Best pellet food?

[Stormy]

Hi there, I've been searching but surprised not to find a thread on this topic. I'm wondering which brand of rabbit pellets is the freshest ingredients, the healthiest, minimally processed and with the least amount of by-product filler crap additions. One breeder I got my American Blues from liked Bar Ale Professional. The Belgian Hare breeder liked Purina Show. The feed store had neither, and said neither of those are very good and recommended Manna Pro. Help!!
Overall, I'm not crazy about processed food and have myself and my cats on unprocessed food, but going pellet-free with rabbits feels a bit intimidating.

Looking at the labels, they all seem to have "processed grain by-products" which I have no idea what it is or how good it is for my rabbits.

Thanks for your help.

 

[MaggieJ]

I can't advise you on pelleted foods... I gave up on those years ago. Feeding the buns without pellets is a challenge, but in many cases it can be done. The Natural Feeding for Rabbits forum will give you many ideas. Do you have acreage or at least a large yard? Can you get alfalfa or clover hay at a reasonable price? Remember too, it doesn't have to be either/or. A lot of people feed pellets but supplement with fresh foods and hay to give the buns more variety and to bring down costs.

 

[akane]

When we used pellets I liked the kent top show and top family best. I don't believe either had any byproducts in the ingredients and one contains flaxseed. The higher protein, lower fat formula also worked great for the mini rex who turn in to fat blobs easily.

 

[Brody]

for pets I like both Martins and Oxbow - can't imagine how expensive they'd be in huge bulk though if they were the base of my diet plan for the buns

 

[Jack]

Mana Pro
good inexpensive reliable food

you can buy more expensive, you can buy a 1LB bag at the store
or for the same price you can buy 50lb of manna pro.

 

[ottersatin]

Stormy,
I will say: experiment a little. Try a few different brands
you will eventually find the feed that best agrees with your rabbits.
Do not go by brand name, read feed tags. You will see that most
pelleted rabbit feeds have just about the same ingredients,
they are all based on Alfalfa. Once you settle on a feed
regardless of the brand name, stick with it! You will find that
no matter what choice your made, your rabbits will do well on it:
Because you will end up culling to your feed! That is:
You will be retaining those rabbits that thrive on your feed choice.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Stormy]

@ Maggie- thanks I will look into that forum. I do think its the natural next step once I get my mini-colony up. I say mini since I'm building a 10x4 cage on the ground which will be mobile so it can be moved if they've eaten everything or there is waste buildup. Just two does at the moment. I plan to give them a day run. I have acreage but I don't have a good feeling about penning them with all the foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and hawks. Two of my cats cornered a young fox the other day, no doubt sniffing out some rabbit! I don't have much room for hay bales but maybe I could come up with something, if that's the natural food base. I already give them timothy hay. I didn't think the pellets were that pricey but then I haven't raised any litters yet! and my does are still young. Thanks for your help.

 

[MaggieJ]

I mainly meant acreage for gathering greens and perhaps for growing certain plants for them. A patch of clover, a patch of alfalfa etc. goes a long way to making the natural feeding easier. I'm not trying to push you in that direction, but it is nice for the buns... and the meat, to me at any rate, has better flavour.

Feeding pellets to a few adult rabbits is not that expensive, but the amount you use goes way up when you start feeding those hungry fryers!