Rabbit diet — DAERA Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (Section 2)
Source: 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.
Claims
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.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.Rabbits should have access to hay or dried or fresh grass throughout the day and night.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.Lawn mower clippings should not be fed as they can contain metal slivers and oil which can be harmful.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.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.High-fat or high-carbohydrate foodstuffs should be avoided completely including commercial ‘rabbit treats’, bread, milk, breakfast cereal, nuts, seeds and chocolate.Do not make any sudden changes to your rabbit’s diet as this could upset its digestive system and make it very ill.Examples of suitable green plants include broccoli, cabbage, parsley, watercress, celery leaves and kale.Safe wild plants include chickweed, bramble, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry leaves and dandelion.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.Your rabbit must always have access to fresh water in either a bowl and/or a metal-tipped bottle.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.Rabbits should be weighed regularly to assess any increases or decreases in weight as rabbits that are over or under weight may suffer.