Feeding sweet potato to 'fill in HQs'?

[lilangelhotots]

I was wondering if this is a myth or not. My FFA teacher told meaboutgiving the meat pen rabbits sweet potatosyears back, I never tried it with my hotots but now I have heard of other breeders feeding sweet potato to their showstring to make the bunnies 'bulky'. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[pamnock]

Conformation is primarily genetic. If a rabbit lacks fullness and muscling in the hindquarters, there is really no way to "correct" the conformation default. Breeders attempt to correct faults in their lines by finding rabbits with good conformation to breed into their lines. If hindquarters are a problem, a breeder would look for rabbits with excellent hindquarters.


You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear with sweet potatoes . . .

but you can enhance a nice silk purse.


Pam

 

[tonyshuman]

No breeding/showing knowledge here, but I thought sweet potatoes were toxic to bunnies. They're on this list: http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/toxic.html

 

[lilangelhotots]

Ah!! Toxic?! Wow, I am shocked that some breeders still are feeding this. :?I agree with youPam about conformation being totally genetic, this is why I was so skeptical when I was told by a nationally competitive breeder that they use sweet potato to "fill in the hindquarter". Interesting I thought. Anyway...think I'll just save money on sweet potatos andpurchase nicer stock as planned.

 

[pamnock]

Sweet potatoes are used as a forage for rabbits in some countries:

Use of sweet potatoes in rabbit feeding
197. Sweet potato tubers are good energy feeds for rabbits. You can feed them as:
[align=left]- chopped, fresh tubers;
- dried chips;
- meal.
[align=left]198. You can feed the rabbits with sweet potatoes in the same way as you feed the pigs. You must take the same precautions. [/align]
[align=left]http://sleekfreak.ath.cx:81/3wdev/CD3WD/AGRIC/FB46UE/INDEX.HTM[/align]
In Vietnam, molasses, rice bran, cassava roots, sweet potato tubers and bananas are readily available and cheap agricultural products. This study aimed to determine the productivity of rabbits fed combinations of these energy-rich feed resources, supplementing them with leaves from Mulberry (Morus indica) and Trichanthera gigantea and the vines from sweet potato. [/align]
[align=left]http://www.mekarn.org/sarpro/suctuber.htm[/align]
[align=left]By one of the authors of Rabbit Production:[/align]
[align=left]Potential energy sources include roots and tubers (cassava, sweet potatoes), fruit (bananas, plantains, mangos, etc.),[/align]
[align=left]http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/T0554E/T0554E16.htm[/align]
[align=left][/align]