Feeding a Netherland Dwarf

Greens and Vegetables

Netherlands do best when fed a diet of fresh greens, vegetables, a high quality pellet rabbit food, and copious amounts of hay. Here is a chart that shows how much a rabbit should eat each day by type of food, determined by their weight.

General feeding recommendations are around 1 cup of dark, leafy greens per 2 pounds of a rabbit’s body weight daily. You can also provide other vegetables such as bell peppers and cucumbers, but these tend to be higher in simple carbohydrates like sugar and starch and should be provided in smaller quantities. A good rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of non-leafy green veggies per 2 pounds of body weight per day.

This means a typical sized full grown Nethie will be eating a cup of leafy greens, a tablespoon of veggies, 2 tablespoons of pellet food and grazing on freely available hay at all times.

Here’s a list of rabbit safe greens and veggies to give you some ideas. This is by no means a complete list, but just a guide for starting out.

Greens

• Leafy green lettuce (Romaine, butterhead, Bibb) 

• Red or green leaf lettuce 

• Arugula 

• Endive 

• Turnip Greens 

• Dandelion Greens 

• Chicory 

• Raspberry Leaves 

• Radicchio 

• Basil 

• Mint 

• Watercress 

• Kale (all types) 

• Cilantro 

• Bok Choy 

• Dill Leaves 

• Parsley 

• Spinach 

• Mustard Greens 

• Swiss Chard 

• Wheat Grass 

• Escarole Veggies

Veggies

• Bell peppers (any color, seeds removed) 

• Cucumber with leaves 

• Parsnip 

• Summer/zucchini squash 

• Kohlrabi 

• Celery (try to remove veins or cut into chunks) 

• Broccolini 

• Carrots with leaves/greens intact 

• Broccoli (leaves and stems) 

• Brussel sprouts 

• Cabbage 

Pellets

A young Netherland Dwarf should be eating unlimited pellets until they around two or three months old. Their pellet intake should be slowly decreased as you add in leafy greens and veggies working towards the adult Netherland Dwarf portion of approximately 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) of pellets daily. They do not need many pellets to stay healthy! But instead should be eating 70-80% hay throughout the day. We feed our rabbits a mixture of Oxbow brand and Small Pet Select pellets and have been very happy with the quality and consistency.

Hay

A rabbit’s diet consists of 70-80% hay, so it’s kind of a big deal! We provide fresh Oxbow brand hay at all times. Our favorite is this Timothy and Meadow Grass blend for rabbits of all ages. If you are providing hay to a rabbit under 7 months, alfalfa hay is great, but otherwise avoid this hay for adult rabbits.

Treats

Now we get to the fun part of rabbit nutrition, treats! The easiest treats are simply fresh fruit. Try bananas, berries, and sliced apples or pear. Remember that Netherlands are especially small and have sensitive systems. Start with tiny amounts to make sure it does not upset your rabbit’s digestion.

You can buy many dry treats at pet stores but I prefer to buy on Etsy and support a small maker and fellow bunny lover. Check out my blog post about The Absolute Best Rabbit Treats all made by hand and full of healthy ingredients.

Feel like really spoiling your bunns? Try baking some special treats for them!

Health starts with what we put in our bodies, and it’s the same for rabbits. With a bit of care and attention you will be able to give your pet the nutrition he or she needs to thrive and live their best bunny life.

If you have questions or comments please reach out to us. I also love meeting other rabbit enthusiasts so if you have a good resource for me to include in this article send it on over!