Rabbit Feed Choices....

[3mina]

I feed an 18% pellet from a local mill, the feed store has it for $14 for 50lb. If I order it directly from the mill it's $10 but I have to order 25 bags at a time. I can mix and match feeds and I've shared orders with friends.

 

[hoodat]

In many European countries, where rabbits have been raised for centuries, they raise them almost entirely on gathered wild greens with some grain as a supliment. I'm fortunate here in San Diego. In the Summer I can grow clover and chicory for them in my garden and Winter is when the rains come so there is plenty of available fodder such as wild oat grass and burr clover free for the gathering. Growth is a bit slower on a greens and grain diet but I'm convinced they taste better and have fewer health problems. Pellets these days contain quite a bit of GMO material and I just don't trust GMOs.

 

[AnnClaire]

I have been using Purina Pro but the only feed store carrying that will be out of business on the 18th of this month

The only other supplier in the area is 20 miles away, so I am going to have to rethink what I am feeding.

When I started with the angoras I had an interesting conversation with another feed store owner who used to raise rabbits commercially. His recommendation was to go with a 16% feed and supplement with grain/BOSS as the seasons change. As for the meat rabbits, a good 16% feed with grain/BOSS supplement to breeding/nursing does would suffice to keep condition up and provide a good grow-out ration.

Now, I am considering going to a grain-based ration unless I can find another local supplier for the purina.

As for the issue with corn, I have found that a reputable mill will address the issue and the local mills around here have an excellent track record for producing a quality pellet that does include grains.

Remember, the overriding reason to feed grains is for meat quality ... it provides a finer, more tender texture to the meat and a "sweeter" taste. So, in that respect, corn is a good dietary ingredient. Along those lines, I am supplementing my rabbits daily forage with spent corn stalks from my garden ... sometimes they even have the secondary ears and those are what the rabbits tear into first of all

 

[SatinsRule]

IMHO, what a breeder ultimately decides to feed their rabbits is dictated by a few things:

-What is sold locally
-Price
-What his or her rabbits do the best on

It's a balancing act, no question about it.

I am using 2 different types of feed with my herd, and it is working quite well thus far. For nursing does and rabbits < 4 months of age, I feed Prime Quality 18% Rabbit growers ration, which was developed primarily for does nursing litters. The pellets are small, which works well for reducing waste among babies, and they have developed particularly well with it. For rabbits > 4 months old, I feed Nutrena Nature Wise Premium 16%. The rabbits have consumed it particularly well given the switch to it happened about a month before the worst part of summer began, (that is usually the slowest time for consumption around here) and they have thrived very well on it.

The only supplement I give my rabbits outside of their pelleted is hay. It switches between native grass hays and bermuda, with the latter being what they're on right now. Other than that, they will occasionally be fed a treat of a celery stalk, but that is about it.

 

[Dreamerz]

I feed my rabbits Manna Pro Select Series Pro Formula as their main feed. After trying a few feeds it is what seems to work the best for them that I have found so far. I free feed so end up wasting more than I like.

I supplement a handful of my rabbits with Manna Pro's Select Series SHO Supplement, as they are going through a hard molt & it is taking forever for their coats to grow in.

They all also get either hay or hay cubes depending on what I can get out to get. I don't own a car & the taxi company around here will not let me transport hay in their trunk. So when my best friend & Vet. drives me I get hay if not bags of cubes in the taxi.

Several times a week they also get:
banana chips
dried papaya
oatmeal
cereal
fruit or melon
forage ~ time in a movable dog pen out in the yard, lots of QAL, chickory & plaintain (sp?)

Oh & no they are not over weight :lol:

 

[uhurubuns]

I feed Country Acres basic rabbit formula, 16% protein. Not a clue what's in it, the ingredient list goes, "grain by-products, forage products, roughage products, grain products, plant protein products, molasses products", followed by the chemical names of all the vitamins and minerals in it, and a preservative. The buns do just fantastic on all those "products" though. :shock:

I no longer feed rabbit pellets because of the experiences of other raisers who have had bad batches of feed... I don't want to feed corn to my rabbits for fear of the mytotoxins that moldy corn can have- and calf manna contains a lot of corn.

Humidity encourages mold; what's the driest, most humidity-controlled place you have? Your house. I keep the pellets and the calf manna in the house. Just scoop up what you need on the way out the door. I've had feed go moldy outside, but not once since I moved it inside.

I feed calf manna just to nursing does for the first three weeks after they kindle. I use one of those funny half-sphere shaped spoons for measuring coffee, it gives me just the right amount. I think its supposed to be a tablespoon. Since only the nursing does get it, a 10 pound bag lasts me a long time. And the does don't lose condition anywhere near as much with the calf manna.

I also feed hay on a regular basis, my preference is for orchard grass because it doesn't trigger my hayfever.

I turned hay time into play time. I found some heavy duty wire vase-shaped frames at a fabric/hobby store. My hand just fits through the narrow part of vase neck. I suspended the frame on its side from the cage top, right by the door so its an easy reach. I stuff the hay inside, and they have a blast. The vase swings, so they bat at it, stand on their hind legs and hold it with their forepaws, even climb on it. There is almost no hay waste at all since I added the vase shaped feeders. :bunnyhop:

 

[Piper]

I found some heavy duty wire vase-shaped frames at a fabric/hobby store.

Picture? Please! :camera3:

 

[skysthelimit]

Humidity encourages mold; what's the driest, most humidity-controlled place you have? Your house. I keep the pellets and the calf manna in the house. Just scoop up what you need on the way out the door. I've had feed go moldy outside, but not once since I moved it inside.

my kitchen is the size if most bathrooms, keeping 100lbs of feed in it is not feasible.there's no where else in this house that i would put it.

but i think people here are talking about the mold that formed before the product was sold. my rex breeder just received 4 bags of feed last week, shipped to her, and all four bags were moldy. people whose animals have died of corn mold in the feed in these recalls bought the bags some the store that way.

At this point, I cannot say I have ever had food go moldy outside in the barn. It just doesn't last long enough to get to that stage.

 

[SatinsRule]

Humidity encourages mold; what's the driest, most humidity-controlled place you have? Your house. I keep the pellets and the calf manna in the house. Just scoop up what you need on the way out the door. I've had feed go moldy outside, but not once since I moved it inside.

Depends upon where you live. In some places of this country where swamp coolers are common, it's much more humid indoors than it is outdoors.

Also, some of us use dehumidifiers in our rabbit barns as a means of removing humidity, and it's actually less humid inside the barns than it is in our houses.

Having feed go mouldy can be directly atrributed to the container it's stored in as much as anything else. I've not had feed go bad on me once since I began storing it in large plastic garbage can approximately 18 months ago. When it was stored in a galvanized can, it moulded and cost me a couple of really good rabbits. The plastic can isn't as prone to "sweating" as a metal can is.

 

[grumpy]

I've fed Kent-feed for quite a long time. However, they've upped the price by $8.50 per hundred weight in the past 4 weeks. I've decided to gradually switch-over to a less expensive, yet higher protein content, of feed over the next 2-3 weeks. Hopefully, the rabbits will do well. If not, Kent-feed will be re-introduced as their food.

grumpy.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

When I was feeding allot of horses on custom mix horse feed I stored it in a freezer. This kept the moisture under control. I do know that if the corn is not dried enough before the pellet or grain is made then you will get mold in the grain really fast.

I now use plastic garbage cans with lids for my grain. I have not had a problem yet. Hope it stays that way. Oh I now only buy what I can use in a 2 week period as well. The humidity was allot higher here this year and I wont take any chances.

 

[AnnClaire]

Yes, that is a local condition I neglected to mention ... we have a relatively dry climate, so I can store my grain and pellets in galvanized metal cans. I do keep the feed in the bag and just drop the 50# bag into the can rather than dump out the feed into the can too.

 

[skysthelimit]

I didn't notice a lot of humidity here. Felt like being under a blow dryer. One of the reasons I switched to mannapro is the tyvek? bag, buckeye has paper bags. I thought that might protect the feed better. I wonder how much and how long i can really store it, I'd like to lessen the frequency that I go to TSC.