minibackyardfarmer
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- Oct 29, 2017
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So we finally found a female rabbit that was to our likings (it is hard in the area as most are kept for breeding) to breed with our two males to build up the quality of meat rabbits and fur that we want.
With our first buck he wanted nothing to do with pellets (the deer loved him for it lol) so I switched over to a better option and easier on our pockets. - we think he's a checkered mix (maybe rex mix but doesn't have the velvety fur but good size). kids called him Yoyo because he has a y in white on his one cheek (hes black and white)
We've done the same thing with our new buck and doe - both are a lionhead mix, doe is a mini rex (if i had to guess on the rex type)/lionhead mix. kids called the buck coal (all black) and the doe is babs buttercup (because our youngest wanted to call her buttercup and he wouldn't budge lol)(shes a satin color)
Anyways I was going to try and do up our own mix, it would cost us more since we can't find bulk pumpkin seeds around for off season, but right now I use:
Royal Wing Wildlife Mix (can get 20lbs for around $9) - corn, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and peanuts (but i've noticed out of the mix this is like a 1 or 2% ratio to the mix there isn't a lot in there).
They get hay (we get free from the father inlaw - mainly used for winter but they eat it and we give them some during the summer if the grass isn't doing great during the really hot spells), alfalfa, and mineral/salt rolls (but they don't really touch the salt ones, so we usually just have a bunch of the mineral ones on hand). Some wild bird feed mix (it has millet in it and a few other things) as a ration feed with their other feed.
We are also working on making rabbit pasture tractors so they are gaining grass better in their diet (we can't keep up with our buck YoYo when it comes to this he will literally put on a show if he sees you and wants more grass lol). then in winter we will have them in the tractors in a stationary location (the tractors we made to have a plastic tote with a hole cut out the side for their bedding area - and the back is blocked with 3/4 of the sides with solid walls (old storage shed that got torn up in a wind storm metal) and then rest is hardwire fencing for openess and air flow - solid roof too).
Anyways was thinking of adding a grain to the mix we can get steamed rolled barley pretty cheap from the feed store and wheat also (oats are expensive if trying to get the rolled I already know they wont eat the other type). Barley or wheat would be our best choices if we had to choose one this way we can utilize it in our chicken/duck feed mix too (which is a grain, wild bird seed, and fishmeal - I've thought about just utilizing this as a rabbit feed also but unsure if rabbits can have fishmeal so haven't done so).
So a few questions...
1. which is better for rabbits when it comes to grains - barley or wheat? I've read on here where some rabbits won't eat the wheat. Just want to make sure if we go with a grain and they do eat it, it won't produce them to get fatty (if that makes sense as I think oats tend to do that sometimes but could be wrong lol)
2. Can rabbits have kelp meal? (we use it as a free choice mineral for the chickens/ducks and hopefully future goats lol)
3. I use to have a list of the safe foods that rabbits can eat, so we could do scraps with them (at least once a week or our chickens would probably stage a rebellion lol) but can't seem to find it - is there a place to find this list easily? I know apple wood is good for them and we give them our apple tree trimmings to chew on (the kids have done an applewood wood pile for them to give as needed lol)
Thanks in advance :bunnyhop:
With our first buck he wanted nothing to do with pellets (the deer loved him for it lol) so I switched over to a better option and easier on our pockets. - we think he's a checkered mix (maybe rex mix but doesn't have the velvety fur but good size). kids called him Yoyo because he has a y in white on his one cheek (hes black and white)
We've done the same thing with our new buck and doe - both are a lionhead mix, doe is a mini rex (if i had to guess on the rex type)/lionhead mix. kids called the buck coal (all black) and the doe is babs buttercup (because our youngest wanted to call her buttercup and he wouldn't budge lol)(shes a satin color)
Anyways I was going to try and do up our own mix, it would cost us more since we can't find bulk pumpkin seeds around for off season, but right now I use:
Royal Wing Wildlife Mix (can get 20lbs for around $9) - corn, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and peanuts (but i've noticed out of the mix this is like a 1 or 2% ratio to the mix there isn't a lot in there).
They get hay (we get free from the father inlaw - mainly used for winter but they eat it and we give them some during the summer if the grass isn't doing great during the really hot spells), alfalfa, and mineral/salt rolls (but they don't really touch the salt ones, so we usually just have a bunch of the mineral ones on hand). Some wild bird feed mix (it has millet in it and a few other things) as a ration feed with their other feed.
We are also working on making rabbit pasture tractors so they are gaining grass better in their diet (we can't keep up with our buck YoYo when it comes to this he will literally put on a show if he sees you and wants more grass lol). then in winter we will have them in the tractors in a stationary location (the tractors we made to have a plastic tote with a hole cut out the side for their bedding area - and the back is blocked with 3/4 of the sides with solid walls (old storage shed that got torn up in a wind storm metal) and then rest is hardwire fencing for openess and air flow - solid roof too).
Anyways was thinking of adding a grain to the mix we can get steamed rolled barley pretty cheap from the feed store and wheat also (oats are expensive if trying to get the rolled I already know they wont eat the other type). Barley or wheat would be our best choices if we had to choose one this way we can utilize it in our chicken/duck feed mix too (which is a grain, wild bird seed, and fishmeal - I've thought about just utilizing this as a rabbit feed also but unsure if rabbits can have fishmeal so haven't done so).
So a few questions...
1. which is better for rabbits when it comes to grains - barley or wheat? I've read on here where some rabbits won't eat the wheat. Just want to make sure if we go with a grain and they do eat it, it won't produce them to get fatty (if that makes sense as I think oats tend to do that sometimes but could be wrong lol)
2. Can rabbits have kelp meal? (we use it as a free choice mineral for the chickens/ducks and hopefully future goats lol)
3. I use to have a list of the safe foods that rabbits can eat, so we could do scraps with them (at least once a week or our chickens would probably stage a rebellion lol) but can't seem to find it - is there a place to find this list easily? I know apple wood is good for them and we give them our apple tree trimmings to chew on (the kids have done an applewood wood pile for them to give as needed lol)
Thanks in advance :bunnyhop:
