No pellet feeding large scale

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Does anyone feed a no-pellet diet on a larger scale? Like 50 rabbits or more?

Secondly, is there anyone feeding a no pellet diet whose rabbits are making senior weight on time?

Also, I was reading through some of the older threads on this, and I read that oats seem to be a larger part of some mixes. I tried mixing oats into a pelleted feed several times before and in every single case, the rabbits refused them. I've done it whole and crimped, as my mill cannot do rolled. What's the big difference with you oat users? How much scratching out do you get? Are they actually eating them or wasting them?

 

[MaggieJ]

There are commercial rabbitries in France feeding naturally... mainly alfalfa hay and grain. Here's a link but the Google translation leaves a lot to be desired.
http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl ... 26hs%3DbUg

I've never had much luck with feeding oats to my rabbits. They prefer wheat, with barley as a second choice.

 

[SatinsRule]

I have a few rabbits that eat oats like it's going out of style, but for the most part it's a situation where they could take it or leave it. I believe it is good to feed oats from a benefit standpoint, but it's not much of a benefit if they won't eat it. I've run into similar results with barley, too.

And my rabbits would not touch alfalfa hay. I wound up putting out nearly an entire compressed bale of it as deer feed.

 

[JessiL]

I am hoping to transition the rabbits over to the oat-based mixed grain and alfalfa formula, since I can get even organic whole grains at a better price than pellets. But I have yet to mix it all up... hopefully today. In the meantime, I gave all of the litters some whole oats when they started coming out of the nest boxes to ease the weaning transition. All of them plus their mothers go nuts for the whole oats. I either put it in a shallow dish in the nest box, or pour it on one side of their J-feeder. So maybe it's a problem with the quality of the oats you are trying to feed? I once ran into a problem when my wild birds started ignoring their nyjer feeder. I tried all sorts of ways to lure them back until getting the advice that possibly the nyjer seed was rancid and the birds could tell. After buying a fresh bag, lo and behold, the little guys came crashing back in in huge numbers!

We'll see how the rabbits do with straight alfalfa hay. I currently free-feed a mixed grass and alfalfa hay (to not have too much protein while they are still on pellets), they seem to let lots of the alfalfa leaves fall through.

 

[mizemama]

My rabbits won't touch the compressed alfalfa, but we got a good fresh bale from a local farmer and they all love it. In fact I have one bunny that chooses to only eat the alfalfa. She has access to pellets and an oat/BOSS mix and she only eats the hay. I figure if she needs more, she'll eat it.

To get them to eat oats, I started with kitchen oats. Then I slowly mixed in oats from the feed store. They're called rolled oats, but it's totally different than rolled oats from the grocery store. They look almost whole. I imagine that crimped oats would be more processed than these rolled oats. Now it's 90% feed store oats and 10% BOSS.

Maybe I just got lucky or maybe someone told my bunnies that our feed store only has oats and corn...no wheat or barley here.

 

[SatinsRule]

Yeah, Mize. Barley can be very much hit or miss, and when we can get it around here, it is very $$$$. BOSS is something else I never had that much luck with. My rabbits wouldn't touch the stuff, and it was too expensive to keep throwing out.

 

[dangerbunny]

My rabbits love oats, I alternate grains in the winter, instead of feeding a mix. This keeps the buns from digging in the feeder and only eating their favorites, it cuts down on a lot of waste.

 

[ckcs]

Are grains significantly cheaper than pellets? I'm curious as when I have seen oats at Tractor Supply they were higher than feed. Like 50# oats are $15.99 or rolled at $19.99. 50# mana pro $16.99 or producers price $14.49.

 

[Ivory]

Does anyone feed a no-pellet diet on a larger scale? Like 50 rabbits or more?

Last year I was feeding over 200 rabbits on whole grain. During the summer (that's when the temp is above 32o during the day) I feed straight grain, in winter (temp below 32o during the day) I feed whole grain AND pellets

Secondly, is there anyone feeding a no pellet diet whose rabbits are making senior weight on time?

My rabbits grow a little slower than they would on pellets, most take 12 weeks or more to reach 5lbs (flemish x nzw)) but the ones I keep as replacements usually catch up by the time they're 6 months or so.

Also, I was reading through some of the older threads on this, and I read that oats seem to be a larger part of some mixes. I tried mixing oats into a pelleted feed several times before and in every single case, the rabbits refused them. I've done it whole and crimped, as my mill cannot do rolled. What's the big difference with you oat users? How much scratching out do you get? Are they actually eating them or wasting them?

I get mixed grain from a local farmer. It contains peas, wheat, rye, lentils, barley and wheat in varying amounts. They love it, except when its mostly wheat, then they're not so keen, but usually its mostly peas. They prefer it to pellets, they even prefer it to calf manna, which I find very surprising, I always thought calf manna was like bunny chocolate.

During the winter I also feed whole oats and straight whole barley. I soon learn individual preferences. Some rabbits go crazy for oats, others can take it or leave it. Same with barley.

I think it depends a lot on what your rabbits were fed when they first started eating. I have one rabbit I got from a lady who never fed any greens. He's the fussiest eater I have. I'm sure he'd starve himself rather than eat something he didn't like

 

[Frecs]

I'm not doing large scale so I can't help with that.

I sprout the grains before giving to the rabbits and they love sprouted oats. I use "livestock grade" whole oats -- or oats for planting. (There is a source a town over that is selling 80# bags of planting oats for $12. I gotta go get me a few bags! Otherwise, I pay $15 for 50# bags at the feed store.) I also sprout the wheat and BOSS. I hadn't thought of peas...I bet my bunnies would love those sprouted! They like sprouted lentils, too. I'm not able to get barley around here.

Grow out is slower but they get there...cost savings and healthier bunnies is worth the extra time to make weight.

{for truth in advertising...I do have one rabbit -- a Jersey Woolie -- who will not touch oats, grains, BOSS, NOTHING except pellets. Won't even eat if I try to mix in a grain or two or kernel of BOSS with his pellets.)

 

[Amy]

I have found that my rabbits do better with a small amt. of alfalfa pellets (organic high quality) along with their sprouted wheat and hay. Before I was mixing grain and giving them alfalfa mix hay, but their condition wasn't quite right, had 1 doe lose all kits, and the other doe had softer than usual poops. Plus the mixing of grains was time consuming. So, I've switched to wheat sprouted (in winter I may have more time to grow it to fodder) which they gobble up so fast! and the alfalfa pellets ensure their protein levels are good-which seemed to have been the problem before. This may just be a better diet for my crazy buns??? I'm saving money though too!

 

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Thanks for the info, but alas, doesn't get me any closer, LOL!
The things Ivory mentioned, lentils, peas, rye, mostly not available in the US except for a lucky few.
I'm so sick of the inconsistency of pellets, I'm sick of opening moldy bags in the summer, and we are friends with the owner of a feed mill so I know what goes into them. With the price of hay right now, mostly the garbage goes into small animal feeds, up to and including the plastic bale twine, and any hay thats dirty, dusty or moldy. The pellets are super-heated to combat toxins.

I need an easy mix that I can feed with hay. I can give hay all the time and I could get alfalfa cubes. I have tried those in the past and no one ate them. These are different animals, so I am going to try again just to see.

Question for the sprouting people. Isn't the grain sprouted wet? What do you feed it in? A separate thing from the J-feeder? Is that their exclusive feed? I wonder if this would be a viable option?The whole sprouting in 5-gallon buckets thing where you have a 5-gallon bucket ready everyday. I think 1/2 a 5 gallon bucket might be enough if it was full. I've seen picture instructions for chickens for this. What is the risk of mold on the sprouts? Rabbits don't have the iron stomach chickens do.

 

[Amy]

As for sprouts, I use 1/2 gallon mason jars, but I only have 3 does and 1 buck, and all their offspring.
I use little dishes or Tupperware, but need to get something better that doesn't tip easily-the rabbits attack the bowl like they haven't eaten in weeks, it's pretty funny actually.
As long as you rinse 2x's/day, drain well and allow enough space in your container, mold is not much of an issue (fodder tends to mold more for me, which is why I've just been sprouting plus it's quicker)
In this way, the pellets I give them are more of a supplement, but the alfalfa pellets I get are super good quality and it just ensures their protein levels are good (when I didn't supplement that, it seemed to be a problem for them).

 

[Andrei]

1. Does anyone feed a no-pellet diet on a larger scale? Like 50 rabbits or more?

2. Secondly, is there anyone feeding a no pellet diet whose rabbits are making senior weight on time?

1. All my childhood I raised rabbits with tree branches and weeds. 1000 rabbits and never used pellets.
2. Natural weight on time is not based on pellets since they are not Natural.
40% is trees and bushes.
30% is grass and weeds.
20% is roots.
10% is grains.
Or depending of availability.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I have over 50 rabbits, although not all of breeding age currently. I think I was close to around 150 adults and older juniors at one time, but I have gotten on the ball with butchering, so my numbers are nowhere near that high now.

My rabbits are mostly Rex, and no, they do not make weight by 6 months- more like 7 or 8 if they make it- not all do. However, according to a judge who breeds (or bred?) Rex, 7-8 months is typical. I have never had comments on poor condition.

I have been feeding a mix of 6 parts barley, 3 parts oats, and 1 part BOSS. I have recently had some feed scratching, but I think that is because we are low on hay, and I haven't been feeding it daily. Currently, in the last week or so, I only have Bermuda grass hay as opposed to my usual alfalfa. So I upped the oats in this last batch so the oats are 4 parts to 5 parts barley.

One of my original mixes was 4 1/2 parts each of oats and barley and 1 part BOSS- but I dropped the amount of oats because some of the rabbits had a lot of internal fat. This would vary so perhaps it is a genetic predisposition.

The rabbits have also been getting some weeds. These are mostly lamb's quarters and prickly lettuce, with a bit of grass and filaree.

I have been very happy with this feeding regimen, although I do wish I could find rabbit sized pure alfalfa pellets with added salt and vitamins/minerals. However, your information on the poor quality of hay that goes into pellets makes me question even that.

Edited to add:

I add about an 1/8th cup each of oyster shell and food grade Diatomaceous Earth to every 20lbs of feed. The rabbits also have the red mineral/salt blocks.

 

[SyP]

I have seen MSG's Rex's, they look like big hairy bowling balls, they make my rabbits look like skinny Jackrabbits. Whatever she is doing I would have to agree with, mabee it's the Tang.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks, SyP.

 

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Andrei, how did you accomplish this? Did you have colonies and cages? What was the breed and did they grow at an acceptable rate? I have tried the all natural feed thing. I've done colony before and they got apple tree branches and all the weeds /hay we could pick plus root veges from the garden. It was an astronomical amount and they were always skinny. This was if I didn't feed pellets on the side.

I did give some alfalfa cubes I had yesterday to see what happened. Some of them nibbled on them, some did not.

MSG I never showed rex till 7-8 months anyway. Thats when their senior coats came in. I raise mostly angoras now, although there are still a few rex in the barn. Couldn't bear to part with all of them.

 

[Andrei]

I accomplish it by growing up poor and raising rabbits to eat.
I had a mix of white NZ and large Chinchillas and some silver fox.
As growing up it was insane the idea to buy food for rabbits.
I harvested and dried up my own hay for the winter.
Rabbits eat everything when they are hungry.
Even a 2 X 4.

 

[MaggieJ]

Lonelyfarmgirl, do you feed any grain in addition to the greens and hay? When I first started with natural feeding back in 2007, I did not initially feed any grain. The rabbits looked okay - lean rather than skinny - but they always seemed to be hungry. I began feeding small quantities of grain (about 1/4 cup daily per adult) and it made a big difference.

The Rex du Poitou rabbits I mentioned earlier in this thread are fed an alfalfa and grain based diet. Gorgeous rabbits with wonderful pelts. They harvest them at about 18-20 weeks. The meat goes mainly to high-end restaurants and the pelts are marketed for the fur. Again, a high-end product that accounts for 60% of their profit.