Nuts & Berries Day

Wool Block Prevention

I am sure some of you are thinking " Nuts & berries day " for rabbits? What is that? It is a weekly prevention plan for wool block. Wool block is the collection of wool in the stomach of a rabbit. It can become so bad that the rabbit literally starves to death! It is basically the same thing as long haired cats get. A rabbit grooms it's self all the time, just like a cat. Wool collects in the stomach, and over a period of time forms a big ball. When pelleted food is given all the time it doesn't allow the wool to move through the rabbits system. It swells when water is ingested and traps the wool in the stomach. Thus the formation of wool block. The idea behind nuts and berries day is to take the rabbit completely off pelleted rabbit food for 1 day, and feed only roughage. This will allow the collected wool to move through the rabbits system and not cause wool block. It also adds variety to the rabbits diet and promotes better eating. Just think what your life would be like if you only ate one kind of food all your life!

Here are some examples of what you would feed on " nuts and berries day ".

• Plenty of good quality hay.
• Herbs, such as mints, rosemary, Borage, Chickweed, etc.. Things that you would eat your self. If you have access to Kudzu, that is excellent for rabbits!
• Oak leaves, apple twigs, sunflower seeds, bird seed, crimped oats.
• Most of your common weeds that are edible, found in your backyard are also good for rabbits, such as dandelion, plantain, blackberry leaves, etc..