Rabbits are hindgut fermenters, yes—but they are not the same as horses, rhinos, or elephants in how they process that fermentation. Rabbits use cecotrophy. They produce nutrient-dense soft feces (cecotropes), then re-ingest them to run the digestion process a second time. That allows them to extract nutrients efficiently without needing continuous intake of large volumes of forage. Horses, rhinos, and elephants do not do this. They rely on volume throughput—they have to keep eating constantly because they only get one pass at digestion. Rabbits don’t. They operate on a crepuscular feeding pattern—they primarily eat at dawn and dusk, then spend long periods resting while fermentation occurs in the cecum. During that time, they’re not “needing constant forage,” they’re actively digesting what they already consumed and then recycling it through cecotrophy. So no, rabbits are not “the same” as other hindgut fermenters in feeding behavior or nutritional strategy. They’re a high-efficiency recycler system, not a continuous grazing system.

Just a heads up to everyone running rabbits right now. The alfalfa crop coming out of Texas (fall 2025) has been testing low in both mineral density and protein efficiency. That matters more than people think. If that crop made it into pellet production, your bag may not actually be delivering what the tag says on paper. And we’re starting to see it. What I’m seeing — and what others are reporting — lines up: • more brittle bones • increased fractures • does struggling to kindle • more straining in labor • poor milk production • DOA kits or underdeveloped kits • late-term losses or does dumping litters in the third week Because of this, and because I’ve now seen it in more than one doe, I’ve started supplementing calcium in the water during the last week of pregnancy through the first 5 weeks of nursing. Mix and dosage are at the end. This is now being added into Class 5 of the nutrition course, but I’m putting it here because this is one of those moments where waiting costs litters. What Calcium Is Actually Doing in a Rabbit Calcium in rabbits gets reduced to “sludge” conversations way too often, and that misses the entire point. Calcium is not a side mineral. It is a structural, metabolic, and reproductive driver. Rabbits are built to absorb calcium efficiently and use it continuously. Their entire system assumes it will be available. When it’s not, things don’t degrade slowly. They fail across multiple systems. Growth — Building the Frame Calcium is what builds the rabbit. It drives: • bone formation • tooth development (which never stops in rabbits) • structural growth When calcium is inadequate, you don’t just get “slower growth.” You get: • weaker frames • poor bone density • dental problems • long-term structural compromise You are not raising a smaller rabbit. You are raising a weaker one. Bone — Maintenance, Not Just Growth Bone in rabbits is constantly being remodeled. Calcium is moving in and out of storage all the time to support: • muscle contraction

“Alfalfa only for babies.” Too absolute. Alfalfa is widely used in rabbit feeds because it contributes protein, minerals, and fiber. Whether it is appropriate depends on the whole ration and life stage, not a TikTok taboo. The statement “alfalfa is only for babies” gets repeated like a rule, but it’s not a rule—it’s an oversimplification that ignores how rabbit diets are actually formulated. Alfalfa isn’t some special “baby-only” ingredient. It’s one of the primary base ingredients used in rabbit nutrition across research, commercial production, and feed manufacturing. The reason is simple: it brings a dense package of nutrients—protein, calcium, digestible fiber, and energy—that are useful when you’re trying to build a balanced ration. What matters is not the ingredient in isolation, but the entire diet around it. Why alfalfa is used in the first place Alfalfa contributes: Higher-quality protein than most grass hays Calcium and minerals needed for growth, reproduction, and lactation Fermentable fiber fractions that support cecal function Energy density that helps meet metabolic demands That’s why most complete rabbit pellets—across decades of formulation work—are alfalfa-based, not timothy-based. Where the “baby only” idea came from The myth usually comes from a real observation that got turned into a blanket rule: Young, growing rabbits need more protein and calcium → alfalfa fits that well Adult maintenance rabbits need less excess energy/minerals → people were told to “switch away” Somewhere along the way, that turned into: “Alfalfa is dangerous for adults” That leap is where the logic breaks. The actual issue: balance, not the ingredient Alfalfa becomes a problem only when the overall ration is wrong, not because alfalfa exists in the diet. Problems show up when: It’s fed free-choice with no intake control It’s combined with high-energy treats and excess feed The rabbit is already overweight or inactive The diet isn’t balanced for fiber-to-energy ratio That’s not an alfalfa issue—that’s a ration management issue.

Quick update on the course 🐇 I’ve started uploading the scripts first while I finish rounding everything out and wait for my voice to cooperate enough to start recording again. Videos will be added and updated as I go, and I’ve also been dropping additional research papers into the Google Classroom to back everything up. I really appreciate the feedback while this is being built — it’s helping me catch gaps and expand where needed. Goal is to have the nutrition section wrapped by the end of the month. Also — early access matters here: Right now the course is $25 while it’s in development. Once it’s complete, it’s going up to $100. So if you want in: Buy now, ask questions now, and help shape it while it’s being built. If something doesn’t make sense or you want something covered deeper — say it. That’s how this gets better.

Rabbit Internet Myth Bingo Spent the morning reading through a comment thread about rabbit diets and it turned into a perfect case study in how misinformation spreads. The same handful of lines kept appearing again and again—different people, same script. Here’s the greatest hits from the thread: “Rabbits need hay 80% of their diet.” “They must have hay 24/7.” “Without hay their teeth will grow into their cheeks.” “Pellets cause obesity.” “Feed romaine lettuce daily but NEVER iceberg.” “Timothy hay for adults, alfalfa only for babies.” “Give greens and fruit every day.” “Pellets should only be fed once or twice a day.” Notice something interesting. Almost every one of these statements sounds confident… but none of them actually come from rabbit nutrition science. They come from repeated pet-care advice that’s been copied around the internet for decades. Rabbit nutrition research doesn’t talk about “percent hay.” It talks about fiber fractions. Things like: • NDF (neutral detergent fiber) • ADF (acid detergent fiber) • lignin • digestible energy density A properly formulated rabbit pellet already contains those fiber sources. Look at a typical feed label and you’ll see ingredients like: • dehydrated alfalfa meal • soybean hulls • wheat middlings Those ingredients are there specifically to provide the correct balance of fermentable and structural fiber. The goal of a complete pellet is simple: every bite already contains the correct nutrition. Hay is just forage. Pellets are forage that has already been balanced. Another thing that jumped out in the thread was how often people repeated the same dental myth. “Rabbits need hay to grind their teeth down.” Tooth wear comes from mastication and occlusion, not from a specific plant type. Malocclusion is overwhelmingly linked to genetics, jaw alignment, or trauma—not a lack of hay. Now the myth breakdown. 1. “Rabbits must eat 80% hay.” There is no universal peer-reviewed rule that rabbit diets must be “80% hay.” Rabbit nutrition science talks about ADF, NDF, lignin, digestible fiber, and energy density, not a fixed hay percentage.