Home made rabbit pellets.

[MrJacobTiffin]

some info i found on the internet

Nutrition for Rabbits
Rabbits are included in a family called Lagomorphs. Due to their unique digestive systems, rabbits require a diet that’s high in fiber, low in protein. The basic nutritional needs of rabbits are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals and water, thus the nucleus of any good rabbit diet consists of pellets, fresh hay, water, and fresh vegetables. Treats, such as fruits or prepared rabbit snacks, are acceptable but should be used very sparingly and in small quantities. It’s important for your rabbits’ health and longevity that you commit to feeding it a proper diet.
Rabbit feed pellets

rabbit feed pellets

Rabbit pellets are a food manufactured by the feed pellet mill and they provide a good array of vitamins and minerals for rabbits. On average, rabbits eat approximately 1 ounce of pellets per pound of body weight.
Rabbit pellets have long been considered the base of a rabbit’s diet. But pellets are actually more important in the younger stages of rabbit development than in adult rabbits. That’s because they are highly concentrated in nutrients, helping ensure proper weight gain in younger rabbits. As a rabbit reaches maturity, however, pellets should make up less of the diet- replaced with higher quantities of hay and vegetables. Overfeeding pellets in mature rabbits can lead to obesity, as well as other medical conditions.
Rabbits nutritional needs change throughout life! The nutritional needs of baby bunnies are much different than when they reach adulthood. Food should reflect and tailor to the changing nutritional needs of rabbits at their different life stages. A "one size fits all" style is definitely not the right approach to proper nutrition!

Feed Pellet Mill for Making Rabbit Pellets
If you plan to buy a feed pellet mill for making rabbit pellets, here is the basic information for making rabbit pellets. Hoping it is helpful.
A. Typical ingredients of rabbit pellets
Wheat, maize, sorghum, bran and pollard, hay and grass, Lucerne crumbles, vegetable protein meals, vegetable or animal oil, limestone, salt, choline chlorine, lysine, methionine, vitamin C, mould inhibitor, Riverina vitamin and mineral premix. Of course, the base raw materials may gradually change seasonally.
B. Which kind of feed pellet mill is suitable for making rabbit pellets?
Electric flat die feed pellet mill or diesel flat die feed pellet mill is appropriate for home use or small-scale production. If you are going to maker rabbit pellets in large quantity, ring die feed pellet mill is better.

The basic formulation of making rabbit pellets
The minimum rabbit nutrient requirements for a maintenance diet are 14% crude fiber, 2% fat, and crude protein 12%. Make sure that the feeds you are going to produce at least meet or better yet, exceed the above minimum amount of fiber, but keep protein and fat level low.
Fiber level of 15% to 17% is adequate. A level greater than 17% ******* weight gain which would be desirable in a neutered pet rabbit and fiber levels of 22.5% and higher are used for reducing obesity and hairballs.
Protein levels should be 15% to 19%. Be sure the fiber level is greater than the protein level. Too high protein in the diet creates a greater amount of ammonia in the urine. It would be better to keep protein closer to 15%.
Fat levels should be low, around 3% or less. The higher the fat content of a pellet the worse it is for your bunny, because it can cause obesity. Avoid pellets with lots of nuts, seeds, etc. in it, they are not good to feed due to a high fat content.
Since we have known the machine and formulation of making rabbit pellets, don’t hesitate to act. The rabbits will really enjoy them.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:02 am --

I suppose if you are raising rabbits on a large scale, a pellet machine might pay off in the long run. For those raising rabbits on a small scale, for their own use and perhaps selling enough to offset costs, I think a natural diet of good hay, forage and perhaps fodder, plus small amounts of grain is likely more cost effective.

When I stopped feeding pellets and went to natural feeding, my cost per pound of meat-in-the-freezer (including maintenance of breeders) dropped from $1.50 to $0.75. There is NO MEAT here in Ontario that I can buy for that price and the quality of the naturally-fed meat was outstanding.

Just my conclusions from the years I raised rabbits.

I would think a 50% reduction in feed cost. Would be worth it. I look at a pellet machine as a way to preserve the food. It helps take the water out of it because it heats up. Pellets can store for 3 months.

Would it be possible to create pellets out of natural food sources? <br /><br /> -- Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:08 am -- <br /><br /> I would have to dry them out. My 400 watt HPS does that prity good. I have been drying the manure with it.

 

[MaggieJ]

some info i found on the internet

When you post quoted material from the Internet, you really should include the source. A link is helpful to others in trying to determine the credibility of the information. It is also considerate to credit the person who wrote it. (I know I get annoyed when I find my material posted elsewhere without credit given.)

In this case, the information about the pellet-making machine reads like an advertisement to encourage rabbit owners to buy expensive and unnecessary equipment. I believe you mentioned elsewhere that you raise rabbits in your basement. This likely means a fairly small number of rabbits. It is likely not to your advantage to invest hundreds of dollars in one of these machines.

There are many good brands of commercial pellets on the market. Many members feed these to their rabbits. Some of us, for a variety of reasons, prefer to feed whole, natural foods instead. We have a Natural Feeding for Rabbits forum where we discuss the best ways to go about this.

The nutritional information you quoted is not, in my opinion, entirely correct. It mentions feeding "larger quantities of hay and vegetables" to mature rabbits. Hay is excellent for rabbits and some vegetables can be fed, of course, but rabbits are herbivores, not vegetarians and a variety of safe grasses (often fed dried as hay), broad-leafed weeds, twigs and leaves are closer to the domestic rabbit's natural diet. Domestic rabbits are descended from European wild rabbits, which eat a wide variety of forage.

You might be best to hold off on such an expensive purchase at least until you gather more information and experience.

One last thing: Please add your location to your profile. Just the province or state is enough, or the country if it is not Canada or the United States. As Rainey pointed out, you will receive better feedback when we have a rough idea of where you live.

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

some info i found on the internet

When you post quoted material from the Internet, you really should include the source. A link is helpful to others in trying to determine the credibility of the information. It is also considerate to credit the person who wrote it. (I know I get annoyed when I find my material posted elsewhere without credit given.)

In this case, the information about the pellet-making machine reads like an advertisement to encourage rabbit owners to buy expensive and unnecessary equipment. I believe you mentioned elsewhere that you raise rabbits in your basement. This likely means a fairly small number of rabbits. It is likely not to your advantage to invest hundreds of dollars in one of these machines.

There are many good brands of commercial pellets on the market. Many members feed these to their rabbits. Some of us, for a variety of reasons, prefer to feed whole, natural foods instead. We have a Natural Feeding for Rabbits forum where we discuss the best ways to go about this.

The nutritional information you quoted is not, in my opinion, entirely correct. It mentions feeding "larger quantities of hay and vegetables" to mature rabbits. Hay is excellent for rabbits and some vegetables can be fed, of course, but rabbits are herbivores, not vegetarians and a variety of safe grasses (often fed dried as hay), broad-leafed weeds, twigs and leaves are closer to the domestic rabbit's natural diet. Domestic rabbits are descended from European wild rabbits, which eat a wide variety of forage.

You might be best to hold off on such an expensive purchase at least until you gather more information and experience.

One last thing: Please add your location to your profile. Just the province or state is enough, or the country if it is not Canada or the United States. As Rainey pointed out, you will receive better feedback when we have a rough idea of where you live.

http://www.feedpelletizer.com/applicati ... tizer.html Sorry your right

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:52 am --

Sorry new. Im learning as I go. I have 10 rabbits with a liter of kits born today. My rabbitry is growing fairly quickly. I know the number one cost is going to be feed. Im hoping to go commercial with my operation. I also posted that info to get your take on it. Honestly its quit confusing. I would like to sell a good feed as well. I believe you guys and girls are more knowledgeable them me. On the subject.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:54 am --

I post on here to gain more knowledge I have learned that the best way to learn is dive in head first with Knowledgeable people.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:56 am --

I would like to see maybe the best of both worlds merge into a good feed our multi feed. Maybe separate ingredients mild and mixed. I know most people want to know what they eat. I just dont know what im feeding my rabbits in these feed pellets.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:08 am --

https://www.quora.com/Food-What-is-the- ... ore-if-any
Vegetarians make a conscious decision to not eat meat. An herbivore, on the other hand, is a type of animal that can only survive on plants.

Not sure were you were going this. It mentions feeding "larger quantities of hay and vegetables" to mature rabbits. Hay is excellent for rabbits and some vegetables can be fed, of course, but rabbits are herbivores, not vegetarians and a variety of safe grasses (often fed dried as hay), broad-leafed weeds, twigs and leaves are closer to the domestic rabbit's natural diet. Domestic rabbits are descended from European wild rabbits, which eat a wide variety of forage.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:08 am --

Can you explain what they eat more in depth

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:10 am --

Also as far as my profile and were im from is personal. Sorry dont rely trust the internet.

-- Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:13 am --

I am from Pa USA I've tried to update that but no Luke also tried to upload a photo no Luke. <br /><br /> -- Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:14 am -- <br /><br /> Unless we are doing business no need for more info then that.

 

[macksmom98]

I don't have advice about the other stuff, but as far as your location goes, its your choice to keep that private. It can be difficult for users to help you or give opinions/advice as much of our responses have to do with location, weather, and how things go in your area. I also like am fairly untrusting of the internet, but have opened up to this site more because of all the great people and the help they can provide.

 

[Nymphadora]

Vegetarians make a conscious decision to not eat meat. An herbivore, on the other hand, is a type of animal that can only survive on plants.

Not sure were you were going this.
...
Can you explain what they eat more in depth

I believe that what Maggie meant by the difference between vegetarians and herbivores is that vegetarians rely on the fruit or roots of the plant, whereas herbivores feed primarily on the greens (leaves, stems, etc.). In the wild, it would be more natural to see rabbits nibbling the tops of a carrot than digging down to eat the root. Therefore a diet that consists largely of vegetables would strike me as unusual, as well.

Personally, I am very careful about what personal information I put on the internet, as well, but this site has been fairly friendly, and as the others have mentioned, you get much better advice for your location even if you just put “Northeastern USA” in your profile. Best of luck in the rabbit business!

 

[akane]

I was careful as a teenager and then facebook was born. Now most places I use for info my full name and city is there but then most places I am looking for people to interact with in person anyway. Not that I ever had much problem listing even my city. I mean who is going to find me with just a screen name and my city, state even in a small town? Unless you've got a big sprawling operation out back or have famously made the news pretty sure no one. Having my name show up on some things does make it more of a problem which is why I only post to closed groups on fb. Forums not connected to fb are unlikely to get you in any trouble unless like I said you have a big sprawling operation for someone to find and target. Unless you post a pic of your house not knowing your name, street, or house number is not going to get anyone very far. That would take a silly amount of effort even if it were possible.

Problem with making dry feed is the drying. You destroy nutrients and you have to have a certain amount of powdered ingredients to run them through a typical machine using a die. Quality is not going to increase much over what you can buy or put together with separate ingredients.

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

What do you think about this recipe. Any suggestions welcome.

80% Alfalfa / Timothy Mix
20% = Wheat 49% / 49% Oats / 1% Pickling Salt / 1% Black Seed Sunflower Seed

Wheat or Barley have good protein levels. I was thinking those can both be used in feed. Oats have good protein levels too. I know they need some salt in there diet but not sure how much. Also I have read that 70% to 80% of there diet should be High in fiber. Black sunflower seeds are good for the coat and give a little more protein. Whats everyone think? I am not a expert! Just trying learn as I go. Open to some tweaking of the recipe

 

[alforddm]

Did you figure out the protein levels? I'm thinking with the alfalfa timothy mix your going to end up around 14% protein and the wheat and oat will probably be even lower. Your also probably going to be short on lysine. You might want to consider a mineral mix rather than pickling salt.

If you can post the protein for the alfalfa timothy mix I can calculate the protein of the whole mix for you. I'll also check and see, I maybe able to give you an answer on the lysine. Your sulfur amino acids will probably be ok but I'm just guessing.

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livest ... n-mix.html

I came across this post. In this post maggiej says: You could buy a bag of oats and a bag of barley and feed them 50/50. Barley is about 12% protein and oats are about 14%. O&itw mentions in his post : Barley is not near as common in the Midwest US as it is up in Canada. For all of you who want to use Maggies recipe... anyplace you read "barley", think "wheat". Wheat has almost the same exact nutrition as barely wheat has about 1% more protein) and rabbits like it.


https://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/f ... fs9323.pdf

From this source I got: Alfalfa As A Protein Source
Beef producers often use the term "high quality forage" to describe a high protein, low fiber feed. Table
1 shows the protein, energy, fiber and mineral content of various feeds commonly available to beef
producers. Early cut alfalfa (late bud, early bloom stage) may vary from 16 to 20% crude protein. Even
late cut alfalfa will contain 12 to 15% crude protein.

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2013/10/03/t ... z4YISI072O

From this source I got: Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2013/10/03/t ... z4YISaL5bI
Reuse: Interested in sharing with your readers? You are welcome to use three or four paragraphs, with a link back to the article on Horsetalk.
Follow us: @HorsetalkNZ on Twitter | Horsetalk on Facebook

While your lucerne hay will range in protein content from around 17% for early-cut to around 15% for late-cut, timothy sits around 11.5% for early cut, around 9% for mid-bloom (before its seed heads have fully formed) and just 5% for a late-season cut.


Can you tell me more about the mineral mix?

 

[alforddm]

Using the average values provided by feedipedia.org and a mix of 60% timothy and 40% alfalfa your protein levels will be 14.66%

However, the alfalfa/timothy mix you can buy at tractor supply has a min protein level of only 12% so it could be lower or higher depending how it's mixed. Generally 15% is considered minimal for growing rabbits.

As far as the amino acids requirements, without knowing the composition of your alfalfa/timothy blend it's a bit hard to figure. But if I assume the mix above. I'm coming up with .46% on the sulfur amino acids and .57% for lysine. So your a bit deficient in those. You could boost the sulfur amino acids by adding more sunflower. Lysine is generally increased by adding soy. I honestly haven't look into other options if you don't use soy so I'm not sure what other feed items maybe high in lysine.

A mineral mix is just a common mix of minerals. It's sold as loose mineral at the feed store (our feed store calls it red and loos which I think maybe a corruption of red and loose but I really don't know). Or you can get the loose mineral that doesn't have as much salt. You could always just offer a mineral block or wheel.

From
Rabbit Feeding and Nutrition (Animal Feeding and Nutrition) (Kindle Location 543). Kindle Edition.

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

How much sunflower should I add and how and how much soy meal. Is that what i need to add. So have you figure out a good recipe yet.

 

[alforddm]

How much sunflower should I add and how and how much soy meal. Is that what i need to add. So have you figure out a good recipe yet.

I never really tried to figure one out. I figured a feed mill could make the pellets cheaper than I could. I've been interested in rabbit nutrition from the point of view that if I ever couldn't get pellets, would I could feed instead to get good results.

Give me a few minutes and I'll sit down and run a few more calculations. I really want to know what you find out about cost though.

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

Cost wise the best thing I could come up with is to try and grow most of what i need. That is the end goal. Thank you for your time and help. But I need a good formula to start with. Most of the big Items on my list can be dried in stored like hay and grains. Oats are a good source of straw too. Keep in mind pellet machines can be used for wood pellets stoves too and Fertilizer too.

 

[alforddm]

I'm sorry I got distracted last night.

If you do 45% timothy, 30% alfalfa, 9.4% wheat 9.4% oats, 4% soybean meal and 1% sunflower, 1% mineral, you get 16.26% protein. I haven't actually done the math but I think this will also bring your lysine and amino acids into good ranges. However, I haven't even looked at the calcium phosphorus ratio or potassium. I think you'd be fine but like I said I haven't actually done the math.

There has got to be a program written that figures this kinda stuff. :lol:

So do you grow your own alfalfa/timothy?

 

[MrJacobTiffin]

Im going to start this year. Cannot wait till it starts warming up. I've winter sowed seeds. Alfalfa seed was more expensive than the Timothy. Waiting on my Income tax to purchase my pellet machine and hammer mill. http://www.flatdiepelletmill.com This is the cheapest I found but you still have to pick up at a port. Im also going to start making wood pellets from recycled material that I have already started getting for free. I also want to start making fertilizer pellets too. <br /><br /> -- Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:13 am -- <br /><br /> Not sure if I trust the website. Might just go with Ebay for my purchase. Better safety.

 

[CO Int]

I'm so glad to have found this forum! I have been info hunting for months and was looking for in depth discussions from people that had hands on experience. Thank you to everyone who has posted ever - every little bit of information that I can get my hands on is like finding gold!!

I'm a 40yo South African woman who has an Equine Science degree and had been working in the racehorse industry for 20 years. I have always loved all animals but horses were my favorite. With some health issues popping up and just the general state of the world I've decided to stop working with horses and find a hobby. It took me months to decide on what it was that I wanted to do but I knew it had to be something with animals. However, I wanted to keep the animals on my own property and not worry about selling animals on as pets (so dogs and cats were out of the question). I don't quite know how I got to rabbits but meat rabbits seemed to be a perfect solution. I could keep the meat for myself and my dogs and have fun breeding and spinning the genetic wheel. Plus, it really is a lot of fun. I have kept every type of animal under the sun except for rabbits - so when it comes to them I'm a complete noob.

So far I have a trio of meat rabbits - a local landrace in South Africa. They are heavily based on NZ but have less dense fur due to the warmer climate and also bigger ears. Apart from that they performed similarly in meat trials that were run by various universities. They are showable if registered (we do not have 4H or similar projects here unfortunately) but the basic breed standard is no white hairs, no standard genetic abnormalities and only come in Agouti (Chestnut), Steel or Super Steel colors. Rabbit breeding in SA is a bit of a mess because no importation of any new genes are allowed. As a result, certain breeds like the English Lop has gone extinct and it's really hard to find a pure bred Flemish Giant. Most have been crossed at some stage and record keeping has been abysmal to say the least.

I decided to start off with pedigreed animals but haven't really made up my mind if I will show or not. So far I have an Agouti buck, a steel doe who was pregnant when I bought her and a Super steel Doe. Both the buck and Super steel Doe weighed only 3.7 pounds at 6 months (when I got them) and the steel doe only 7 pounds at 8 months. I was very worried about them making it as meat rabbits - those are really low weights but the breeder was of the opinion that they only needed grass as that was what they were bred to thrive on. They definitely did not thrive but at least survived.

At the beginning I fed them free choice grass and then started adding alfalfa. After another week I started adding in rabbit pellets and within only 8 weeks both the buck and Super steel doe weigh 6.5 pounds and the doe that was pregnant (who had kindled six very healthy consistent kits) weigh 8.5 pounds. It's still not record numbers but considering the lack of adequate nutrition I am absolutely stunned at how quickly they have grown.

I will post pictures of them and my rabbitry in future as I also have questions on weaning and management but at the moment I'm stuck on the feeding issue and I really don't know what to do.

I literally have a choice of four brands of pellets:
Pellet 1: 14% Protein, 14% Fiber, 2.5% fat which is the one I'm currently feeding as it contains no animal byproducts or growth hormones;
Pellet 2: 18% Protein, 10% Fiber, 2.5% fat - contains growth hormones and animal byproducts
Pellet 3: 17.5% Protein, 3.5% Fiber, 5% fat - contains animal byproducts
Pellet 4: 16% Protein, 7% Fiber, 2.5% fat - contains growth hormones and animal byproducts

After reading some of the animal byproduct information it might not be such a big issue as I though but I don't want anything to do with growth hormones. So the only other option really is pellet 3 but with such a low fiber count I'm expecting problems. My rabbits are now eating less grass and more pellets - the buck won't touch grass anymore. Also, with such a high fat count I'm not sure my resting herd would do well and I don't want to be chopping and changing between brands.

Our grass is also an issue is SA - we do not have soft, broad leafed hay such as Timothy. All our grass is long stemmed but has very little to no leaf. Teff is the highest in quality for proteins followed by Eragrostis, then Oat hay. One thing we do have loads of is quality Alfalfa. So not being happy with what I have available and being a horsey girl I went looking under the horsey products.

I found Alfalfa cubes with 15% Protein (min), 20% Fiber and 3% Fat - a bit low on protein and high on fiber but at least it was somewhere to start. The cubes also had added minerals which balanced out the calciumhosphorus issue. They were almost perfect until I realized that they were 0.3 inch in diameter. Far to big for the rabbits. They do seem to eat it but they take a bite and chuck the rest on the floor. On top of that I was worried that my lactating doe would not find this sufficient, nor would it be ideal for my kits so I found another horsey product ( a Balancer) with micronized ingredients that is heavily fortified. It really is the best in the business as it was develop by Kentucky Equine Research and I have seen what it does for the horses. It's high in protein - 25%, low in fat 2% and have about 6% Fiber with all the essential amino acids added in. If I could find a way to combine the ration I could make the perfect mix of 18% Protein, 18% Fiber and 2.5-3% or higher Fat depending on how much BOSS I added. I also did not have to worry about the cah ratio as it had been dealt with in both products.

I gave it a go - adding molasses meal (4% Protein, 10% Fiber) to increase palatibility at 5% of the mix. I ground down everything to a powder (it's already been prepared so easy to do), put it through a meat grinder and got 0.1 inch size pellets. It smelled and looked great. My issue came with drying but to cut a long story short, I managed to dry the pellets to 8% moisture in an oven at 140 degrees F. So I have my perfect mix pellet and it is surprisingly strong. I was expecting a brittle pellet that would break easily but it is not breaking up at all.

So after all my research and happy cooking I gave it to my rabbits aaand they HATE it! I know they ate the Alfalfa cubes before processing - they were not keen on the Balancer which is why I added molasses. They still prefer the original rabbit pellet - what I don't understand is why. This is how the ingredients are listed on a typical label: Grain-and-grain byproducts; Forage Products; Plant protein products; Animal protein products; Oils and Fats; Minerals; Vitamins; Registered growth stimulants and/or therapeutic remedies. It is impossible to get a more detailed breakdown, but I know that the majority of grain and grain byproducts are corn. It's all the left overs of production for poultry, sheep and cattle rations - yet they still prefer it to a much better quality (if not tasting) horsey home made product.

I really wish I had a pelletizer to see if it made a difference but at this stage I'm not sure. My bunnies are so offended by my attempt at given them a "better" option that the buck is back on grass and the other doe has scratched everything out - I gave her alfalfa as I'll be breeding her soon and I want her to gain a bit more. I did not change the lactating doe's diet as I didn't want to cause issues with her or the kits.

Because all of them are young I should have no issue feeding as I did - rabbit pellets at oz-lb and and add lib alfalfa but when they get older I'm worried about bladder sludge and them getting fat.

Does anyone have any ideas or should I write it up as lesson learned and scrap the project?

 

[hotzcatz]

Aloha CO int,

Welcome to Rabbit Talk, it's a great forum.

If you don't get enough answers to your questions, starting a new topic may be useful but hopefully you will get answers here.

As you've found out, bunnies don't always like the food that's best for them. Someone at the local university gave me some cuttings of a plant (I forget the name at the moment) which was supposed to be an excellent bunny food. Fortunately, it still had some leaves on it so I fed those to the bunnies to see their reaction. Every single one of them took one bite and spit it out. Wretched buns! So, I didn't plant their great bunny food.

There are some possible tree crops which may grow in your area that are also good for buns. Moringa and mulberry are both good rabbit feeds. The 'Rabbit Production' folks mentioned "mulberry can be good for up to 40% of the diet with no decrease in weight gain or litter size" if I remember correctly. So feeding can be more than either pellets or grasses.

We're feeding angoras which have a different feed requirement than meat bunnies, but the mix can be adjusted to suit the requirements. We start with high protein pellets and add in rolled barley and some Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS). They also get a day of forage once or twice a week to not only cut down on feed costs but to keep high fiber running through them so they don't get 'wool block'. That won't be a consideration with your shorter coated rabbits.

For a scholarly reference on rabbits, here's a link to one produced by the United Nations Food & Agriculture division in 1986: http://www.fao.org/3/x5082e/X5082E00.htm#Contents Most of it is still relevant a couple or three decades later.

For tracking pedigrees and keeping a database on your bunnies, I've found Kintracks to be extremely useful. It's also a fraction of the price of the other more common show rabbit database. https://kintraks.com/ Once you buy it, they upgrade for life and if you have an older computer system, it's a free download.

The bunnies here get alfalfa cubes as chew toys and the smaller alfalfa pellets when our local feed store is out of bunny pellets. I'm in Hawaii which is a small speck of land in the middle of a pretty big ocean so sometimes there's things we run out of. What with this current pandemic and less people flying around, there's also less container ships coming in. And our local inter-island ocean barges are going to increase their rates by 46% starting September 1st. Not sure what that's gonna do to feed costs, but it sure won't lower them. How to cost effectively feed bunnies is a major concern for most folks raising rabbits at any scale above the family pet.

 

[CO Int]

Aloha Hotcatz

Thank you so much for your reply.

This pandemic has been tragic in so many ways. I don't know what is worse - losing people or watching them suffering. And then it carries over to the animals. I feel so helpless.

On a happier note - I didn't know bunnies can eat Moringa - it's deathly poisonous to horses. :lol: I used to have acces to both Mulberry and Moringa trees but unfortunately I have to now make do with what I have in the garden. I'll read through the UN link - thank you so much. I just might find something there that works.

I have looked at kintracks before but with quite a few programs to choose from I really wasn't sure which one would be the best - but I will definitely go for it.

Also - the two rabbits I put on my horsey diet finally gave in - it took the buck about a day to decide it was nicer than grass so he has been chowing down like mad. The doe took about three days and still isn't very keen but I have been giving her ad lib alfalfa as she is molting heavily at the moment and I also want her to gain a bit more before I breed her in two weeks time.

So I'm setting up to make another batch this weekend with some mild tweaks to my formula.

I will create a new thread and do a proper post with pictures so it's a bit more interesting.

Thank you again for your help!