Fresh Food
Fresh food is the most important part of a rabbit or guinea-pigs diet. This is contrary to the popular belief that hay is the most important. Hay consists of mainly dried grasses and through the drying process loses a lot of nutrients and vitamins. Thus, hay is not actually a good substitute for the rich varied diet of the wild rabbit or guinea-pig.
The fresh food portion of the diet consists of five components. The first and largest component is fresh grasses & wild plants and these should make up the majority of the diet. A species rich mixture of various wild plants and grasses is the most natural diet and contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and nutrients needed. This type of feed should always be the first choice. In the summer there will be plenty available which reduces the need to buy vegetables and in the winter when there is less available, green leafy vegetables can partially replace it. You should try to collect something from nature every day, even in winter.
The second component is leafy vegetables, these can replace part of the fresh grasses and wild plants if they are in short supply in the winter or if access is difficult. These include lettuce, carrot or other safe veg tops, endive, chicory, cabbage (NOT safe with pellets), chard, rocket, spinach, kale, radicchio, pak choi etc. Celery, broccoli, cauliflower & brussel sprouts are also included. A smaller amount of root and tuber vegetables should also be supplied as they are useful for weight gain and to maintain weight in the colder months. These include carrots, parsnips, fennel, beetroot, celeriac, jerusalem artichoke etc. Other vegetables that contain seeds, such as cucumber, peppers, tomato, pumpkin etc can also be given and are especially useful in summer due to their high water content. The ration should be 80% leafy vegetables to 20% root & tubers within the vegetable portion.
The third component is kitchen herbs, these are especially useful if fresh grasses and wild plants are lacking. They have a high content of phytochemicals which stabilises digestion and a high vitamin and mineral content which is needed in the diet. All kitchen herbs are suitable and are very easy to grow at home on the windowsill all year round. Herbs are often feared due to their high mineral content, however in a diet full of fresh food there is no problem.
The fourth component is fruit which is a great energy supplier but it does lack a large amount of plant fibres and should be fed as a smaller proportion. Fruit has an unfair reputation for being too sugary, however it is not much more sugary than hay or meadow plants. You should stick to native fruits & avoid tropical fruits.
The fifth and final component is branches, these can be fed fresh with leaves, fruit and buds. The foliage is happily eaten and the bark chewed with very thin branches being eaten completely. They should be changed weekly. Branches also contain a high concentration of phytochemicals and are healthy for digestion. The gnawing also stimulates blood flow to the gums, which maintains good tooth growth and healthy gums.
A common belief is that stone fruits such as plum & cherry cannot be fed and therefore neither can their branches because they contain hydrocyanic acid. However, Amygdalin (a cyanogenic glycoside that breaks down into hydrocyanic acid and fructose when in contact with water) is found only in the core of the stone fruit. This means that both the fruit (minus the stone) and branches are safe to feed.
Sources:
https://www.kaninchenwiese.de/
http://www.diebrain.de/nh-index.html
https://www.moehren-sind-orange.de/
Plus, my own experience.
