Making my own natural feed mix?

[ZachsRabbits]

I don't like feeding processed pellets. My last couple bags of feed were clumpy at the bottom. So I know they need water, hay, salt and mineral licks and some ration of grains.
So anyone got any good recipes from grain mixes? I have been wondering if I could try fermented hay with the rabbits can they eat that? Anything else I am forgetting?

 

[ladysown]

what I would put in a grain mix

BOSS
oats
pumpkin seeds
flax


I would look into peas/safflower/etc

I would be growing and drying a variety of plant growth.

 

[Zass]

I'd also give grass hay and alfalfa + as many safe forage and garden plants as I could source along with what ladysown has listed.

 

[Rainey]

It depends on what you can get where you are. We feed oats and wheat, growing the wheat out to fodder in the cold months. Also feed BOSS in winter and to nursing does. Those are the whole grains we can get. Our rabbits also get mixed grass hay year round and lots of fresh forage when available. All this winter we've had dried willow and brambles and enough dried nettle to give to does that are nursing.

 

[EnglishSpot]

I've had to put Trooper on a grain feed due to pellet sensitivity. I have whole oats, sunflower seeds, and millet in it. He gets plenty of grass hay too.

 

[SoDak Thriver]

Being a real noob, I keep pellets available to supplement the hay (basically prairie grass allowed to grow tall and harvested with a scythe), BOSS sprouts, rolled oats, and carrots my rabbits get in the evening. I find the pellets comprise a lot less of their diets and the rabbits only seem to seek them out to take of their mineral imbalances. By weight, I think I'm down to pellets being 1/3 of their diet.

The slow move away from pelletized feed has been really helpful in maintaining their mineral health while allowing me to experiment with natural feeds. The rabbits prefer the natural feed so much, that their consumption of pellets indicates to me that my natural feed needs adjustment, an adjustment I can then make with no discomfort to the rabbits.

All that to say: pelletized feed can help you perfect your natural mix.

 

[Rainey]

should have said when I posted what we feed--you need salt/minerals if you don't feed pellets. Each of our cages has a chunk broken off the salt/mineral block we get for goats. The chunk is hung from the top of the cage by a wire so it isn't touching the cage wire (which I understand can cause corrosion)
I've found when reading up on the various plants we feed as forage that some of them are good mineral sources but I wouldn't know how to get the right balance of minerals through the seasons as the feed changes. So the mineral supplement takes care of that and having something of the sort should be part of any switch to natural feed.

 

[iloverabbits18]

Great things to make rabbit food. Ill have to make my own. It also saves a lot of money

 

[alforddm]

6 quarts oats
1 quart wheat
1 quart sunflower seed
1 quart barley (whole if available, otherwise crimped)
1 quart kaffir corn (when available)
1 quart Terramycin (Pfizer, New York City) crumbles, an antibiotic

1. Mix oats, wheat, sunflower seed, barley, and kaffir corn. 2. Add Terramycin crumbles to feed mixture once a week. 3. Feed one part of this mixture to three parts of pellets daily. “Since I’m retired and have time,” Oren said, “I feed the pellets at night and the grain in the morning. They can be fed together, but some animals like one ingredient better than others and will scratch out the other feed to get to it.” It should be pointed out that Mr. Reynolds began his feeding procedures before rabbit pellets were commercially available.

Bennett, Bob (2014-07-09). Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits, 4th Edition: Breeds, Care, Housing (Storey’s Guide to Raising) (Kindle Locations 1352-1362). Storey Publishing, LLC. Kindle Edition.

I haven't tried this but I would leave out the Terramycin. The kaffir corn is a variety of sorghum grain. Just be careful to calculate you costs. You may find it's not much cheaper than feeding pellets.

__________ Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:40 am __________

Just for fun I looked up and calculated the protein and fiber for the recipe I posted. Crude protein would be 11.78% and crude fiber would be 11.12%.

I didn't calculate it but I'm guessing it's also going to be higher in fat than idea. So, you'd have to make sure you provided something in the diet to up the protein and fiber. Alfalfa hay would be idea. But I bet you could also balance out nicely with a number of other high protein forage items. Just make sure they are getting the fiber they need as well.

__________ Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:54 am __________

what I would put in a grain mix

BOSS
oats
pumpkin seeds
flax


I would look into peas/safflower/etc

I would be growing and drying a variety of plant growth.

This mixture has 20.73% crude protein and 15.3% fiber assuming you use 1 part for each. I don't have all the number for fat content but it's going to be high (really high). Still those are pretty good numbers especially if you can grow some of your own.