Can Rabbits eat chicken feed?

Rabbits should never eat chicken feed. It isn’t healthy for rabbits, and it isn’t even a good filler food or rare treat.

Many forums have spread the opinion that rabbits can safely eat chicken pellets. This is a misconception reinforced by the fact that rabbits do eat it.

While a rabbit will accept certain foods, doesn’t mean it should. Rabbits eat harmful foods by mistake or ignorance. Motivated by curiosity, your rabbits might like the smell or texture of the grain. When tasted, it may enjoy the sweet corn flavor. This could prompt it to continue eating the chicken feed, unaware of the coming danger.

Chickens and rabbits are two completely different species. Their diets are vastly different,and so are their digestive systems. Rabbits are strictly herbivores. Their natural diets consist of between 70% and 80% grass hays. Herbs and vegetables comprise the remaining percentage.

Unlike rabbits, chickens are omnivores. With that in mind, the dietary needs and digestion system of a chicken are very different from a rabbit. Chicken feed is specially formulated to provide chickens with all the nutrition they need. Unfortunately, these needs can directly conflict with a rabbit’s needs.

If you feed your rabbit chicken feed, that will curb its immediate hunger. However, the rabbit will gain no nutritional value from eating this food. Its body will continue to burn more energy than it has consumed, which may lead to lethargy. Sadly, that’s the least of its problems. After consuming chicken feed, your rabbit could suffer dangerous health complications.

As noted by Cambridge University, rabbits have specific bacterial colonies inhabiting their gut. An improper diet disrupts these colonies, which leads to serious and potentially fatal conditions. The food items in chicken feed can cause harmful bacteria to grow well out of control.

Instead, rabbit farmers should keep their rabbits away from chicken feed entirely. If you cohab rabbits and chickens or they share a roaming space, be sure any leftovers from feeding time are cleaned up.