Bad Feed Once Again.

[Miss M]

What brand of feed was it, Grumpy??

Nutrena-Susie570

Oooooooooooooh... I knew you had switched from Kent to Country Acres after your last bad feed. I assumed this bad feed was the Country Acres. What made you switch from it to Nutrena?

Ramik-Miss M.

Thank you. We're not currently having a rat/mouse problem, but we did at my uncle's house. I want to look into this, as knowledge against any possible future problem.

 

[grumpy]

Oooooooooooooh... I knew you had switched from Kent to Country Acres after your last bad feed. I assumed this bad feed was the Country Acres. What made you switch from it to Nutrena?

Ramik-Miss M.

Thank you. We're not currently having a rat/mouse problem, but we did at my uncle's house. I want to look into this, as knowledge against any possible future problem.

I'd been toying with the idea of "trying" to get probiotics past the stomach's
acidic environment, thinking it may help with the odd-case of bubble-guts I was
still dealing with. I was also thinking that the 18% protein level Country Acres
had, may be a bit high for the youngsters.

I discovered the 16% Nutrena brand of pellet had Probiotics blended into it
during the manufacturing process. Two birds with one stone.
Thus far, it's worked really well. I've only had one 4-week old come down with it.
That's out of a couple hundred youngsters.

Grumpy

 

[Miss M]

Wow, I see! Thanks, Grumpy!

 

[akane]

If you've got an animal already being exposed to the correct bacteria prebiotics may help more and not get damaged before spreading through the intestines. They are also usually good fiber sources since they are not digested much in the stomach. I use acacia fiber. Since it's a gum it does have to be mixed really hot initially.

 

[michaels4gardens]

another thing to always be aware of is manufacture dates,- people are human, so mistakes happen, as does intentional misconduct so avoid inventory loss.- as well as folks who just don't care anymore. -- this is a thread about how to read manufacture dates on feed bags.
post249273.html?hilit=reading feed dates#p249273

 

[Susie570]

I searched around for anyone who sells decent rabbit feed and the only thing I came up with was a guy who can order the Nutrena feeds half an hour away from where I live. After reading this though, it makes me nervous. :x

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Real sorry to hear about your grain problems ( again ) , Grumpy.

I'm beyond anal about my feed and how it is stored etc. I am currently using 200 pounds in 7 days. I have quite a few litters.
The Californian litters have to have their feeders checked often to make sure they don't run out. I also keep the hayracks full.
I been mixing half and half of 2 kinds of pellets. One is producer's pride from TSC at 15 % and the other is from a local
grain mill at 18 % . I won't feed Kent pellets anymore even if they were gifted to me. I have several rabbits if they don't
like their grain, I find it in their drop pans. I put the full bags in big plastic containers and scoop from the bags.
Today when loading grain from the mill onto my pickup, I reminded the guy not to get my bags wet. They built this mill on a
natural spring of all things, and more times than not, there is water in the parking lot, and on the sidewalks and in the streets,
even when it is not raining. I even checked the dust on one bag to make sure there was nothing wet under it. I told him ,
I am checking for mold issues. He wasn't one of the regulars who loads the orders so I am sure he did not know what
to make of me, and my concerns.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have a friend who just lost about 200 rabbits to moldy feed, --
what a bummer...

 

[alforddm]

I have a friend who just lost about 200 rabbits to moldy feed, --
what a bummer...

That is horrid! I'm so sorry for your friend.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have a friend who just lost about 200 rabbits to moldy feed, --
what a bummer...

That is horrid! I'm so sorry for your friend.

thanks,-- but-- he should have known better, ... it had some visibly moldy clumps..... and, - he is a long time rabbit breeder, of at least 30 years...

 

[Miss M]

Oh, dear... I am sorry. You are right. He should have known better.

 

[macksmom98]

I have been getting moldy clumps in some of mine. I have been removing them and using the rest of the feed that looks ok. What is normal protocol for this situation? I planned on a different brand once the bag was gone. But do you all usually return it and stop use immediately? I know it's not a great situation.....This may seem like a no brainer but I haven't experienced it before...and I don't want to loose my buns!

 

[Zinnia]

If you purchased the feed moldy, or it went bad very quickly, the mill or seller needs to be held accountable. Moldy feed can kill, or at least lower immunity. I'm not a favorite at my mill.

 

[BlueHaven]

Looks like they are not cleaning their equipment often enough. Mold that deep looks like its been there for a long time.

 

[Zass]

I have been getting moldy clumps in some of mine. I have been removing them and using the rest of the feed that looks ok. What is normal protocol for this situation? I planned on a different brand once the bag was gone. But do you all usually return it and stop use immediately? I know it's not a great situation.....This may seem like a no brainer but I haven't experienced it before...and I don't want to loose my buns!

If I find ANY mold, I stop feeding it and return the bags to the store. I usually empty all my j-feeders too. I'd rather have them on oats and hay for a few days than continue to feed even one more mouthful of contaminated pellets.

See, it's not just the visible mold you have to worry about, you also have to keep the buns safe from invisible mold and mold toxins.

The adults might be able to eat it and seem fine, but it's very likely to kill 3-5 week old kits. I strongly suspect mold and mold toxins to be among the primary enteritis triggers, along with bacteria and bacterial toxins.

Haven't had any kind of mold or enteritis with my current feed, but both problems were common when I fed certain brands. :roll:
Seriously, switching feeds caused kit enteritis to totally vanish from my herd over a year ago. Seems to me that most of health and fecundity is feed.

FYI,
TSC employees taped up our bad bags and returning them to the shelf for sale. So, seriously, beware discount feed bags.

 

[macksmom98]

Thanks for the info. I am doing just that, although I have been using this bag of feed for a few weeks so I don't know if I will try to return it, but I immediatly dumped out what was left and gave everyone oats and hay this morning (they are soooo happy) and I'll go purchase a different brand of feed today I think they realize it too. I usually mix oats with their feed, and they always like the oats but I have been dumping out more feed lately...

 

[Miss M]

After a few weeks, you probably couldn't return it. They could argue that it had something to do with the way you stored it, whether that was actually the case or not.

I fed some "off" feed to our rabbits once. It didn't have obvious mold, but it was really dusty and it didn't smell fresh. I lost one rabbit and almost lost another. I took that bag and another bag back. I had just purchased them the day before... maybe two days max. I dumped all the feeders and bleached them. When I put them back, I gave everybody oats until I could get some more feed.

The feed store had just gotten that feed in the day I bought it, so the problem happened before it got to them. They refunded everybody's money, no problems. I was actually the first to return it... probably because most people don't run out of feed before they go buy more. I'm not normally that bad, but I was that time.

 

[macksmom98]

Yeah I didn't even try to return it.....I did say something at the register, and that they should look at the quality of what they are selling, but I doubt TSC cares.

 

[Rainey]

We're not feeding pellets, but recently we got a 50 lb bag of sunflower seeds from TSC that we found moldy clumps in when it hadn't been open long (and stored where there was no way it got wet) Checking we found that we'd bought it after the sell by date stamped on the bag. Our fault for not noticing before buying. We didn't feed any more from that bag to the rabbits. Bought a new bag and just told the person at check-out what had happened. The cashier said the guys stocking shelves are supposed to keep an eye on the dates, but that the BOSS usually goes out too fast for it to be an issue. From now on we'll be more careful. We also buy wheat (which they have to special order for us) and oats from Agway and haven't had any problems yet with those.

A related thing I've wondered about. When newbies are asking about feed, even those who do natural feed often suggest starting with pellets. I wonder why, given how often there are discussions on here about problems with pellets. I understand there are reasons to choose pellets and also that you can have problems with any way of feeding. Just don't understand why pellets are recommended for beginners. (We used just one bag of pellets for transitioning our original 2 does and a buck onto natural feed--I realize the change has to be made gradually if you start with pellet fed rabbits)

 

[macksmom98]

I know many of us don't have a large enough garden to do all natural feed, and I would feel really inadequate trying to come up with all the nutrients needed to keep them healthy. I think the assumption is that the pellets will be a pretty complete feed, when used with good hay. I agree tho that there is very little info on the natural feed, and how all of that works. I know I would be interested in hearing more about it, and seeing if it would be feasible for me to do in town, in TX, with my limited garden experience and space. I will also be checking the dates on what I get. I buy everything (pellets, boss, and hay) from TSC. Usually I find things are fresh and ok around there, but the feed with the mold was Manna Pro brand, which has been getting a lot of bad press on this page. I think it is a problem with the brand. I let them know in case they were interested in pulling that one off the shelves and offering something different.