Pellet Dust Recipe and Uses
- Thread starter Dimplz
- Start date
Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:
RabbitsOfTheCreek
Netherland Dwarf Breeder & Well-known Member
Never thought of that
I have a small rabbitry, only 16 rabbits. We always get a bit of dust in the bottom of the bag. I hate wasting it. I want to repurpose it.
GreenAcresHomestead
Well-known member
Sounds like a good idea to me for us we live on a very tight budget beginning on disability and a senior. So anything to help is not a bad idea at all. I was thinking hmm I know how ours love carrots and Roman lettuce so I looked and found a recipe for Raisin wheel treats with a 1/2 cup of hay dust added to the ingredients when you make it. So why not add a cup or 1/2 cup of your left over dust from their feed. Just a thought.
Thank you for this! I came across that same recipe and others. Now I have ideas for my own mix. I was thinking about making a calming treat for my bucks, non-lactating does and drying up a doe's milk after weaning. I though about using the various mints and herbs from my garden mixed with oat and pellet dust, maybe some sweet potato in there. Sounds yummy and calming to me.
GreenAcresHomestead
Well-known member
Awesome this post has really opened up up great ideas to think out side the box and make our own treats from what we may have been wasting like hay dust and feed dust. Then here you added the idea of herbs
that's awesome idea for these so many different plants and herbs that have health healing properties in them. Thank you too
We've tried creating bunny biscuits or balls out of pellet crumbs mixed with various 'binder' foods (mashed banana - works the best but makes very expensive treats out of it unless you happen to live in the tropics, cooked apple/pumpkin/any other rabbit safe vegetable mixed - dehydrate the mix into cookies, unfortunately this was both a lot of work and not terribly well received and smelled dreadful while dehydrating) but by far the most successful method is the one we've hit on within the last month:
Oatmeal.
Bunny Truffle Recipe
Cook rolled (aka old fashioned) oats and water into porridge, nice and sticky. This is your binder to hold the crumbs together, and the oats are great extra protein for the rabbits. Include a bit of salt or crushed animal trace mineral block (which is mostly salt anyway).
Let it cool until it is safe to touch, then add in whatever other flavours you want. A bit of molasses is popular with our rabbits, and we've also popped diatomaceous earth in there since it's a natural dewormer. Any herbs, chopped greens, a bit of fine hay chaff (N.B. This will make them crumbly, don't use much), the odd sunflower seed, or anything that you're trying to get into a fussy bunny can also go in at this point.
Slowly add your pellet crumbs, mixing constantly, until the mixture is of a stiff consistency that you can roll into balls in your hands. Too much will cause crumbly balls which are hard to manage - do not add more water, molasses will do a better job of sticking them back together at this point.
Form the mixture into balls and refrigerate until set (or freeze until solid if you're in a hot climate. It's summer here and the rabbits have been enjoying cold truffles immensely).
Serve as treats or in place of an equivalent weight of pellets.
We're measuring oats by the handful, water by eye, and pellet crumbs by feel
so pretty much anything goes. But roughly 4 handfuls oats to a 1 litre container full of crumbs (that's the fines from a 25kg sack of feed for us), depending on how much water you add / how much you let the porridge thicken, will make about the right consistency.
Finished product:
Oatmeal.
Bunny Truffle Recipe
Cook rolled (aka old fashioned) oats and water into porridge, nice and sticky. This is your binder to hold the crumbs together, and the oats are great extra protein for the rabbits. Include a bit of salt or crushed animal trace mineral block (which is mostly salt anyway).
Let it cool until it is safe to touch, then add in whatever other flavours you want. A bit of molasses is popular with our rabbits, and we've also popped diatomaceous earth in there since it's a natural dewormer. Any herbs, chopped greens, a bit of fine hay chaff (N.B. This will make them crumbly, don't use much), the odd sunflower seed, or anything that you're trying to get into a fussy bunny can also go in at this point.
Slowly add your pellet crumbs, mixing constantly, until the mixture is of a stiff consistency that you can roll into balls in your hands. Too much will cause crumbly balls which are hard to manage - do not add more water, molasses will do a better job of sticking them back together at this point.
Form the mixture into balls and refrigerate until set (or freeze until solid if you're in a hot climate. It's summer here and the rabbits have been enjoying cold truffles immensely).
Serve as treats or in place of an equivalent weight of pellets.
We're measuring oats by the handful, water by eye, and pellet crumbs by feel
so pretty much anything goes. But roughly 4 handfuls oats to a 1 litre container full of crumbs (that's the fines from a 25kg sack of feed for us), depending on how much water you add / how much you let the porridge thicken, will make about the right consistency.Finished product:
Last edited:
GreenAcresHomestead
Well-known member
That's awesome thank you so much we are definitely going to make these.We've tried creating bunny biscuits or balls out of pellet crumbs mixed with various 'binder' foods (mashed banana - works the best but makes very expensive treats out of it unless you happen to live in the tropics, cooked apple/pumpkin/any other rabbit safe vegetable mixed - dehydrate the mix into cookies, unfortunately this was both a lot of work and not terribly well received and smelled dreadful while dehydrating) but by far the most successful method is the one we've hit on within the last month:
Oatmeal.
Bunny Truffle Recipe
Cook rolled (aka old fashioned) oats and water into porridge, nice and sticky. This is your binder to hold the crumbs together, and the oats are great extra protein for the rabbits. Include a bit of salt or crushed animal trace mineral block (which is mostly salt anyway).
Let it cool until it is safe to touch, then add in whatever other flavours you want. A bit of molasses is popular with our rabbits, and we've also popped diatomaceous earth in there since it's a natural dewormer. Any herbs, chopped greens, a bit of fine hay chaff (N.B. This will make them crumbly, don't use much), the odd sunflower seed, or anything that you're trying to get into a fussy bunny can also go in at this point.
Slowly add your pellet crumbs, mixing constantly, until the mixture is of a stiff consistency that you can roll into balls in your hands. Too much will cause crumbly balls which are hard to manage - do not add more water, molasses will do a better job of sticking them back together at this point.
Form the mixture into balls and refrigerate until set (or freeze until solid if you're in a hot climate. It's summer here and the rabbits have been enjoying cold truffles immensely).
Serve as treats or in place of an equivalent weight of pellets.
We're measuring oats by the handful, water by eye, and pellet crumbs by feel
Finished product:
View attachment 34180
I love this community.Awesome this post has really opened up up great ideas to think out side the box and make our own treats from what we may have been wasting like hay dust and feed dust. Then here you added the idea of herbs
GreenAcresHomestead
Well-known member
We do too for this is only our 2nd year of raising meat rabbits. e feel we have so much to learn and no better way to learn then from others with more knowledge.
Not a recipe, but I accidentally found another use for the pellet dust. I have been raising mealworms using the pellet dust! They love the stuff and they're very productive! If you have chickens, ducks, reptiles, etc., they will love this.
Another way I found not to waste it is putting it in a heavy bowl and giving it to the young rabbits. Kits won't eat it; they just soil the bowl. Adults won't eat it; they're picky snobs
But young rabbits, like 7 weeks old to around 7 months old will eat the powder when offered! If you have young rabbits, maybe give it a try?
@shellz, your recipe sounds and looks absolutely amazing! What a brilliant idea! I almost want to pop one into my mouth hahaha
Another way I found not to waste it is putting it in a heavy bowl and giving it to the young rabbits. Kits won't eat it; they just soil the bowl. Adults won't eat it; they're picky snobs
But young rabbits, like 7 weeks old to around 7 months old will eat the powder when offered! If you have young rabbits, maybe give it a try?@shellz, your recipe sounds and looks absolutely amazing! What a brilliant idea! I almost want to pop one into my mouth hahaha
Not recommended!!!Here is an equally easy but much less healthy human version: Mum's Chocolate Truffles (caramel centre optional, rolled in coconut not optional in our opinion)
Some variation on these can usually be found in our freezer and they were the inspiration for the rabbit edition.
Last edited:
GreenAcresHomestead
Well-known member
That's an awesome idea to use it on your mealworms. We raise mealworms for our 2 Bearded Dragons, Chickens, Ducks and quail. But we never thought of this. We can't wait to try it in our mealworm bens. ThanksNot a recipe, but I accidentally found another use for the pellet dust. I have been raising mealworms using the pellet dust! They love the stuff and they're very productive! If you have chickens, ducks, reptiles, etc., they will love this.
Another way I found not to waste it is putting it in a heavy bowl and giving it to the young rabbits. Kits won't eat it; they just soil the bowl. Adults won't eat it; they're picky snobs
@shellz, your recipe sounds and looks absolutely amazing! What a brilliant idea! I almost want to pop one into my mouth haha
Last edited:
ha! I raise mealworms for my mice.... never even thought about that. guess what I'll be saving up now.
Please tell me how it goes for you two! I was just talking to a friend of mine who raises mealworms and they thought this was so odd and could never work. Maybe I just ended up with really hardy mealworms! I also have NO other substrate for the mealworms; they live solely in the pellet powder. Even the beetles seem to like it.
I will try to let you know. I also feed mine stuff I'm "not supposed to" and they survive just fine. Just wish I had read this post before I just sorted my pellets into bins and tossed all my fines into the compost (so it's still not going to waste). (and I had just sorted my mealworms out and used new bran for them). GAH!!! Ah well.
(and I had just sorted my mealworms out and used new bran for them). GAH!!! Ah well. kusanar314
Well-known member
From what I have seen, most people put their mealworms in wheat bran which is not dissimilar to the feed dust. I had some that I caught from a wild population (started with 5 beetles) and they did just fine on horse feed (pelleted), wheat bran cereal, and cheerios.
Update:
Using the oat mash method, made these.
I am calling them BOBs. Bunny Oat Buscuits.
They are made from oat mash, pellet dust, hay confetti, black oil sunflower seeds and willow branches. It is about 1/3 of a cup of worth of rabbit food in one biscuit.
Most of less pickier rabbits have devoured them when they get them.
Using the oat mash method, made these.
I am calling them BOBs. Bunny Oat Buscuits.
They are made from oat mash, pellet dust, hay confetti, black oil sunflower seeds and willow branches. It is about 1/3 of a cup of worth of rabbit food in one biscuit.
Most of less pickier rabbits have devoured them when they get them.
Attachments
Ablebreeze
Active member
I've found flax seed or chia seed are good binders. When you add water to flax or chia seeds (even if they're ground into flour) it makes a good binder and they're good for rabbits
Rabbittracks
Happy Trails Rabbits
That is an interesting thought. It would probably be easy to incorporate some apple sauce and finely ground carrot to make them into some sort of bar for them to have a treat. My only thing is what would you use to bind it together? Maybe some psyllium husk?
