This graphic is built on outdated assumptions, not rabbit nutrition science. • Pellets are not a “supplement” in modern rabbit nutrition. Properly formulated MEASURED pellets are designed to be a complete, balanced diet • “LOOSE Hay as the foundation” is not evidence-based. When fed as the primary diet, it pushes nutrients through the gut too fast, leading to chronic under-nutrition despite full stomachs. Meat rabbits fed hay-heavy / pellet-restricted diets routinely take 12–16 weeks to reach fryer weight. The same genetics on a balanced, pellet-based ration reach fryer size in 8–10 weeks. That difference isn’t “corners being cut” — it’s chronic under-nutrition for excessive forage and tractor setups ie ." Feeding naturally " based on internet myths. Loose Hay-forward systems also increase disease risk: • Higher exposure to coccidia and enteric pathogens • Greater fecal contamination when hay is fed loose or in litter areas • Increased GI instability from excess indigestible fiber lignin and NDF. Longer grow-out time = more parasite cycles, more feed waste, more mortality, not healthier rabbits. FULL article for Premium members: Let's Talk about Homestead Myths - Rabbit Education Video Archive · MMC BunClub

This is why I push back so hard against the “80% loose hay” diet myth. It’s not a difference of opinion — it’s a welfare issue. I’ve seen rabbits seriously harmed and killed by owners following that advice exactly as it’s been promoted. If people want the FACTS , DEEP DIVE in the Rabbit nutrition course. Rabbits are not biologically designed to live on hay. They are selective browsers. In the wild they target high-protein new shoots, leaf tips, bark, buds, and woody browse, plus specific grasses at early growth stages. Mature, lignin-heavy hay is fallback food—what they eat when nothing better is available. Calling it “80–90% of the diet” is simply not supported by the literature. The modern “hay-based diet” idea traces back to non-experimental essays from the early 1990s, not controlled nutrition trials. That framework stuck because it was simple, marketable, and profitable for hay producers—not because it reflected rabbit physiology. When you actually read the research (Gidenne, De Blas, Lebas, Maertens, COST 848, etc.), a different picture emerges: • Rabbits require adequate digestible protein and energy to maintain gut motility, muscle mass, immune function, and reproduction • Excessively lignified fiber dilutes energy and amino acid intake • Chronic hay-heavy feeding leads to subclinical malnutrition, poor growth, reproductive failure, and increased GI pathology Hay doesn’t “prevent starvation.” Hay-heavy diets cause it—slowly. If someone wants to approximate a natural diet without pellets, the closest approach would be: – Fresh woody browse (blackberry, raspberry, mulberry) – Early growth cuttings(28%protien, 32%fiber), not mature stems – High-quality protein sources (legumes like alfalfa, or Clover properly processed14-18% protien) -- Yucca leaves to control urea order and bind to amonia -- ground soy bean, measured, hulls for fiber, center meal for protien(28%DM) to balance legumes --Steam rolled Oats and Barley also boost and balance protien – Balanced minerals and micronutrients

Two days ‘til due date for Mia and Collette. Mia is getting ready, but nothing from Collette. The side view photo is Collette, a Wilford daughter. And Willy is sticking his head out to say , “hi.”