Best feed for meat rabbits

I'm thinking of starting a commercial rabbitry. Already have a processor lined up to buy, cages sourced. Now looking at feed. I have a local feed mill that sells 50# bags for 10.99 and I have considered Manna Gro, but it's 17.99. What feed will put weight on quickly and consistently and is healthy for the rabbits? Going with California/New Zealand hybrids.

A 50# bag for 10.99 probably isn't going to be your best feed. Manna Pro is a good brand, and I've people have good luck with Purina professional or complete (I use purina show but that's probably not worth it for meat rabbits)

Welcome to RT!

We could guide you better if you maybe took a picture of the feed store feed label so we can see what we're looking at ingredient wise and % wise of proteins, etc.

The local feed mill is 16% protein. I'll get over there tomorrow and take a pic of ingredient label

-- Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:11 pm --

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS Crude Protein Mn 16.00% Crude Fiber Mn 16.00% Max 20.00% Crude Fat Mn 3.00% Calcium (Ca) Mn 0.60% Max 1.1% Phosphorus (P) Mn 0.35% Salt (NaCl) Mn 0.30% Max 0.80% Vitamin A Mn 2,600 IU/lb INGREDIENTS-Forage Products, Processed Grain By-Products, Grain Products, Roughage Products, Plant Protein Products, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Animal Fat (preserved with Ethoxyquin), Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement

-- Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:12 pm --

, Folic Acid, Choline Chloride, d-Biotin, Zinc Oxide, Selenium Yeast, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Brewers dried yeast, Dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation soluble, Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, Enterococcus (Streptococcus) faecium fermentation product, Bifidobacterium longum fermentation product, Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract and Sodium Selenite. <br /><br /> -- Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:14 pm -- <br /><br /> Found ingredients list online

Usually with rabbit feed, you want to see a defined ingredient list such as

Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Middlings, Soybean Hulls, Soybean Meal, Rice Bran, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Soybean Oil, Yeast Culture, Dried Citric Acid Presscake, Magnesium Oxide, DL-Methionine, Monocalcium/Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Hydroxychloride, Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Hydroxychloride, Manganese Sulfate, Basic Copper Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Copper Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Carbonate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Ascorbic Acid.

Click to expand...

However, just that alone doesn't necessarily make a good pellet. That is the ingredient list of a rabbit feed manufactured local to me. However, while it looks good on paper, the quality of the feed isn't that great. It's not consistent. I've found corn and once I got a bag with strange pink colored pellets and they often have a kinda strange almost medicinal smell. Plus, the pellets aren't terribly firm and tend to fall apart when it's humid.

I've located a different feed that is farther away which has an ingredients list similar to the one you posted. The rabbits love it and so far I've been very pleased. The pellets are firm and thus far it seems very consistent. It's cheaper enough that so long as I buy several bags at a time, it offsets the cost of gas.

So, my advice is, look for a good ingredient list but don't use that as the final determination. The quality of the feed is a much how it's made as whats in it and sometimes a cheaper feed will work. It just depends.

I use the Purina Performance and I like the results....

Good quality hay, good feed and good genetics.... key to a quick growing bunny.
Cull for growth and results...

Operating a commercial rabbitry is far different than those who raise
strictly for show. It's not the dollars you need to worry about. It's the pennies.
Your profit margin rides a razor's edge... slip, and you lose big-time.

Many operators contact the local distributor and oftentimes 'make-a-deal'
with them. I'm more apt to get a price break buying 2-4 tons per month
than say a person who buys a dozen bags per month. Once you find a
decent feed at a decent price.... stick with it.

I feed a purina commercial 16% pellet.. and it works. $13.75 per bag.

Best of luck...

Grumpy.

Thanks for all the input. I think I'm going to start with the local feed. I do have some Manna Pro on hand for my show rabbits so I may run an experiment putting a couple litters on the local stuff and a couple litters on Manna and compare the results. One other question...I read the other day that giving Calf Manna to the does is a pretty good idea. Does everyone concur with that?