and mature faster. If I had a large breed rabbit (Flemish Giant, for example), I would free feed longer to ensure proper growth. And, I constantly monitor my rabbits to make sure they are getting enough to eat, which includes approximately bi-monthly weighing. If a rabbit isn't as large as I would expect, or seems to have stopped growing, I increase the feed amount.

 

[Bunnylady]

Your rabbit is the color of a Harlequin, which has a mature weight of roughly 8 pounds. The usual "rule of thumb" is to feed about an ounce of feed per pound of adult weight, so when she is maybe 6 months old, you should scale back to about a cupful of feed per day. Some rabbits will adjust to eat that amount on their own, some (like Mini Rex) are little piggies that inhale that much and spend the rest of the day trying to convince you that they are starving.

We are getting into the warm and humid part of the year. One thing I often have to tell people is, "try not to give the rabbit more food than they can eat in 24 hours." Rabbit food will absorb humidity from the air, and turn moldy and green in about 3 days during the summers here. The rabbit should be given fresh food every day, and the rest stored in a tightly closed container.