Lambs quarters is also known as fat hen, melde, pigweed and goosefoot and is found across most of Europe, Oceania, North America, Australisia, and Africa.
It is eaten as a leaf vegetable, because of its leaves and young shoots which are either steamed or cooked quite like spinach.
So can rabbits eat lambs quarters at all and if they can how much of them can be eaten?
Lets take a look at their nutritional data and find out more. In particular their acidic, sugar, fat, phosphorus, sodium, calcium and fibre content is of most interest to rabbits.
Lambsquarters, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 180 kJ (43 kcal)
Carbohydrates 7.3 g
– Dietary fiber 4 g
Fat 0.8 g
Protein 4.2 g
Vitamin A equiv. 580 μg (73%)
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.16 mg (14%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.44 mg (37%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 1.2 mg (8%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.092 mg (2%)
Vitamin B6 0.274 mg (21%)
Folate (vit. B9) 30 μg (8%)
Vitamin C 80 mg (96%)
Calcium 309 mg (31%)
Iron 1.2 mg (9%)
Magnesium 34 mg (10%)
Manganese 0.782 mg (37%)
Phosphorus 72 mg (10%)
Potassium 452 mg (10%)
Sodium 43 mg (3%)
Zinc 0.44 mg (5%)
Link to USDA Database entry
Percentages are roughly approximated
using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
As you can see lambs quarters has a lot of phosphorus, calcium, and acidic content. This makes it really bad for rabbits and should be avoided as it will make them ill if they eat it. If they happen to nibble a bit of it, they should be fine but really, nothing more than that.
Image "Chenopodium berlandieri NPS-1" by Jim Pisarowicz - http://www.nps.gov/wica/photosmultimedia/photo%2Dgallery%2Dwildflowers%2Ehtm?eid=133105&aId=167&root_aid=167&sort=title&startRow=82#e_133105. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chenopodium_berlandieri_NPS-1.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Chenopodium_berlandieri_NPS-1.jpg
