How do you handle "Bad-Feed"? I've dealt with one dealer for a considerable length of time, buying 500-600 pounds every 10-12 days. Lately, I've encountered enormous amounts of a powdery substance laced throughout 1-3 bags in every order. I called to voice my concerns and was told to bag it back up and they'd pick it up. No one SHOWED!!

Got a generic letter from them that basically addressed absolutely none of my concerns. They wasted a good stamp and paper!

The more I thought about it.....the madder I became! I fired off a letter that contained the powder in a baggy and told them the percentage that was in these bags in question was excessive and unhealthy. It was over 8% in weight. Plus, I was concerned with the powder irritating the respiratory systems in my rabbits. I got another response: "Oh Well, we've done all that we can do. To expect totally clean-feed is simply unrealistic. Sorry."

This substance wasn't "fines". It had the weight and texture of a fine talcum powder. I ran the bad feed through a gravity-fed, air-powered, feed cleaner I made years ago. That powder hung in the air for quite a long time. Imagine the problems when inhaled by the rabbits.

Absolutely no acceptance of responsibility, nor acknowledgement of a problem, on their part caused them to lose a customer that was online to purchase several thousand dollars worth of feed over the course of a year.

Grumpy.

Whatever happened to customer service? Seems like it is getting harder and harder to find....

Who did you write to at the company? Don't let it rest there. Send a letter to the president of the company, including the sample and copies of the two letters you received. At the very least they should reimburse you for the bad feed.

Maggie,

The president of the company was the one who sent both letters. I was more than just a little flabergasted by his nonchalance over the matter. Rather than accept the fact that in inferior product was produced, he chose to justify the company's stance of the product being within acceptable limits of a common standard. To me, personally, this was an unsatisfactory position.

I suggested partial/or full re-imbursement for the faulty product. Yet, they refused. Hiding behind the "acceptable-limits" attitude. I've dealt with this company twice in the last ten years. My wife reminded me that in the past I'd had to do the same thing with their dirty feed. "I'd forgotten about it!"

Rest assured, I'll be a long time in ever considering them as a provider for my feed again. In the past when I've had problems with feed from other companies, I would notify them and within two to three days, I'd receive a credit voucher for complete re-imbursement that I'd take to the feed mill and get new feed. Not so with this company. Rather than accept the fact that they'd made a mistake, they justified themselves and wouldn't shoulder the blame for a bad product.

On a lighter note: I've just about got the other 33 holes ready to go with the water supply!! I've spent the last two days hooking up the pipes. Now, I've got to build another water cabinet and they'll be ready for youngsters. I've got several litters that need to be moved within the next 6 to 7 days.

The bad thing about this whole mess is the fact that I have to switch feeds when I've got over 100 head of youngsters ready to be fed out. I don't know if there's any connection, but I've lost a handful of fryers since that bad feed became a problem. It will take me seven or eight days to make the switch!

Grumpy.

My goodness, that company is taking a very short-sighted view. So often when people complain about a product they only deal with Customer Service, rather than going to the top. Used to be if a president was bothered directly you could be almost certain of action. Used to be.

Regarding your youngsters, increasing the amount of hay you are feeding can help them through the transition. You likely know that already but just thought I'd mention it. Hope you don't lose any more of them.

500 to 600 pounds every 10 days? wow...how many rabbits do you have? Would love to see some video or pictures of your rabbitry..

It's not so much a question of how many as what kind?!? I'm thinking he must have Draft Loops!

Grumpy,

sorry to hear about your problem- I am shocked that the company in question values your business so little. They must cater to some pretty large outfits to have that attitude toward your commerce. Perhaps you can find a smaller outfit that will value your business.

I hesitate to ask, since on a good day you are known as "grumpy", and today you are "hopping mad" , but here goes <gulp!>:

Can you tell us more about your feed cleaner in another thread?

I would love to see it. I have been considering something along the lines of a vibratory table, like they use to sort aggregates of different sizes. The fines would collect in a tray or bin below, to either be reprocessed somehow for rabbit feed or used as an addition to the wet mash we feed to our horses.

Thanks!

MamaSheepdog

Wow, that's amazingly bad customer service! I agree, maybe a smaller company would find your business more important to them.

Maggie: I did exactly that...increase the hay. Plus, once I realized the problem with the feed, I started cleaning it. My son Reggie usually does the feeding in the evening. "Pops, We've got some dirty feed down there! I've been messin' with it. But, it's really bad!!" He'd fed it for several days before letting me know. Once we cleaned it and gave more hay, the "losing-fryers" problem settled down. Plus, their overall appearance is much better. They look "slicker".

tfb4me: It varies...Right now I've got a few over 180 head. A week ago, it was closer to 210 head. Seven or eight days from now...probably between 260-270 head.

MamaSheepdog: I raise commercial NZW's. I'd like to show you the feed cleaner, but my photo-thingy on my phone doesn't work! It's a nifty little outfit I made back in the late 80's. I was always plagued with "dirty" feed when I had Homing Pigeons. I got tired of taking back bag after bag of dusty, dirty feed. I took some time in my cabinet shop and built it in an afternoon. It can clean right around 25# of feed at a time. It's a top loader with baffles that disperses the feed out in a flat pattern. I've got a double-squirrel cage blower motor that mounts on the back. The feed falls through the air-chamber and the dust exhausts through a wide port on the front of the cabinet. I can slide a five-gallon bucket under it. It has a slide-gate that allows the feed to be emptied out the bottom. Pretty slick little outfit!!

I've dealt with large and small feed manufacturers over the years. But this outfit is a piece of work! I've heard of other commercial breeders having the same problems and quitting on them. The company will not accept responsibility for a sub-standard product. The only positive was the fact that they would deliver to the farm. Their price per bag was higher but the convenience of home delivery made it almost worthwhile. It was my intent to increase my herd enough that I'd be able to buy a ton at a time. I'll still do it....but, it will be with another company.

I had problems with Purina here a year or so ago. Their feed was excellent quality. No complaints there. But, the pellets were over an inch and a half long!! My does would grab a bite and clip the pellet, letting two-thirds of it fall through the wire. I got on the phone and called the company headquarters for this district. Two days later, I got a voucher to replace the feed.

I'll close up the cabinet tomorrow, set the water tank and hook up the circulating pump. All that's left is installing the water-valves in the pens.

It's been a l-o-n-g day! I'm pooped!

Grumpy......not really..... that's just a nickname my Missus gave me.

I once lost a whole show season due too what i suspected was bad feed.none of my rabbits would get in condition.I even had several have seizures right after eating the feed.I should of had the feed tested.

Seizures? Sounds like a mold issue-- my understanding is if you shine a black light on the feed, molds and some other toxins will 'light up'

Please tell me you aren't talking about Heinold. I had a somewhat related issue with them a couple years ago. It was bad. Don't have time to tell it today.

i had a bad bag of heinhold too once. didn't look strange but it smelled funny and my rabbits appetite decreased dramatically on that bag. haven't had too many problems since then, not enough to make me give it up anyway, cuz it seems to keep the wieght gain in my herd pretty consistent. and my favorite breeder in all of indiana uses it too and they have amazing rabbits.

I was feeding Purina in the green bag.i was also having breeding issues too.i finally just switched feed.i had fed Purina for years with no problems.my sister feeds Purina show with good results.

Few years back, had Purina issue. Wiped out almost all the rabbits I had. I had 3 or 4 of each breed I had left, about 30 total out of over 100. Purina insisted there was nothing wrong with the feed and it didn't have any thing of concern in it...they did note that it did have a small amount of pork feed in it but not "enough" to make a difference....and it was a barn issue although they also insisted the bags of feed I'd already purchased be returned so they could 'just' replace them to more or less keep me quiet. It took me over 6 months to get a litter out of any one again and then I have several does that were awesome producers that never produced another kid! Body condition was never the same on some of them, ruined several generations of show prospects and brood prospects. Since I couldn't get any other half decent feed, I got over it since every one has its goofs and not much of a choice other wise.

I'm just now getting rabbits back in line even with all the other hold ups going on. Some of the rabbits I cannot replace, the bloodline is gone. The rabbits started acting funny and dropped in weight and condition drastically in what seemed over night this fall again, same symptoms as before....no visible mold no bad smell but some thing was OFF bad...there was an increase in fine like material but it was like hot coco powder and not regular fines I'm used to seeing in food. I don't know if it was the same with the batch I had years ago as I never emptied the bags out completely (they took them back quicker then I could move any thing around). So, stopped all feed and put on hay and water diet for a few days. There were a few that got loose poo but nothing bad, went to give them feed back as a checker, started acting funny again...went and switched to Manna Pro, no more issues. This is the MAIN reason I'm working on going at least 3/4 natural.

IF you have rabbits get sick/die because of suspected bad feed I suggest the following:

1. save a sample of the bad feed to have tested individually, usually the Ag Department can put you in touch with some one for this
2. save and freeze any rabbit that dies to be checked out, again the Ag Department might be able to help with finding some one if you don't know of any one
3. remove ALL the feed immediately, give massive amounts of hay and fresh water, giving them more of the problem feed on top of what they've already got in their system will compound and make it worse...if you have to go get a different brand of pellets completely from another store
4. make it known, talk to both the store and every department for the feed company you can get a hold of, and ask the store if any one else has had issues and see if you can get in touch with them, see if they can give you samples of their feed and rabbits that have died from it as well...the more evidence the better to have...I come to find out I wasn't the only one but many just let it drop instead of pushing it