First I want to thank Anntann, MaggieJ and Brody for all the wonderful suggestions they've given me on my Coloney thread!!!
Now, on to my questions. Since I have plenty of time to plan this endevor I decided to look into growing as many of my grains as possible. I can get heirloom seeds right here in Arkansas for several of the things that I'd like to grow as food for all of my critters. I've used the link that Anntann posted in this forum about "Site for protien calculations" to look up a number of things I'd like to grow.
Peas are easily grown. I can let them grow along the outter run area and the buns will get whatever happens to grow into the pen and the rest can be harvested and dried for later feeding.
Amaranth has a fairly high protien level. The Golden Giant has a higher protien level (13.2% - 17.6%) than the other one they have available so that's the one I'll go with.
I've heard sunflower seeds are easy to grow as well, and that was in my original plan to do. So that stays. The site Anntann linked to shows Sunflower Seeds @ 26.3%. Would that be "regular" sunflower seeds or BOSS?
Just those three things at 1 part each is 21.9% protien. I realize that's a bit high for rabbits so ... my question is this. When adding in "veggie scraps", hay, grass, etc. would this bring down that protien level to an acceptable amount? Or would I be better off adding something that has a lower protien content to lower the overall protien? The lowest protien content item is the amaranth seeds, so I suppose I could add more of that to bring it down if necesary.
I'm thinking about going ahead and ordering the seeds and having them here the next time we come in but I'm afraid at that point it will be too late to plant them. I'd like to get a general idea of how much I'm going to have to plant to get the desired results.
i.e. at a ratio of 1-1-1 (Amaranth, Peas, Sunflower Seeds) it would give me a 22% feed. To feed (and I know this is a rabbit forum but I haven't yet found out how many "pounds" of feed it takes to feed a rabbit each day) one chicken at .25 lbs per day for one month would require 10 lb of each for one month.
I have a feeling that the sunflower protien content is lower for "regular" sunflower seeds so if it is, I can down the ratio of Amaranth to bring the protien level back up. I also need to keep in mind that I plan on planting clover or rye in their run areas (which has a pretty high protien content as well)
Do you think this would be a doable plan?
Now, on to my questions. Since I have plenty of time to plan this endevor I decided to look into growing as many of my grains as possible. I can get heirloom seeds right here in Arkansas for several of the things that I'd like to grow as food for all of my critters. I've used the link that Anntann posted in this forum about "Site for protien calculations" to look up a number of things I'd like to grow.
Peas are easily grown. I can let them grow along the outter run area and the buns will get whatever happens to grow into the pen and the rest can be harvested and dried for later feeding.
Amaranth has a fairly high protien level. The Golden Giant has a higher protien level (13.2% - 17.6%) than the other one they have available so that's the one I'll go with.
I've heard sunflower seeds are easy to grow as well, and that was in my original plan to do. So that stays. The site Anntann linked to shows Sunflower Seeds @ 26.3%. Would that be "regular" sunflower seeds or BOSS?
Just those three things at 1 part each is 21.9% protien. I realize that's a bit high for rabbits so ... my question is this. When adding in "veggie scraps", hay, grass, etc. would this bring down that protien level to an acceptable amount? Or would I be better off adding something that has a lower protien content to lower the overall protien? The lowest protien content item is the amaranth seeds, so I suppose I could add more of that to bring it down if necesary.
I'm thinking about going ahead and ordering the seeds and having them here the next time we come in but I'm afraid at that point it will be too late to plant them. I'd like to get a general idea of how much I'm going to have to plant to get the desired results.
i.e. at a ratio of 1-1-1 (Amaranth, Peas, Sunflower Seeds) it would give me a 22% feed. To feed (and I know this is a rabbit forum but I haven't yet found out how many "pounds" of feed it takes to feed a rabbit each day) one chicken at .25 lbs per day for one month would require 10 lb of each for one month.
I have a feeling that the sunflower protien content is lower for "regular" sunflower seeds so if it is, I can down the ratio of Amaranth to bring the protien level back up. I also need to keep in mind that I plan on planting clover or rye in their run areas (which has a pretty high protien content as well)
Do you think this would be a doable plan?