I kept finding little bits of corn in my MannaPro and picking them out, and I thought it was just stray bits since the plant that makes it probably processes other feeds as well. Nope! It is in the pellets themselves! I checked 3 separate feed bag's ingredient lists, and it is not listed as an ingredient! I am so mad- here I am feeding this to my entire herd, but most worrisome is my does with kits! I could lose them all if the corn is bad. Aaargh!!!

I have one unopened bag which is going back to the feed store today, and I am going to see if the bag itself has a contact number. I'll let you know more when I get to the bottom of this.

Hmmmm I believe MannaPro also makes the small wonder feed that Wal Mart sells i wonder if there was a mix up in the batches??

I've never looked at the Walmart stuff. Could be, I suppose. TSC had it on sale twice in the last month or so- I wonder if MP is dumping the whole run at a discounted rate knowingly? It doesn't have any rabbit candy in it, but I suppose the plain pellets could have gone into the wrong bags...

Its completely possible that they're trying to dump it without having to admit to a mistake. I've seen all over the rabbit Facebook groups about people finding corn in the Purina feed down south, among other problems like a rediculous amount of feed dust in the bag, wonky pellets, etc.

I haven't found any corn in the 10 bags we've used. Either you picked up something else by accident or you got a bad batch/mislabelled and I would report it for a free bag.

I wouldn't touch walmart stuff. I'd go to hay, grains, and minerals before that. You can ask if your feed store will order in certain brands particularly if they have something else of that brand and especially if you do bulk. We just asked and it's 10 bags, 20bags with a 5% discount and on up to a pallet of 100 bags but I forget the discounts for the rest cause I can't afford or use over 20 bags. We are going to try to find the money to bulk buy since the feed stores are so unpredictable in what they'll have each month here. I gave up the kent to pelletless and then horse pellets because despite them saying they'd order me a certain number they kept selling them off to this other person or failing to get any in.

Tell me more about this bad corn killing bunies! I don't think my feed has corn in the pellet mix but I do sometimes find what looks like small bits of corn in the bag. I assumed it was because of cross contamination at the mill or something but now I'm all worried about my feed.

What are the best brands of feed for small rabbits? I have dwarf.

Are you sure you got MannaPro for regular rabbits?? I hear the Loop breeds do well on corn...

Ya
there's some corn in there

Corn doesn't necessarily kill them, but it isn't good for them. They use corn to clean the processing machines, so that may be what you're seeing in your feed.

As for brands, you could ask any breeder and they'll probably all tell you different brands for various reasons. It all depends on what works for YOU. Can't really go by recommendations. My rabbits do great on Heinold, a friend's do just as well on Purina Show. Its all relative.

Whats the big deal? From what I have read and understand corn (dried cracked and not fresh) is actually good for the animals? Read below for more details..

I know there is a lot of controversy out on the internet regarding the question “can rabbits eat corn?” I found out that an often quoted and misunderstood statement that comes from an expert in the field may be part of the source of this controversy. So I emailed her with this same question, to have her clarify feeding corn to rabbits and found out that she was talking about feeding rabbits fresh corn (not dried). Dried corn is fine (especially when combined in a ground and pelleted food) so long as it is only part of a balanced diet and not the sole food source. Furthermore yellow corn is loaded with beta carotene, a natural pro-vitamin A that is great for rabbits

The hull of a corn kernel is composed of very tough polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicelluloses A, B, and C) and lignin that even a rabbit’s intestinal flora may not be able to completely break down if the kernels are ingested in large pieces.Milled corn isn’t a major problem. It’s already been broken up into very tiny bits that will pass through the rabbit’s digestive tract without incident. This is the form in which corn is added to commercial rabbit pellets. The hulls are also less of a problem with dried corn, as a bunny will usually grind the kernels into very small bits before swallowing.But fresh corn is another matter. The endosperm is soft, and the hull is pliable. So the whole thing can be swallowed with not much chewing. If a lot of hulls are swallowed whole, they can cause an intestinal impaction. I am not sure anyone knows exactly why, but my guess would be that the digestive enzymes and intestinal flora simply don’t have enough surface area available on a large piece of hull to access and completely break it down.I’ve seen the results myself, firsthand. But our Gryphon was lucky, and after a few days of unhappiness and constipation, he managed (with medical help) to pass a great wad of hulls, and we never fed him fresh corn again.Corn isn’t a natural part of a grazing herbivore’s diet, so there’s that to consider. It’s high in calories and sugar, neither of which is good for long-term maintenance of a healthy bunny.So to be safe, we try to avoid foods with a lot of corn added, and we stay strictly away from anything with fresh corn.

Hope this helps.

The biggest problem with corn is that it has too much sugar, also cracked corn can go moldy really quickly. Since rabbits have such a sensitive digestive tract, most of us only use corn products sparingly.

The big deal is that it is not listed in the ingredients. Animal owners need to be able to trust the manufacturers of their feed.

Corn is not "evil" in itself, but it is generally considered a less desirable grain due to its lower protein content. Many people do not want to feed GMO products to their rabbits and most corn these days is genetically modified. In addition, corn has been linked to mycotoxins, which can be deadly. IMO, those are plenty of reasons to avoid a feed that contains corn!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycotoxin

Just another reason I grain-feed my rabbits. I KNOW what's in their feed!

Yeah, but it's kinda hard to beat their pricepoint
too much corn is bad, I'm sure they can handle a little

I maintain that if there is corn in the feed, it needs to be mentioned on the label.

Feeding an alfalfa hay/greens/grain diet is cheaper in many parts of the continent, Jack. I know your situation in Alaska is difficult, but for many of us it is a viable alternative.