does this sound good? am i missing anything?

[ohiogoatgirl]

firstly, what i cant get:
beet pulp pellets are $16 for a 40# bag :x
barley, cant find it
wheat, cant find it

here is what i'm feeding now:
12% pellet/grain all purpose feed http://www.tractorsupply.com/feed-solut ... b--2427127
free fed hay
some oatmeal and sunflower seed in cold weather (its 3*F without wind chill last i checked and it only got to 12*F today)
might be adding alfalfa pellets http://www.tractorsupply.com/standlee-h ... ts-5121762

this is what i was thinking to buy to feed but not sure what ratios? or if i'm missing anything:
alfalfa pellets (16% protien) http://www.tractorsupply.com/standlee-h ... ts-5121762
oats (regular oats cause rolled is like $20 a bag :x , 9.5% protien) http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5050123
BOSS (doesnt say online protien%) http://www.tractorsupply.com/royal-wing ... b--6858833

or should i buy the all purpose feed i'm using now and add those things to it?

or would it be better moneywise and easier to just feed this all purpose all grain mix? but its a bit troubling only 10% protien? http://www.tractorsupply.com/producer-s ... b--5021132


i'm really confused how to put this together so the rabbits would get everything they need. and hopefully its not going to bust all my pockets...

any help would be appreciated!
and if you cant see my local price on the links i can put them in.

thanks!<br /><br />__________ Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:55 am __________<br /><br />also i would like to grow wheat, oats, amaranth, alfalfa, barley, millet, rye, orach, indian corn (for stalks), and sunflowers (seed and stalk) this year for the rabbits...
but i really have no idea how much of any gardening is actually going to happen. depends on if i can borrow a tiller this year!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

wouldnt it be easier and cheaper just to buy rabbit pellets... why are you going this way.

 

[Dood]

Beet pulp only has 7% protein which is less than hay so dont bother feeding it to your rabbits. People use it for horses to dilute the protein in alfalfa since horses dont need as much.

Typical horse hay has about 10% protein but this varies depending on the age it was cut and the legume content.

BOSS has around 15% protein and 30% fat

Oat MEAL has 15% protein but the fat content varies depending on how it is processed, and some proteins will be destroyed through any heat treatments like steaming. Horse Oats and groats have 10% protein and 5% fat

should i buy the all purpose feed i'm using now and add those things to it?

The protein content is too low to maximize production even if you supplement.

For now I would cut out Beet Pulp and get alfafa pellets, cubes or hay (17% protein and 1% fat). You can increase the BOSS, feed Whole Oats and the rabbits will eat the hulls for fibre. BOSS is very fatty and you can get chunky rabbits without any muscling but the alfafa will offset this.

You did not specify if you wanted to grow crops for the seed heads or for hay.

If you want to sprout/grow your own hay then harvest when it is still young. The earlier grass hay is cut the higher the protein content - 15% before seed heads; 10% green seed heads; 5% mature seed heads) and second cut hay typically has higher protein than first.

 

[Mickey328]

Ours don't seem to like the beet pulp, so I won't be adding it to our next mix. At present the mix I use is 4 parts oats (rolled is what's available locally), 4 parts barley, 1 part BOSS, and 1 part beet pulp. The buns like it really well, but do tend to leave the beet pulp in the feeder. I'm not sure if it's because they don't like it or because the size/shape is unappealing. We're in the process of switching from pellets to grain since we just got the rabbits a oouple weeks ago. They get unlimited grass hay right now but once the pellets are gone, we'll be adding alfalfa to their diet to supplement the protein. We'll also be adding a salt/mineral supplement to hang from the wall of the cage so they can help themselves. Just now, greens aren't available too much, but we're experimenting with what we have as well. I think these rabbits have never had anything but pellets so they're leery of the new offerings. I'm hoping that by next winter, we'll have a fodder system in place to provide fresh greens for them and the chickens as well.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

for clarification, i said beet pulp is out of my price range. i just added that because i've seen it in several of the threads. and i have since posting read on here that it is basically an nutritionally empty filler.

i want to grow those things for them for grain/seed and cutting the stalks/hay for winter feeding.
i would also like to possibly make small plantings of them to feed as greens.
i hope to be able to set up a sprouting system for winter feeding also.

BOSS would be added in the winter. as has been said, its a fatty food and they will need it in the winter and not in the summer. and i dont want fat breeders.

i live on a large farm and we make our own hay. though i may likely be doing some of my own small scale cutting and putting up so i can get nice green grassy "hay" and as was said, higher protien content.