MSD, Rolled oats or crimped oats?

[garden lady]

I bought a sack of oats and it says rolled, but I though rolled looked like Quaker Old Fashion oatmeal. This recipe of MSD -
4lbs oats
4lbs barley
1lb beet pulp
1lb BOSS

which oat is this and what age would your kits start eating this? You feed this at night only? All day they eat hay until night? Here is a picture of what I bought. Are these the oats that you are talking about?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Those look like crimped oats to me.

I free feed my grain mix to does with kits- but the processing of the oats (and barley) vary by what is available at the time. I like rolled oats because they don't fall out of the feeder, and they *might* be easier to digest. Some people prefer whole grains because the grains that fall out of the feeders will sprout.

I feed hay to all of my rabbits in the morning and top off the grain feeders for my does with kits and my growout pens as needed. Dry does and bucks get hay in the morning, and a set amount of grain every evening.

I would reserve the "kitchen oatmeal" for kits who have issues such as weaning enteritis. So far my kits have done well with no special feed. They eat the oats whether they are whole, crimped, or rolled.

 

[garden lady]

Those look like crimped oats to me.

I free feed my grain mix to does with kits- but the processing of the oats (and barley) vary by what is available at the time. I like rolled oats because they don't fall out of the feeder, and they *might* be easier to digest. Some people prefer whole grains because the grains that fall out of the feeders will sprout.

I feed hay to all of my rabbits in the morning and top off the grain feeders for my does with kits and my growout pens as needed. Dry does and bucks get hay in the morning, and a set amount of grain every evening.

I would reserve the "kitchen oatmeal" for kits who have issues such as weaning enteritis. So far my kits have done well with no special feed. They eat the oats whether they are whole, crimped, or rolled.

Do the kits eat the BOSS? I think I have seen this called oat groats too. The bag says rolled, but not what I thought rolled was, but they like it. I think it would be hard for the kits to eat though, but I guess if they can eat hay then they could. Do you use pearl barley?

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

My feed store said that is rolled oats as well. To me it looks like a combination of rolled and crimped oats. With horses they crimp them so that the horse can digest them better because the hull is not digestible. Horses grind their food and tend to swallow allot of their grain whole. Rabbits on the other hand rabbits tend to chew their food right up so I dont believe it makes much difference to the rabbits. Though some of mine seem to pick the seed out of the hull and leave the hulls in the bowl. That would be harder to do if it were not rolled/crimped.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Do the kits eat the BOSS?

Yes. I have "creep feeders" for them which have openings that are too small for the doe to get her head into, and I have noticed that the BOSS is eaten first.

Do you use pearl barley?

I feed rolled barley. I have fed wheat berries (whole wheat, hull removed) which is about the same size as pearl barley, and they had no problem eating it. Pearled barley is less nutritious than whole or hulled barley- the husk and outermost bran layers have been removed.

With horses they crimp them so that the horse can digest them better because the hull is not digestible. Horses grind their food and tend to swallow allot of their grain whole.

People often think that whole oats are passed intact in their horse's droppings, but it is actually only the empty hull that you see. The grain itself has been digested.

This study discusses the nutrient availability versus processing cost of whole and processed grains:

http://www.ker.com/library/advances/206.pdf

 

[trinityoaks]

I would feed whole oats (oat groats) if I could get them. Same goes for barley and wheat. Crimped or rolled spoil faster. They might be easier for very young kits to eat, but I can give kitchen rolled oats to them. Besides, I can sprout the whole grains if I need/want to.

 

[garden lady]

I would feed whole oats (oat groats) if I could get them. Same goes for barley and wheat. Crimped or rolled spoil faster. They might be easier for very young kits to eat, but I can give kitchen rolled oats to them. Besides, I can sprout the whole grains if I need/want to.

The guy at the feed store I went to today said the ones that look like oatmeal you have for breakfast are crimped and rolled looks like it has the hull on and then groats looked like no hull, but rolled up, not flat. :thinking: It shouldn't be this hard. He said he did not have any crimped. The groats were in a little container maybe for 1 pet rabbit or some other small animal. Looked almost like big rice.

 

[hoodat]

Groats are grain that has been cooked and then redried. Just about all the flat oats you see are groats. Groats are more digestible but my rabbits seem to prefer the whole grain and whole grain has the advantage of wearing down the teeth. A nearby store that sells out of bins has seven grain flakes but they're too expensive as everyday food. I might start the young ones on them though.

 

[garden lady]

Groats are grain that has been cooked and then redried. Just about all the flat oats you see are groats. Groats are more digestible but my rabbits seem to prefer the whole grain and whole grain has the advantage of wearing down the teeth. A nearby store that sells out of bins has seven grain flakes but they're too expensive as everyday food. I might start the young ones on them though.

The sack I bought says rolled, but I think they would be whole. They have to really chew them and you can hear kind of a crunch. I have been mixing some with Quaker Old Fashion oatmeal for Lulu and the kits.

 

[AnnClaire]

The rolled oats I get look like what you posted Garden Lady. The only reason I choose any other type of oats over that is because of the amount of debris that is left from the bunnies hulling the seeds out ... those seed casings are everywhere

 

[Secuono]

Rolled, crimped or whole oats all look the same when I buy them. I think they are either seriously messing up at the warehouse or just screwing with people. Maybe it's just my evil stores...