Feeding methods, how food is presented and why it matters — and the hay-versus-straw distinction, once and for all.
What nutrition is, and why it matters
Nutrition is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.
An appropriate, good quality diet and fresh water must be provided daily. Without appropriate food or clean water, an animal becomes predisposed to hunger, disease, ill health and dehydration.
Water is the most important nutrient for any animal. Water sources contaminate easily, sometimes microscopically — change water very regularly even when it looks clean. A lack of water causes health problems and unnecessary distress.
A balanced diet
A balanced diet considers and meets an individual animal's nutritional needs throughout its life. Requirements vary between species and between individuals. Life stage, age, physical activity, sex, size, body condition and overall health all change the amount and type of food needed.
Both directions are harmful. Starvation and obesity both damage health, so overfeeding and underfeeding must both be avoided. Close monitoring of what each individual eats is what prevents it.
Hay is not straw
Learners mix these up constantly. This is the section to get right.
Hay
Dried grass
Cut and dried while still green. It is food. Rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, donkeys and sheep need it available more or less constantly, and for small herbivores it is most of the diet, not a treat.
Straw
Dried crop stalks
The leftover stalks of wheat or barley after the grain is taken. It is bedding. Low in nutrition, good at absorbing and insulating — which is why lambing pens are bedded on it.
Why this one matters: learners get it wrong every year. A guinea pig bedded on straw with no hay will eat the straw because there is nothing else, and straw will not keep its gut moving or wear its teeth down properly. Both problems are serious and both are avoidable.
The seven feeding methods
Method
What it means
Grazer
Feeding on growing grasses and herbage
Browser
Feeding on leaves, twigs or other high-growing vegetation
Filter feeder
Filtering plankton or nutrients from water
Active hunter
Seeks out prey and uses speed and strength
Ambush hunter
Captures or traps by stealth or strategy — sit and wait
Scavenger
Feeds on dead animals or dead plant material
Forager
Goes out in search of food or provisions of any kind
Match the animal to the method
Present this animal's food correctly
Food can be given in a bowl, on the floor, scattered, as enrichment, or hand fed. Which one is right depends on the animal, the substrate and what you need to know.
The pattern: scatter feeding is excellent for foragers on a safe substrate, and a bad idea when the substrate can be swallowed or when you need to measure an individual's intake.
Water, food types and storage
How water is provided
In a bottleIn a bowlIn a troughIn a wallow or pondH₂O balls
Types of food fed
FreshFrozenDried pelletsWet foodHay and strawLive preySupplements
Where food is stored, and why
The main method is metal food bins. Metal, because rodents chew through plastic. The reasons: to keep food away from pests and contamination, out of the heat, away from moisture, and tidy and organised.
The task
Give an example of the diets of four different animals on the unit. How do you present their food, and why? How often do you change the water, and how is it presented?
Work through the species requirement and the individual one, and build a week’s plan. Nothing is saved — copy your results out before you leave the page.