Growing a rabbit garden is a great way to give your meat rabbits a natural supplement to their pellets. You don’t need any special equipment for growing a rabbit garden, but I prefer using a raised bed garden. I can grow my rabbit garden right next to all my other herbs and veggies! The suggestions for growing your rabbit garden, aren’t necessarily a replacement for your pellet feed; however this can be done with a good fodder system. A raised bed rabbit garden is subject to growing only when your zone can support it.
Growing a Rabbit Garden
Make sure when you are growing a rabbit garden that you use non-gmo, organic seeds and organic growing practices. This is especially important if you’re growing meat rabbits; you really don’t want to feed your livestock a bunch of genetically modified garbage or chemical poisoning. You can find a list of my favorite seed companies in my article about seed catalogs.
Remember when you’re feeding greens you need to be aware of oxalic acid content. Too much oxalic acid can damage your rabbit’s kidneys so feed those greens in only limited amounts.
Growing a Rabbit Garden – Greens
Greens with higher oxalic acid content:
- Beet Greens
- Mustard Greens
- Parsley
- Spinach
- Sprouts
- Swiss Chard
Greens with lower oxalic acid content:
- Arugula
- Basil
- Bok Choy
- Carrot Tops (actual carrots are ok too but basically candy for rabbits)
- Cilantro
- Dill leaves
- Kale
- Red & Green Leaf Lettuce
- Romaine Lettuce
- Turnip Greens
Growing a Rabbit Garden – Other Vegetables
- Asparagus (small amounts only)
- Bell peppers
- Cabbage (small amounts only)
- Squash
Growing a Rabbit Garden – Grass
Grow a little patch of these grasses or sprouts in your rabbit garden:
- Wheat grass
- Barley
Both of these are great choices for a rabbit fodder system. I know many people that have converted their rabbits to completely eating off fodder and that is definitely a goal for me in the coming year. A great resource for that is the book Beyond The Pellet – Feeding Rabbits Naturally
If you want to add medicinal herbs into the mix I highly recommend you check out Rise & Shine Rabbitry’s list.
Growing a rabbit garden is a great edition to your backyard homestead and the rabbits will love it. Remember the better your meat rabbits eat, the better you do.
