Fattening Up Rabbits, Part 2

As you read in the first post of this three-part series, I need to fatten Muddy Buddy up to meet the minimum show weight for senior French angora rabbits.  I have been weighing him every day to make sure he is eating enough.  In addition to his normal feed, I have also been giving him strawberry leaves and a slice of homemade molasses oat bread every day.  He loves the sweeter bread, so he will eat more. 

Last Wednesday Muddy weighed 5.15.5.  Today he weighs 6.6.5.  I think the bread is working!

Here is the recipe for Molasses Oat Bread, in case you would like to give it a try.


Molasses Oat Bread

Yield:  3 loaves

4 cups boiling water

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup molasses

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

9-10 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  Cool to 110-115 degrees.  Add yeast; mix well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down and divide into thirds; shape into loaves.  Place in three greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Fattening Up Rabbits

This will be the first of a three-part weekly series.

Muddy Buddy needs to weigh more to meet the minimum senior weight standards for the next ARBA show because he will be over six months old.  In an effort to boost his weight, I will be feeding him a half-slice of whole wheat bread and strawberry leaves along with other little treats.  

I will be weighing him every day to make sure he is steadily gaining weight. 

Today’s weigh in results:   Muddy Buddy—5.14.5. 

His target weight is 7.8 pounds (that’s 7 lbs 8 ounces in rabbit lingo) by the October 11 Gridley show.

Muddy Buddy, apparently a little embarrassed to be such a lightweight.

Weighing Rabbits

We weigh all of our rabbits because it is part of a health check and to keep good records.  A weight loss would suggest they either need more feed or they are sick.  Weight gain is good, but we don’t want them to gain too much.  We monitor them to make sure they meet minimum weights for their class.  If rabbits weigh too much or too little, the judge can disqualify them.  We saw that happen at the West Coast Classic in May. 

Maple at his weekly weighing

We weigh our rabbits every Wednesday.  We stop weighing pregnant does one week before they are due to kindle.  We weigh rabbit kits every day after they’re a week old.  We carefully carry our rabbits over to the scale.  Our scale is accurate to tenths of ounces.  This is an important advantage.  Something that many people don’t realize is that in the rabbit world when weight is recorded, the number after the pound number indicates the number of ounces, not the fraction of a pound.  For example, 9. 5. 5 is read nine pounds, five and one-half ounces, not nine pounds, eight and one-half ounces.  

We always on a solid surface like a table or hard floor, not on carpet or cages or the results may not be accurate.  I learned this by experience.  We all learn from our mistakes.  We record each rabbit’s weight each week so that we can compare their progress.