We ’re here to help!Wild Yards is a completely free web site that is 100 % dedicated to helping you create a wildlife - well-disposed , sustainable yard . Read more
WildYards is reader - supported . When you buy a product through a link on our site , we may earn a comission . Every product is independently pick out by our ( obsessive ) editor in chief and our reviews are unbiased and documentary .
Read missionor ourprivacy insurance policy .
Get a Landscaping or Gardening Quote
Enter your cipher codification
Whether you keep crybaby and rabbits for pet or for food , meeting their nutritional demands is decisive to their well - being . Both of these animals use up many of the same foods . lapin and chickens rely on lots of fresh vegetation to stay tidy and offering them prepackaged commercial feed is a swell direction to control they get all of the vitamin and minerals they postulate to fly high . If you ’re in a pinch and you ’ve go out of chicken provender , you may be wondering , can chickens eat rabbit food for thought ?
Yes , chickens can eat up hare food , include Medicago sativa pellet and timothy pellets . However , rabbit food is not a set relief for literal wimp feed . While it ’s safe to extend hare nutrient to your flock occasionally , it should meet only a small part in their diet , which should mostly consist of fruit , veg , grains , and seeds .
Chickens enjoy a variety of foods, but can chickens eat rabbit food?
Is it safe for chickens to eat rabbit food?
Maybe you accidentally dropped a bag of cony intellectual nourishment on the ground , or peradventure you bury to exit the door to the shed and your chickens break up into the food bins . Regardless of how your chickens got cargo deck of your hare food , the good news is , it ’s perfectly good for them to consume . So you do n’t have to worry .
That said , rabbit intellectual nourishment , whether it ’s alfalfa pellets , timothy pellets , or mixed pellet , is not an idealistic repast replacement for your crybaby . Rabbit food is tailored to meet the vitamin , mineral , protein , carbohydrate , and rich needs of ( surprise , surprisal ! ) rabbits . While pop the question your wimp rabbit nutrient occasionally is fine , using it to feed your flock for farseeing periods can lead to detrimental nutritional imbalances that can make them sick .
To serve you gain a good intellect of why rabbit food should not be used to replace chicken provender , allow ’s take a closer look at the nutritional motive of both of these animals .
Chickens enjoy a variety of foods, but can chickens eat rabbit food?
What do rabbits eat?
Rabbits are herbivores . They rely largely on grasses and leafy green vegetables to pull through . Like horses and cows , they drop much of their time eating . Herbivorous animate being are often grazers because their foods of choice are so low in Calorie and nutrients that they must be consume in large quantities in rescript to meet the nutritional demands of the fauna .
compare to chicken , hare have much gamey roughage needs . While rabbits still trust on proteins and fats to stay hefty , they do n’t require as much of these two nutrients as chickens do , mostly because rabbits do n’t lay orchis .
What do chickens eat?
Chickens are omnivorous , bank on works to fulfill their carbohydrate and fiber needs , and insects , small reptilian , and amphibian to encounter their protein requirements . seed and grain play an constitutional role in a chicken ’s diet as well . They ’re an first-class source of fats that chicken want to maintain salubrious skin , joint , and plumage .
Because poulet lay eggs , they involve a in high spirits per centum of fats and proteins in their diet than rabbits do . Chickens also benefit from a small amount of backbone , which aid them concentrate their foods so they can easily utilize the nutrients they hold in .
Should you use rabbit food to feed your chickens?
If your chickens just really like the taste of cony food , then there ’s nothing incorrect with give it to them as a delicacy . But since rabbit nutrient is devise for rabbits , you should n’t go out of your way to feed it to your chickens .
If your region is going through a drought and there ’s very little vegetation for your chickens to graze on , then feeding them alfalfa or timothy pellets design for hare can aid fill up the crack in their dieting . Mixing coney nutrient with chicken scratch and mealworm and toss the blend around your backyard is a good way to keep your flock harbour . But , otherwise , there are no significant advantage to fertilise chickens rabbit nutrient .
What happens if chickens eat too much rabbit food?
Rabbit food are high in fiber , so feeding too much to your wimp can go to protein and fat lack . wimp may drop off weightiness and become unenrgetic . Their eyes may lose their brightness and their plume may become dull and sparse . Laying hens with protein and rich deficiencies will underperform , and the testis they do produce will have weak shells and lackluster color , both inside and out .
It ’s also worth noting that rabbits have higher salt requirements than chickens . While chickens rely on salt to keep their electrolytes balanced and to support a sizable appetence , they do n’t take as much salt as rabbits do . Signs of salt intoxication in poultryinclude depression , convulsions , weakness , respiratory distress , and diarrhea . It ’s also not strange for chickens that have ingest too much common salt to be found laying on their backs pedaling their base up in their air .
Can baby chicks eat rabbit food?
An egg ’s vitellus is so nutritionally thick that it can keep ayoung chick fertilise for up to three daysafter it hatches . Your infant chick may not require much nutrient , especially not compared to an adult volaille . But because chicks eat to hold up , not just out of use , what small food for thought they eat needs to be as nutritionally dull as possible to help oneself them spring up big and hard .
It wo n’t hurt your chicks to nibble on a few pellets of rabbit food here and there . But because chicks require more protein and fat than forage , it ’s really not a good idea to give them rabbit nutrient on a regular basis . relieve the cony shot for when your wench get older and become more concerned in nibble on green weed .
What kind of chicken food should you choose?
Okay , so if you ’re not reckon to expend rabbit food to course chicken , then what kind of Gallus gallus food should you choose instead ? The type of chicken food you fertilise your flock look on its role . There are three basic provender for you to pick from .
These three master types of chicken feeds should create the origination of your volaille ’ diet , but even within these three categories , you have choice . For instance , some provender companies offer organic selection to serve keep harmful chemicals out of your chickens ’ dieting . sour chicken provender are another variety deserving keeping an eye out for . These feeds are easy for chickens to digest , and the higher nutrient availability means you get more boot for your buck .
you may also supplement your chickens ’ dieting with chicken wampum , a mixture of things like wheat kernels andsunflower seeded player . sparge chicken scratch aroundyour yard or runencourages that foraging inherent aptitude . And keeping a small tray of crushed huitre shells on hand for chicken to use up as grit will assist them digest their food for thought throughout the day .
Rabbit food is safe for chickens to consume, but it should not make up the bulk of their diet.
What other kinds of feed can chickens eat?
In addition to rabbit intellectual nourishment , chickens can eat cattle feed , sweet feed , horse provender , goat and sheep feed , duck’s egg feed , pig provender , and just about any other eccentric of livestock feed . They can also eatbirdseed blends and suet cakes , though that believably arrive as less of a surprisal .
Of of course , just because it ’s good for your chickens to consume farm animal feeds , that does n’t mean it ’s ideal for them to do so . You should never stand in other feeds for poulet provender in the prospicient full term . But if your flock happens to eat the bit of grain your other animals drop at feeding clip , you do n’t involve to worry , either .
What should you feed chickens instead?
If you ’re look for a manner to give your chickens more super acid , deal feeding them weed from your flower beds , or vegetables from your garden , likecollard greens . you could even tip them table scraps , justavoid feeding chickenscitrus fruits , prickly-seeded spinach , Allium sativum , onions , aguacate , or anything processed or fry .
Chickens swear on a variety of food for thought to stay healthy . While rabbit food can encounter a part in the mean chicken ’s daily dieting , it should n’t be a major player . Always feedyour flockthe highest quality of Gallus gallus feed potential to keep them in steer - top form .
Rabbits consume a lot of vegetation.
If your chickens like rabbit food, it’s safe to feed it to them as a treat.
Avoid overfeeding rabbit food to prevent your flock from developing salt intoxication symptoms.
While adult chickens can eat rabbit food, you should avoid giving it to chicks.
Chickens require different types of food depending on their use and life stage.
