Tuesday, February 26, 2008
I Like Oatmeal
I like oatmeal. I really do. I especially like the steel cut ones with diced dried apricots, toasted slivered almonds, and the usual butter and milk. Yum.
In fact, I'm making oatmeal for the kids and me right now. I was just in the kitchen (which is part of a great room), nibbling on an apricot. I gazed over at Rio. I figured he would enjoy this breakfast, too (maybe with the cooking and the milk).
And boy would he. He loves to eat. You'd think he was born to eat and live to eat. Forget attention, he seems to say, what have you got for me to eat?
And a little oatmeal, some extra fat, and maybe a small fruit treat wouldn't hurt him. In fact, he might put some condition on him if I did it consistently.
Top dressing conditioners can be like a few extra puffs of air into a balloon. It makes the balloon just a little better than it was - bigger, shinier, and more full of bounce.
Just give that balloon a couple of puffs too many, though, and BANG! the whole thing explodes in your face.
While a certain amount of conditioner can add a shinier coat, better flesh (on a rabbit genetically predisposed to good flesh), and probably more, too much oatmeal or barley or whatever else you might put into a conditioning mix can turn your rabbit's digestive system into a toxin-producing machine. Instead of a well conditioned animal, you have a sick animal - or worse - a dead one.
Some people think that if a little is a good thing, a lot is better. But that's just not the case with conditioning rabbits, especially fancy breeds.
How much is the right amount? How much air can a balloon hold before it pops? Different balloons have different limits. But just as you learn to sense the subtle pressure difference in your mouth when you blow a balloon to its fullest, you'll have to develop your own sense of what is enough for your particular mix and your particular line of rabbits.
My guess is, though, that it won't be very much - probably about a teaspoon - maybe less.
I like oatmeal, and so do my rabbits, but neither one of us can have all we want.
Laurie ¶ 12:33 PM
In fact, I'm making oatmeal for the kids and me right now. I was just in the kitchen (which is part of a great room), nibbling on an apricot. I gazed over at Rio. I figured he would enjoy this breakfast, too (maybe with the cooking and the milk).
And boy would he. He loves to eat. You'd think he was born to eat and live to eat. Forget attention, he seems to say, what have you got for me to eat?
And a little oatmeal, some extra fat, and maybe a small fruit treat wouldn't hurt him. In fact, he might put some condition on him if I did it consistently.
Top dressing conditioners can be like a few extra puffs of air into a balloon. It makes the balloon just a little better than it was - bigger, shinier, and more full of bounce.
Just give that balloon a couple of puffs too many, though, and BANG! the whole thing explodes in your face.
While a certain amount of conditioner can add a shinier coat, better flesh (on a rabbit genetically predisposed to good flesh), and probably more, too much oatmeal or barley or whatever else you might put into a conditioning mix can turn your rabbit's digestive system into a toxin-producing machine. Instead of a well conditioned animal, you have a sick animal - or worse - a dead one.
Some people think that if a little is a good thing, a lot is better. But that's just not the case with conditioning rabbits, especially fancy breeds.
How much is the right amount? How much air can a balloon hold before it pops? Different balloons have different limits. But just as you learn to sense the subtle pressure difference in your mouth when you blow a balloon to its fullest, you'll have to develop your own sense of what is enough for your particular mix and your particular line of rabbits.
My guess is, though, that it won't be very much - probably about a teaspoon - maybe less.
I like oatmeal, and so do my rabbits, but neither one of us can have all we want.
Laurie ¶ 12:33 PM
