Home made rabbit pellets. : Commercial Feeding and Supplements

[grumpy]

One thousand pounds of pellets for less than 1/3 the cost.

That got your attention! Didn't it!!

I had a customer yesterday that bought some rabbit manure for his garden. Amazing...isn't it. Folks buy the strangest things. My wife howled with laughter over my selling rabbit crap!

He was a "new-generation" suburbanite with an oversized lot who grows his own veggies and what-not. He was quite impressed with my ideas for rabbit poop recovery. "I'm fixin' to start!" One thing led to another and I told him my daily expenses just for pellets was $13.60 per day.

"You oughta make your own." was his simple reply.

Mine was a dumbfounded, "HUH?"

"Yeah, you can buy a 3-point pelletizer for the back of your tractor and MAKE your own pellets." He grinned at me. "Look it up on Google!"

I did! It can be done! I just never considered it. Heck, I never even thought about it!! Until now. I'm open for suggestions on ingredients for 1000 pounds of feed.

What and how much would be a good mix for pellets for rabbits. I know we've all been brain-washed into thinking there's some magical formula that goes into a simple rabbit pellet. That's what all of the major feed manufacturers would have us believe. I'm wondering if it isn't all a load of bull-biscuits.

I may not be able to do it. But it would sure be fun to try!

Here's an electric unit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX9fBkE4_ag

Grumpy.

[TMTex]

That's awesome, grumpy! I'll have to check into getting one of those.


<edit> They seem pretty expensive to start, but would probably pay for themselves over time. Looking at the mechanics, they seem similar to meat grinders. I might try my meat grinder out as an experiment. </edit>

[AmysMacdog]

I buy premium alfalfa hay in the white bag by Purina Mills. It is finely chopped and has ALOT of powder in it. I have looked at that and wondered how I could turn it into pellets for the rabbits. I use it for the goats instead of bailed alfalfa hay. No waste, they love it and so do the rabbits but you put it in the feeders and soon there is a beautiful green pile of fine alfalfa under the feeder which is scooped up and sprinkled around plants in the garden for fertilizer.
Anyway I thought I'd mention it as a source of alfalfa for pellets.

[trinityoaks]

If I were you, grumpy, I would start with the "natural feeding" section of this forum and go from there.

[LauraNJ]

I think that is neat! I had no idea they made small ones. If you did it you could always market your pellets. Off an organic line. I bet that would sell great, an experienced rabbit breeder who makes, produces and sells his own line of rabbit pellets.

[MamaMandy]

I was thinking the same thing Laura!

[grumpy]

I think that is neat! I had no idea they made small ones. If you did it you could always market your pellets. Off an organic line. I bet that would sell great, an experienced rabbit breeder who makes, produces and sells his own line of rabbit pellets.

Wait-a-minute!!

__________ Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:34 pm __________

I was thinking the same thing Laura!

You two girls are getting me into a new occupation and I'm way too old for that stuff.

Would be kind of neat though!

I'll do some more investigating and see what can happen.

grumpy

[LauraNJ]

I always have grand ideas, just ask my husband .

Seriously though I think you could make a decent profit. Look at all the people here who come on and are unhappy with the mass produced pellets by the big companies.

[Ivory]

How do you know it would be less than 1/3 the cost? Wouldn't that depend on your ingedients.

somewhere on the net you should be able to find a least cost formula.

Do you have access to the raw ingredients?

Will it cost more to obtain the ingredients and spend time formulating them into an acceptable recipe than to buy commercial pellets.

If you did buy a pelletter you could go one step further from LauraNJ's idea produce a premium ration for sale to pet rabbit owners. I saw some for sale at a show once. It looked like a mix of regular rabbit pellets, calf manna, BOSS, Quaker oats and dried bananas, she was selling it for about $5 for a small bag, no idea how well it was selling though.

[grumpy]

How do you know it would be less than 1/3 the cost? Wouldn't that depend on your ingedients.
That was a total FIB But, it sure got everyone's attention.

somewhere on the net you should be able to find a least cost formula.
If I increased the quality of the pellets and only "evened" the cost for the "store-bought pellets, I believe the benefit would be shown in the weight-gain ratio of the fryers. Plus the overall condition of the rabbitry.

Do you have access to the raw ingredients?
Nope, not yet. I'm still lookin'. I'll have to buy everything in bulk to get any kind of price break.

Will it cost more to obtain the ingredients and spend time formulating them into an acceptable recipe than to buy commercial pellets.
That's the kicker. Most of the ingredients in commercial pellets are of a cheap quality. Making my own pellets, I could upgrade the quality. Maybe for the same price or maybe less.
If you did buy a pelletter you could go one step further from LauraNJ's idea produce a premium ration for sale to pet rabbit owners. I saw some for sale at a show once. It looked like a mix of regular rabbit pellets, calf manna, BOSS, Quaker oats and dried bananas, she was selling it for about $5 for a small bag, no idea how well it was selling though.

What intrigued me most was the "option" of being able to do such a thing.
Agreed. My time involved + the costs of the ingredients may not make it a worthwhile endeavor.
But, it's fun investigating the possibilities.

grumpy.

[dayna]

I think that if you figure out your "hourly wage" and do the math you should know before you buy anything if it will save you money, break even, or a loss.

One thing to factor in, is if you have higher protein or just higher quality will your rabbits get to butchering age faster? And if so, will that cut down your overall cost even if the cost of food is higher?

A lot to consider. But very interesting idea!

[DonnerSurvivor]

Just wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts on this subject or if anyone went ahead and tried making their own pellets?

[TMTex]

Just wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts on this subject or if anyone went ahead and tried making their own pellets?

I'm waiting for some food grade grease to come in before I use my grinder. It has regular industrial grease in it for break in since I rebuilt it. Once the food safe stuff comes in, I'll clean it and try to make some pellets.

[DonnerSurvivor]

Just wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts on this subject or if anyone went ahead and tried making their own pellets?

I'm waiting for some food grade grease to come in before I use my grinder. It has regular industrial grease in it for break in since I rebuilt it. Once the food safe stuff comes in, I'll clean it and try to make some pellets.

awesome please keep us updated!

[Mountain Spice]

Just wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts on this subject or if anyone went ahead and tried making their own pellets?

I'm waiting for some food grade grease to come in before I use my grinder. It has regular industrial grease in it for break in since I rebuilt it. Once the food safe stuff comes in, I'll clean it and try to make some pellets.

Keep us up to date on the progress