More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Rabbit Poop
Today's Writing Effort
I had to clean the rabbitry today. And I had to wear James' cowboy boots because I couldn't bring myself to deal with the pain of wearing my own boots with my broken toe. At least not for that many hours.
Mostly I replaced the floor mats in the cages and emptied the waste trays. I checked the burrows and runs for dead rabbits or new litters. And I made a decision. The bunnies shouldn't have such squishy poop. It's a bad sign. It's usually a diet thing. Too many carbs/sugars, and not enough fiber. So, I talked to James and Jenny and we're cutting them off. They can have oats if they start to get too skinny, but from now on, it's just pellets, timothy hay or orchard grass, and water. I hope that will help them be healthier. I suspect that the excess treats is one component of why we lose so many rabbits in a year.
I didn't get any crochet done today because I was so busy. It gets dark early this time of year and I was still scrubbing the poop off of the floor mats (Cage MatFoot Pad For Bunny Rabbits And Other Small Animals) when it got dark. The only reason I have these in the cages is to prevent sore hocks in the bunnies. We need to make some improvements to the rabbitry next Spring/Summer, which will hopefully make life a lot easier for them.
James and Jenny are on board with the plan. We'll see how this change in their diet affects their poop next Thursday when I do the weekly cleaning again.
Thumper is doing really well. He's such a gentle and friendly bunny. I wouldn't be sad if we kept him in the house forever, except that he doesn't consistently use the litter box and I have to change the towels on the floor every day.
References:
Georgia House Rabbit Society
House Rabbit Resource Network
I had to clean the rabbitry today. And I had to wear James' cowboy boots because I couldn't bring myself to deal with the pain of wearing my own boots with my broken toe. At least not for that many hours.
Mostly I replaced the floor mats in the cages and emptied the waste trays. I checked the burrows and runs for dead rabbits or new litters. And I made a decision. The bunnies shouldn't have such squishy poop. It's a bad sign. It's usually a diet thing. Too many carbs/sugars, and not enough fiber. So, I talked to James and Jenny and we're cutting them off. They can have oats if they start to get too skinny, but from now on, it's just pellets, timothy hay or orchard grass, and water. I hope that will help them be healthier. I suspect that the excess treats is one component of why we lose so many rabbits in a year.
I didn't get any crochet done today because I was so busy. It gets dark early this time of year and I was still scrubbing the poop off of the floor mats (Cage MatFoot Pad For Bunny Rabbits And Other Small Animals) when it got dark. The only reason I have these in the cages is to prevent sore hocks in the bunnies. We need to make some improvements to the rabbitry next Spring/Summer, which will hopefully make life a lot easier for them.
James and Jenny are on board with the plan. We'll see how this change in their diet affects their poop next Thursday when I do the weekly cleaning again.
Thumper is doing really well. He's such a gentle and friendly bunny. I wouldn't be sad if we kept him in the house forever, except that he doesn't consistently use the litter box and I have to change the towels on the floor every day.
References:
Georgia House Rabbit Society
House Rabbit Resource Network