Thinking of adding more fresh foods... amino acid q

[WallTenter]

So I sprout mung beans for us - why not the buns? I do not sprout them until the green shows just a few days so there's maybe an inch of white sprout, that is when we like them best. How much should I add? I know mung beans can be low in some amino acids but I don't know enough about rabbit nutrition to know if that's so much of an issue.

Right now my buns are eating grass hay (basically poor quality hay but clean and well stored - not contributing much other than fiber) free choice as well as about 1/2c of either a 16% for bucks or 18% for does and kits pelleted feed. I just leave the does on the 18% so they don't have to switch back and forth constantly.

Should I add a small bit of alfalfa with the mung beans to balance out the AA profile better for the buns? Anyone know much about this? How much mung bean sprouts should I feed per rabbit per day - just want them to get the great benefits of some of the sprouts!

I read on here a lot of people feed barley sprouts as well, I could pick up a sack of barley and sprout that as well. ??

 

[Dood]

If they are on a pellet (mostly alfalfa) and hay already, you don't need to worry about balancing amino acids but if you give them too much they will be too full to eat their main diet.

I wouldn't give them more than an ounce each but start off slow and build them up to a higher amount.

 

[Frecs]

Dood is right that if they are on pellets, balancing amino acids isn't really a concern. The advice to start slow and build up is also very good.

And, yes, if the barley is whole and not pearled, it will sprout and it makes an excellent fodder if you let it grow to about 6-8 inches (roughly 8 or 9 days). I can't get barley so I use wheat instead.

My question to you is: are you looking to gradually move away from pellets completely or are you looking to supplement your rabbit's pellet diet?

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm not sure about mung bean sprouts. I know there are concerns about feeding beans in general, but not sure if it would apply to the sprouts. Perhaps not, since you can feed bean foliage, but I thought I should mention it.

Barley sprouts or barley grass would both be excellent for rabbits.

 

[Frecs]

I've been feeding mung bean sprouts (4 day sprouts) as a small portion of their daily sprouts and they have been received well. I don't *think* there is a problem with mung beans as there are with some other beans but I could be wrong. It is because of my uncertainty on that issue that I am replacing the mung beans with lentils. If I could get enough info to be comfortable with it, the mung beans do serve as a good soybean replacement and getting away from soybeans is a big plus in my book.

 

[WallTenter]

I don't think I would move completely off pellets, more just supply more diversity of feeding without a) meaning an extra hour on chores each day (I just don't have the time right now, maybe some day though it would be nice), or b) throwing their nutrient mix off so much I am actually hurting rather than helping. Also again we eat bean sprouts, so I know how to sprout them without issue, and I will also feed oats as I feed them to the show birds as well so again I am comfortable with the process on them. I have never had issues with molds or anything unless I keep them longer than 4-5 days, but usually by then they are getting a lot of vegetative growth and nutrients are going down anyway, so why keep them that long, me thinks

My concern with the amino acids is I don't know enough about rabbit AA needs to feel comfortable even with the pelleted feed. We have our poultry feed custom milled because we could not provide a feed commercially available that offered a good enough AA profile to satisfy us. Pelleted feeds for rabbits I can only assume are the same - formulated for economical and processing efficiency, while only meeting the minimum requirements for the animal (and sometimes not even that).

I look at pelleted food as basically eating a lot of highly fortified processed foods. Yes maybe the minimum nutrient levels are there - doesn't mean they are accessible by the body, or in -ideal- quantities and ratios. You can survive and even thrive on this diet, but you might do even better if you took a closer look... instead of getting vit C fortified sunny D, why not drink orange juice instead kind of deal.

 

[Frecs]

My approach is one of minimizing the number crunching while maximizing the nutrients. Rather than try to figure out *the ideal* combo of grains/greens/etc., I go for variety. The more variety, the wider the nutrients available and the more likely to obtain the required nutrients.