Feeding for weight gain

I have a few questions I am hoping you all can help me out with. I currently have my first round of grow outs at 3.5lbs in ten weeks. Not great production, but my guess is the summer and genetics are part of why they aren't closer to the five pound mark. The mother is a little on the smaller side.

My current feed regimen for growouts is unlimited tucker milling feed pellets. I also mix in some boss and oats. I had heard that would help to put on the weight. I haven't done a ton of those in the feed, but I was hoping it would help.

The last time couple of times I bought the feed it had small pieces of corn in the bag. I spoke to the sales person and they said they would report it to the mill. They also said it was most likely from a previous milling and not something they use in the feed. Sadly, this is the only brand they carry. They are right across the road from me so I was hoping to use them, but now I am thinking it is worth the drive to get a better quality feed.

Here is the product information they provide on the site. I will try to take a picture tonight if I can remember of the ingredients on the bag.

http://www.tuckermilling.com/rabbit.html

My other options in the area are -

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...es-pro-formula-rabbit-food-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

and

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/select-series-gro-formula-rabbit-feed-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

Should I use Pro for breeding stock and gro for growout? Or keep them all on one? If so, which one? Or is the feed the problem?

Should I keep on giving the grow outs oats and boss?

Thanks for the help!

I feed 18 percent feed from Country Acres. But the ingredients aren't as good a the grow formula. I have two blood lines the first one the parents are smaller adults. The grow outs from this line take 12 to 13 weeks to hit five pounds. The second bloodline hit the 5 pound mark at 10 weeks. Both were sold to me at Cali's. I think the second line has more himalayan and new zealand in them. I think the reasons for the adults are so big compared to the first line. I just butcher two of them at 4 months old and they had more fat in them then the 12 week old ones. Why were they buthch that old? Because I am in the experiment stage of rabbitry. I want to know if all the hype is true or false to my own opion. I feed everything this summer here a list.

Country Acres
Fresh grass
Dried grass out of the yard that I let grow to two feet tall
Banana peels as treats
hay
Carrots as treats
I working on a speical treat made with molasses with oats and fine from pellets.

So yeah the protein level does effect the muscle grow rate and so does genetics.

I went with the new manna gro and pro to mix in with the old food for a week, then I will move them to it for good. I am also stopping the oats and boss to make sure that isn't what they are digging for. Anyone ever had an issue with that?

Last night they dumped the food again, so now they will only get enough for the day. Freezer camp is around the bin for them.

I put some sticks, sold for rabbits, in with the other rabbits and they let them drop through the cage floor. Don't seem to be to interested in them.

It's best to keep your rabbits just one type of pellet, because the kits will grow best on whatever their dam is eating. I honestly do not believe it matters which one you feed.

Switching back and forth can be hard on rabbits in general, but as a rule, ANY digestive upset in kits can cost weeks of growth.
There is a sort of reverse logic when it comes to feeding rabbits. Less can be more, as efficiency of digestion gets way batter results than total calories consumed.

I second removing the oats and boss from the mix, especially the boss. If you want, you could top-dress the feed with a little of those for the dam when she has a litter, as the fats in it can help boost milk production. In general though, boss seems to be a bit too rich for pellet-fed kits, and overfeeding rich foods can slow growth.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did move to the new feed. Currently giving them both half and half till they get use to it. One thing I have found is that they seem to like it and the dumping of food has stopped. I have a post on the food dumping so I will update that post.

I will weight the rabbits this week to see where they are at.