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Can rabbits eat broccoli? – The simple answer is yes, Broccoli is a great little treat for your rabbit and helps provide a healthy variety of vegetable to their diet. However, there are a variety of factors that you need to take into consideration.
Brocolli is considered a “Gassy” vegetable, which means that your rabbits stomach may not handle it very well and may result in having tummy troubles leading to GI Stasis.
The worrying part of owning a rabbit is knowing what they can and cannot eat, which is why you landed on this page! So, let’s discuss more. Can rabbits eat broccoli?
Brocolli isn’t a substitute for your rabbits normal intake of leafy greens and should only be giving sparingly as it is extremely high in starch.
Due to the high starch intake, most suggest avoiding giving your bun broccoli. Which is good advice and in such cases would place broccoli as a treat only food.
Brocolli has a lot of vitamins, for example, A, B6, B12, D, E and K. Broccoli should only be given in very small quantities though.
Yes, Rabbits can eat Broccoli and they do provide a lot of nutrition for your rabbit. However, we do highly suggest not making Broccoli a regular vegetable to add to your rabbit’s daily greens and if possible simply replacing it with something else.
It’s weird to think that the Broccoli is actually part of the cabbage family, but this doesn’t mean that you can feed it as often as you can with cabbage.
If you are going to give your rabbit any part of a Broccoli, you should give them smaller thinner parts of the stalker or the leaves of a Broccoli. Realistically, you don’t want to give your rabbit the flowering part of your Broccoli.
If you are giving your rabbit the broccoli stalk, you should chop it into very small diced pieces to avoid choking.
Yes, this is probably the best part of the Broccoli to give your rabbit, Broccoli leaves are known to not only give less gas but also provide fantastic nutritional value.
If you give your bunny small quantities of Broccoli leaf, you should find shortly whether or not it’s something they’re a fan of as most leafy greens will get eaten quick!
Typically, you would only give your rabbit one tablespoon of broccoli per two pounds of their weight.
Rabbits need a balanced diet, so Broccoli would need to be a small percentage of al the already small-ish balance in their diet of fresh vegetables and fruit.
Ideally not, you will want to mix this up and provide a variety of vegetables regardless. But as Broccoli can make your rabbit gassy, it’s highly suggested small amounts as little as often.
If possible, mix your Broccoli with other vegetables.
| Age of Rabbit | Amount of Broccoli |
|---|---|
| Baby Rabbits | None. |
| Juvenile/Teen Rabbits | None. |
| Adult rabbits | 1 Tablespoon of Broccoli per 2lbs of body weight every other day. |
A breakdown of your rabbits diet:
Broccoli is an extremely nutritional vegetable and definitely up there as one of the healthiest around. It’s extremely low in calories, it’s nutrient density is increbily high and with cheese sauce it’s great! (Please don’t give your rabbit cheese sauce…)
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 55 |
| Carbohydrates | 11g |
| Fiber | 5g |
| Protein | 4g |
| Fat | 0.3g |
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Manganese | 0.4mg |
| Potassium | 457mg |
| Calcium | 62mg |
| Magnesium | 33mg |
| Phosphorus | 105mg |
| Vitamin K | 100mcg |
| Vitamin C | 101mg |
| Vitamin A | 120IU |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.4mg |
| Folate (Vitamin B9) | 168 mcg |
Yes, rabbits can eat the stalk but this should still be eaten in small quantities. However, The best part is still the leaves.
We still recommend keeping away from Broccoli Stalk and bushy top as it has been mentioned in a few rabbit groups & studies that it can cause gas in your rabbit which in turn can cause GI Stasis.
Take this with a pinch of salt though, not everything you read on Facebook groups is true!
If you are going to give your rabbit stalks, we highly suggest very small quantities first, we suggest a few diced pieces in their food bowl.
This also applies for a Broccoli stem, whilst they’re smaller, that are part of the bushy area of a Broccoli and as such are fine in small quantities.
Baby Rabbits, also known as kits have an entirely different dietary pallet that their parents or older siblings. As such, you should NOT give your rabbit any vegetables include Broccoli up until the age of 6 Months.
At 6 months, your rabbit should slowly be introduced into eating vegetables and greens.
If your kits somehow manage to grab a little nibble of Broccoli, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But definitely do keep an eye on their stomach and if you’re worried seek help from an exotic vet.
To sum it up, Rabbits can eat Broccoli which provides a lot of vitamins and health benefits but it should be given in extremely small quantities and only if your rabbit doesn’t suffer from regular gas issues.
Remember, each rabbit has a different sensitivity to foods and with an animal this fragile its better to be safer than sorry.
The range of safer vegetables out there is extremely large, Wild Rabbits eat pretty much anything green, so if you’re stuck for ideas check out our alternative suggestions:
Please note the vegetables and fruit in the lists below were sourced from the RWAF
If you’re looking for more information, check out our post What Vegetables are safe for my Rabbit?
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