Buying rabbit feed

I've decided to feed pen pal feed 16% to my new rabbits, they will be 7-8 weeks old when I receive them. I'll have 3. Since the store that carries it is so far away would it be ok to get a few bags and store one ? I'm guessing 100lbs might last awhile. I did purchase a 35 gallon container that seals that I was gonna store the feed in. I've read a lot about keeping the feed fresh so thought I'd ask.
Thanks for the help !!

purchasing a little feed to start out with, that is exactly like what is now being fed to your new rabbits will help prevent "transition problems" ...after you have some of the feed they are used to, then gradually switch them over to the new feed you want to use. if you are going to store rabbit feed , be sure the feed is fresh to begin with, look at the manufacture date on the bag, make sure the feed was stored inside before you bought it. when you get your feed, store it in a dry cool place, in plastic not metal container [plastic breathes and molds less than metal] check the feed often for any sign of spoilage, or mold, -more than a few bugs in the feed are also a good indication the feed is too old and should not be fed.

Thanks Michael !
This will be the same feed as the first rabbit I get so no problem there. The second 2 on the the other hand will be started on a rural King brand feed. I'll have to switch them. My storage container is plastic but would be stored outside in the shed. Maybe that's a bad idea ? I could dump one bag in the storage container and keep one bag in the house until needed ?
Thanks again !

I would only open one bag at a time, because every time you open your container you will let light and oxygen in. The feed is best stored in the original bag until needed. You might even want to pour just some of the feed from the first bag into the container and then roll the bag back up and put it into your storage container, at least until you have more rabbits to feed.

michaels4gardens":kn8oi574 said:

in plastic not metal container [plastic breathes and molds less than metal]

Click to expand...

I live in a very dry climate and have no trouble with feed molding in the galvanized trash cans that I store it in.

If you could add your state or region to your profile that would be very helpful- so many questions have answers based on your climate.

Congratulations on the coming bunnies!

living in the western US, I have no problem storing feed in metal containers, but-- in the east it spoiled a lot faster---

copy and pasted from another post...


The feed Manufacture Date on the bottom of the bag is 3AUG20DEN2 that means manufactured on Aug 20 of 2013 at Denver Plant second shift , so the first number is the last number of the Year, followed by Month and day made, followed by plant manufactured in,

The different feed manufacturers have a very different idea of what fresh is-- for example-- when I asked a Purina rep for their official recommendations, here is what I got--

PURINA
During the warmer months it will be 4 months. During the cooler months it will be 6 months. Those are estimates and we say if it still looks good and smells good there is no reason not to feed it. We don’t have an official guideline due to things that affect feeds such as temperature, humidity and storage conditions. If you store the feed in a temperature controlled area it will last the full 6 months. We also recommend storing the feed in a plastic container. The reason is the plastic will breathe where a metal container traps the moisture in and will cause it to mold faster. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Pat Herndon

Pat Herndon | Purina Animal Nutrition, LLC
Representative, Customer Operations - Consumer | http://www.purinamills.com
Toll Free: 800-227-8941| Fax: 636-742-6170 |