Monkey chow?

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ladysown

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So I had an interesting conversation with a gal yesterday.

I sold her some mice, she also raises Rats. Told her mixing them not a good idea, she agreed. :)

Then she asked me about Monkey chow and showed me the bag that she has. Apparently it's a lab food that is fed to all sorts of lab animals...including rabbits.

anyone know anything about it? they apparently need less of it than they do of pellets as it's a high protein food. It's not cheap by any means, but I thought perhaps as the occasional supplement it might be doable? AND it is more doable as opposed to doing one tsp of that rabbit show that lots give their show bunnies or nursing does (sorry can't think of the name at the moment...manna comes to mind). It would be one piece so no debating if it's a loaded tsp or level one.
 
I know nothing about monkey chow, but monkeys eat a wide variety of foods and I believe some of them would be animal protein. I think you would want to see an ingredients list before feeding it to the rabbits.

I think the supplement you are trying to think of that many people use for show bunnies and nursing does is calf manna. I don't know what all is in it either.<br /><br />__________ Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:03 pm __________<br /><br />
 
From one of the primary Zoo primate feeds:

Ingredients
Ground corn, Soybean meal, Cracked wheat, Sucrose,Wheat
germ meal, Animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and
citric acid), Dried whole egg, Dicalcium phosphate, Calcium
carbonate, Iodized salt,Vegetable oil, Choline chloride, Stabilized
ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), Ethoxyquin (a preservative),
Ferrous sulfate, Zinc oxide, Copper chloride, Manganous oxide,
Cobalt carbonate, Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite,Vitamin A
supplement,Vitamin D3 supplement,Vitamin E supplement,
Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine
hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic acid,
 
If it was a Mazuri feed, their website has lots of information about the ingredients of each feed. Of course, they have about a zillion feeds, so you'd need to know the exact one. https://www.mazuri.com/Home.asp?Products=2&Opening=2

I once considered Mazuri rabbit, but the pricing was way too high for the number of rabbits I have and I barely break even on feed costs as it is. When I raised mice, I did use the Mazuri Rodent Breeder 9F and they did really really well. I think it's a top quality feed, but you need to choose the correct version for the purpose.
 
I personally wouldn't feed monkey chow to anything but a monkey - I believe in feeding species appropriate feed
loads of parrot mills use a version of monkey chow for the big parrots too - but labs and mills don't care about length of life just that animal is healthy enough to either use for purpose or reproduce for a few rapid cycles

just my nickle ;)
 
Anntann":14ivvyfi said:
From one of the primary Zoo primate feeds:

Ingredients
Ground corn, Soybean meal, Cracked wheat, Sucrose,Wheat
germ meal, Animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and
citric acid), Dried whole egg, Dicalcium phosphate, Calcium
carbonate, Iodized salt,Vegetable oil, Choline chloride, Stabilized
ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), Ethoxyquin (a preservative),
Ferrous sulfate, Zinc oxide, Copper chloride, Manganous oxide,
Cobalt carbonate, Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite,Vitamin A
supplement,Vitamin D3 supplement,Vitamin E supplement,
Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine
hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic acid,

Positively scary! Grain, soybeans, SUGAR, animal fat, a bit of dried egg and a gazillion vitamin and mineral supplements and preservatives.
 
reading this and doing some research, thinking...Not for the bunnies. But the sample she gave me... Good enough for the mice I think. They LOVE "EM!
 
Ok, I personally wouldn't use it. However, I do have a very old book from the depression era on how to raise rabbits on scraps (for meat). Some of the food they gave included fish bones and coffee grounds. Basically any scrap not consumed by humans.
 
Just my opinion. If you research instances where rabbit pellets themselves have caused death or other serious problems in rabbits, it is almost always related to rancid animal fat in the feed. It is one of the reasons that many quality rabbit pellet producers now include a disclaimer that their feeds contain no animal fats or proteins.

Minor vitamins and supplement excess in some feed are often not a factor (in health). For instance, vitamin C in rabbit feed is not needed, it is much like excess protein, not needed, but not harmful. However there are other vitamins that are toxic to some animals in amounts proper for others. In sheep and goats, the copper requirement for one might be lethal over time to the other. In humans, too much vitamin A or D can be toxic. I do not have the problem that Maggie does with vitamins and minerals in prepared feeds, but I belive that they should be restricted to those that a necessary level of the said vitamin has been established for that species. Adding greens, among other things, is a way of providing for micronutrients and vitamins that are required but in amounts too small to be established as a necessity.

One must keep in mind that while many animals will tolerate the inclusion of certain things not good for them for a while, over time it may cause a toxic build up in the organs such as the liver, may cause fertility and breeding problems, and may lower the resistance of the animal to other diesease. "Toxic" does not always mean that the animal will keel over dead in a mater of hours.
 
Just to clarify... I do not have a problem with vitamin and mineral supplements in animal feed. I do have problem, however, with their use to bring the statistics on a feed made with inferior ingredients up to "acceptable" levels.

Too much protein is not harmless, the way I understand it. It can cause stress on the renal system.

Other than that, AVD, I more or less agree with you! :D
 
Positively scary! Grain, soybeans, SUGAR, animal fat, a bit of dried egg and a gazillion vitamin and mineral supplements and preservatives.

I know!!!<br /><br />__________ Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:43 am __________<br /><br />I was hoping it would box the quote!!! Sorry, Miss Maggie!
 
Actually vitamins and minerals do not up the feed stats... if they are listed thats what they are, some are water soluble and not as harmful but others are fat soluble and can be harmful in too high a dose. Rabbits for instance don't store calcium they use whats available from feed and the rest is lost in the urine, too much calcium has been thought to produce bladder sludge over time. However the biggie lately has been the use of things like MELAMINE to up the the apparent protien levels!!! This is what killed all the dogs and cats a while back. A company in China was also found to have used it for baby formula!!!!! Just to up the protien level! I think there were deaths from this too. I think that is what Maggie refers to? I totally agree about that and wonder when feed companies will learn we don't want compromise when it comes to anythings health!Its also safer when using prepared feed to stay species specific as the preparation is formulated to that animals dietary needs.

yes too high a protien causes scours (enteritis) as well as toomuch sugar.

PS I hate monkeys ( they do eat anything including each other)
 
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