feeding a baby rabbit

I'm a bit puzzled as to what I should be doing for Matilda. I want her to be a great hay eater when she is all grown up, but first I need her to grow I'm reading that she should have unlimited pellets and hay, and alfalfa hay. So I've been giving her unlimited regular hay with a generous handful of alfalfa twice a day with a handful of pellets twice a day too. Is this enough pellets, or too much pellets? My adult buns get a handful of pellets once a day between the three of them and are maintaining a good weight.

She goes mad for the alfalfa hay and she also enjoys the pellets. She does eat the regular hay too and I have been monitoring her poo which has gotten bigger and is golden/dark brown in colour and plump looking. I have given her a very small amount of parsley each day for the last few days and her poops are fine with that and when the weather is dry, she goes on the grass for a few hours in a run and her poops are fine with grass too.

Sorry for the longwinded post and poo and food but I'm a bit confused and want to do the best for her I can. Thanks She weighs 1kg at the mo and is 9 weeks old.

i don't know myself but it sounds as though you're doing it right me
if her poos are golden brown and plump it sounds quite healthy.

I gave Molly and Junior a (not quite full) shot glass of pellets each in the morning and evening and unlimited hay. (Alfalfa hay can be fed freely too )

You shouldn't feed veg/herbs/fruit until she is 12 week and introduce them one at a time, a small bit at a time. Herbs are the best thing to start them with, although thus far, my two don't like them

I'm not too sure about baby bunny nutrition, but I do know that the golden and round poops are the sign of a healthy bun, so it sounds as if you're doing it right!

I don't know about baby buns, but I know that when I got Barley from the SSPCA he was used to eating muesli (why!!) as had Sasha been. I changed him onto the same diet as Sasha which is a big pile of hay in the morning with a quarter mug of pellets. At first, he didn't eat very much at all, then he started eating a bit of hay but took ages to eat his pellets too. Now he piles into the pellets just like Sasha and his hay input has increased. He is still a while away from eating as much hay as her - she is a poo monster - but he is doing fine.

Just don't be tempted to give lots of pellets once she is older just because she is less keen on hay. When the pellets are finished, and they get hungry, they will eat their hay and get used to the regime.

House Rabbit Society recommends:

Babies-Teenagers
Birth to 3 weeks--mother's milk
3 to 4 weeks--mother's milk, nibbles of alfalfa and pellets
4 to 7 weeks--mother's milk, access to alfalfa and pellets
7 weeks to 7 months--unlimited pellets, unlimited ALFALFA hay (plus see 12 weeks below)
12 weeks--introduce vegetables (one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz.)

Young Adults (7 months to 1 year)

introduce timothy hay, grass hay, and oat hays, decrease alfalfa
decrease pellets to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight
increase daily vegetables gradually
fruit daily ration no more than 1 oz. to 2 oz. per 6 lbs. body weight (because of calories)

The reason they need alfalfa hay until young adulthood is that it is high in calcium and they need that for strong bones and teeth. After their growth slows the alfalfa hay has too much calcium and it can cause kidney or bladder stones. Also make sure the pellets you use have over 23% fiber.

With pellets I never gave unlimited when Tigger was young. I gave a handful in the morning and a handful at night.
I never even knew about alfalfa so she didn't get any!

I've found this it may be of help to you

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/young_buns.htmg

Thank you for the info and thanks for the link Maysie (i couldn't get it to work but found the info by going to their website)

I feel i'm on the right track then