Thoughts on a new regimen?

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

Hey guys! Been a while but I thought I'd drop in. Been some health stuff going on and ended up needing emergency surgery and hubby has been feeding the buns for me. This got me to thinking about the fact that grain prices are going up, and so is the price of the pellets I feed.

I normally feed a grain mix, supplement with a ration of pellets once a week or so, and offer free choice of alfalfa cubes to my growouts and nursing does. Adult rabbits get limited additional cubes, and everyone gets an handful or so of grass hay.

Anyways, I was wondering what everyone thought of the idea of just switching over to cubes as my main protein source? The cubes I get are 17% protein, and run me around $10 for a 50# bag. Very, VERY affordable for me. I've been looking at having to stop the buns because of the cost of feed, and if I were to switch over to the cubes as my main protein it would literally cut my feeding costs down to a third.

The pellets I feed are only 16% protein so, in reality I'd be increasing the amount of protein. In addition, I've played around with grass pellets (I can get those for about $14 for 50#) instead of loose hay and everyone seems to be digging it and I love the fact that there's been no waste.

Do you think a feeding regimen of the alfalfa cubes and grass pellets would work as a base diet? Would I still need to supplement with bunny pellets for the minerals/vitamins (my guys won't touch salt licks), or would that be covered by one of the feeds?

 

[akane]

You need a mineral supplement with a hay based diet, even if you include grains. The hay pellets have nothing added so they are just a source of protein and fiber. It can work but without the kcals and carbs of grain or pellets growth will be slowed and you will not be able to breed as often and have the does keep condition. It might be a good idea to add a couple tablespoons of BOSS for each rabbit if it isn't too expensive. It's very high in kcals and fat soluble vitamins which are missing in hay. There's also some good minerals and fiber in the hull but it will lower your protein percent a bit. Most natural foods are around 12% protein and really our herbivorous animals evolved to eat that but they bred much less and died much sooner than domesticated animals with all the protein and energy pushing them.

 

[Miss M]

There are members who feed mostly alfalfa, with a mineral block and a little BOSS and such to fill out the diet.

You might poke around in the Natural Feeding Forum, and see what you find there. The cubes, since they're solid alfalfa, would be like feeding alfalfa hay, so I think it should apply.