{"topic_id":"exotic_nutrition_rabbit_welfare_code","category":"exotic-pet-nutrition","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_nutrition_rabbit_welfare_code\ncategory: exotic-pet-nutrition\ntitle: \"Rabbit diet — DAERA welfare code: hay-based diet, safe greens, foods to avoid, water, weight\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (DAERA, Northern Ireland, 2021) — Crown copyright, Open Government Licence (attribution required). Verbatim claims, C1 substring-verified.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-04\ntokens_estimated: 330\nverification:\n  method: substring_match\n  claims: 15\n  passed: 15\n  date: 2026-08-04\nrecovered: false\npath: exotic-pet-nutrition/exotic_nutrition_rabbit_welfare_code/01_exotic_nutrition_rabbit_welfare_code.md\nsource_document: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland)\"\n  title: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits\"\n  url: \"https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/20.21.048%20Code%20of%20Practice%20Rabbits.PDF\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-04\"\n  doc_type: \"statutory code of practice (Open Government Licence)\"\n  needs_review: false\nlicense: permission_granted\ncopyright_note: \"Crown copyright material licensed under the Open Government Licence (DAERA crown-copyright page archived at pdf-raw/welfare-codes/daera_crown_copyright_page.txt): re-use free of charge in any format with attribution, no implication of official endorsement, no misrepresentation. Attribution: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland), Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits, licensed under the OGL (nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).\"\nauthority_tier: T1\nauthority_tier_basis: \"manual:OGL statutory welfare code (government, legal-minimum claim domain)\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\n\n# Rabbit diet — DAERA Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (Section 2)\n\nSource: Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits, DAERA (Northern Ireland), issued under section 16 of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. Crown copyright, re-used under the Open Government Licence v3.0 with attribution. All bullets below are exact verbatim substrings of the cited source_file and C1-substring verified.\n\n## Claims\n\n- `Rabbits are herbivores, they need a diet that is high in fibre to wear down their continuously growing teeth, keep their intestines functioning properly and help prevent them from becoming bored.`\n- `A rabbit’s daily diet should consist mainly of large quantities of hay or dried or fresh grass that will provide the necessary fibre for the rabbit.`\n- `Rabbits should have access to hay or dried or fresh grass throughout the day and night.`\n- `Green plants and a small amount of high quality specialist rabbit food such as extruded nuggets or high quality pellets should make up the remainder of your rabbit’s diet.`\n- `Lawn mower clippings should not be fed as they can contain metal slivers and oil which can be harmful.`\n- `Root vegetables can be given occasionally but, as carrots are especially high in sugar, you should use the carrot tops and only a little of the carrot itself.`\n- `All fruit should be regarded as a treat item and fed in limited quantities as fruit is high in sugar and can lead to gastro-intestinal disturbance as well as causing dental problems.`\n- `High-fat or high-carbohydrate foodstuffs should be avoided completely including commercial ‘rabbit treats’, bread, milk, breakfast cereal, nuts, seeds and chocolate.`\n- `Do not make any sudden changes to your rabbit’s diet as this could upset its digestive system and make it very ill.`\n- `Examples of suitable green plants include broccoli, cabbage, parsley, watercress, celery leaves and kale.`\n- `Safe wild plants include chickweed, bramble, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry leaves and dandelion.`\n- `You should not feed any plant to your rabbit unless you are sure of its identity and safety. Many plants can be poisonous to your rabbit.`\n- `Your rabbit must always have access to fresh water in either a bowl and/or a metal-tipped bottle.`\n- `Ideally you should easily be able to feel its ribs. Adjust how much you feed your rabbit to make sure that it does not become over or underweight.`\n- `Rabbits should be weighed regularly to assess any increases or decreases in weight as rabbits that are over or under weight may suffer.`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-nutrition — Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (retrieved 2026-08-04)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-nutrition","title":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits","url":"https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/20.21.048%20Code%20of%20Practice%20Rabbits.PDF","retrieved":"2026-08-04","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011","verification_file":"pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt"},"source_document":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011","source_file":"pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt","tokens_estimated":300,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}