What do you feed/use?

[2 bun-owner]

What do you feed your buns and how much?

Do you feed BOSS? How much?
I know the amount depends on what
Kind of buns you have.

oats? And how much?

I need a protein in my
Buns diet. I'm doing 1/4 pellets
X2 daily with1/4 green mix x2 daily
And unlimited hay. Need little more protein
As my pellets is a little low and I know the recommendation
For protein is 16-17%

 

[akane]

Rotate 16% kent pellet with oats. One day I fill the feeders with pellets and the next with oats. They are all free fed this way. Non sable colored get rich clover/alfalfa hay with a protein up around 20%. Sables get hay cubes because they go in to constant molt on the rich hay and then can't be shown. The other colors of the breed are not accepted for show but required to breed a sable so it doesn't matter their coat condition. Boss is only added if someone looks thin but usually the 7% fat in oats is enough.

 

[Millinex]

Purina green bag and show food. Mixed grass/plants offered daily.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Purina green bag and show food. Mixed grass/plants offered daily.

What is the purina show food? Is
It a brand name of rabbit food? Like
Kaytee, or smart? (Can't think of the name
Right off hand) just was curious.

Is purina a better quality food then
Others brands?

 

[akane]

While purina is a popular rabbit food because it's easy to find in some areas I personally don't like anything with purina brand. They tend to use low quality ingredients.

The best food in my opinion would be manna pro but the company has issues. It often doesn't get shipped out so you could go months without it available and some mills they use are of lower quality. They run a lot of corn through and don't clean out before running the pellets through causing a lot of corn to get in the manna pro bags. We don't have that problem here but we did have the availability problem which is why we switched to kent.

Pen pals is also considered one of the best but not available here so I can't really comment on it.

Nutrena is available here and isn't a bad food but it's got a few fillers and ingredients I'd rather not see if I had a choice. Plus it only comes in 40lb bags instead of 50lb. We do actually use nutrena for our house rabbits because it's one of the approved rabbit foods for chinchillas. It's just convenient to feed everyone in the house the same and keeps the bag from going bad (chins only eat a tablespoon or 2 a day) before it's used up.

 

[Dood]

Top dress with a high protein food like turkey or hog chow. Make sure it is not medicated in any way.

Top dressing with a pure soy meal (40% protein) is normally refused

In the short term or small meals
- Pumpkin seeds have 30% protein
- striped (not BOSS) sunflower seeds have 20% protein

 

[Blackmoriah]

I add calf manna to their 1/2 cup pellet ration per day, just 1 table spoon for dry does and 2 for momma buns.

BOSS = a handful of boss every other day (maybe around 40 grams)
Oats groats = a handful as well added to their pellet ration. My buck gets 1/2 cup since i don't give him pellets anymore due to poppy butt.

Unlimited hay with all they can eat green forage (lemon balm, banana & papaya leaves or whatever is available that is free)

 

[akane]

striped (not BOSS) sunflower seeds have 20% protein

Only if they are hulled. Boss goes way up if hulled too. The hull adds a lot of fiber and fat soluble vitamins but greatly lessens the protein percent.

Unfortunately I can't get the national food database to load to show the exact numbers.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Top dress with a high protein food like turkey or hog chow. Make sure it is not medicated in any way.

Top dressing with a pure soy meal (40% protein) is normally refused

In the short term or small meals
- Pumpkin seeds have 30% protein
- striped (not BOSS) sunflower seeds have 20% protein

What the heck does it mean
When you say "top dressing"
Sounds like a turkey dinner or
Something. <br /><br />__________ Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:20 pm __________<br /><br />Ok, so no boss or yes boss?
I'm currently not doing boss right now.
Pellets
Mixed greens
Unlimited hay
Is what in feeding.

I have a Dutch buck and getting
A Dutch doe if that helps.

The doe I had needed to go.

 

[Millinex]

While purina is a popular rabbit food because it's easy to find in some areas I personally don't like anything with purina brand. They tend to use low quality ingredients.

The best food in my opinion would be manna pro but the company has issues. It often doesn't get shipped out so you could go months without it available and some mills they use are of lower quality. They run a lot of corn through and don't clean out before running the pellets through causing a lot of corn to get in the manna pro bags. We don't have that problem here but we did have the availability problem which is why we switched to kent.

Pen pals is also considered one of the best but not available here so I can't really comment on it.

Nutrena is available here and isn't a bad food but it's got a few fillers and ingredients I'd rather not see if I had a choice. Plus it only comes in 40lb bags instead of 50lb. We do actually use nutrena for our house rabbits because it's one of the approved rabbit foods for chinchillas. It's just convenient to feed everyone in the house the same and keeps the bag from going bad (chins only eat a tablespoon or 2 a day) before it's used up.

I paid $7-8 for 50lb bags. I'm not complaining about cheap ingredients at that price! lol!

 

[Dood]

Top dress means to add a bit of a specific food/feed to supplement a regular food ration.

The high fat in BOSS can cause digestion problems if given too much and will tend to ad fat mass and not muscle mass which is okay for pets or show rabbits but not ones you want to eat fir dinner or for does that you want to produce many large litters.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Top dress means to add a bit of a specific food/feed to supplement a regular food ration.

The high fat in BOSS can cause digestion problems if given too much and will tend to ad fat mass and not muscle mass which is okay for pets or show rabbits but not ones you want to eat fir dinner or for does that you want to produce many large litters.

So it's best not to give then?
Can you give example of top dress?
When you say turkey or hog what
Do you mean? Sorry new to
All these terms and special things
That people do.

 

[phillinley]

So it's best not to give then?
Can you give example of top dress?
When you say turkey or hog what
Do you mean? Sorry new to
All these terms and special things
That people do.

It can be given in small quantities, also you can give it situationally. We add the BOSS to the top dress mix about two weeks before the fall and spring show season and we get a good sheen to the coats, especially our Lilacs.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Ok, I have read that it puts oil back in there
Skin and coat. Also can be harmful if given too much.
More fat less muscle mass so it needs to be given within
Reason. Would it be good to give in the winter months? I have
Read that some people just give in the winter months
Cause it helps with "warmth."

For good breeder quality what do people am for ?
I'm not into showing or eating rabbits just into rabbits
For pets and breeding. What is a good diet to
Stick with for buns?

 

[paper_crane2]

I feed my french angoras sprouted wheat fodder, unlimited hay (I only have access to alfalfa where I live), and 1/3 cup of BOSS everyday. During the warmer months I was only feeding 1/6 cup of BOSS everyday.

 

[Dood]

If your rabbits are outside then the extra fat in BOSS will provide extra calories and help them keep warm in the winter.

For a 10 pound rabbit, I would feed up to 3 tablespoons and I always make sure they have hay to self medicate themselves if they get tummy trouble.

Turkey and hog are pelleted rations, just like rabbit pellets, but for turkeys and pigs. These animals need more protein in their diet so the feeds typically have around 25% protein.

For good breeder quality what do people am for ?

What size litters do you want and how often do you want to breed? Does with fat stored around their ovaries tend to have difficulty getting pregnant and have smaller litters. I only give my does BOSS when they are nursing since rabbit milk is quite fatty but then they are cut off but mine are in a barn kept just above freezing over the winter.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Well would like a good size litter. Not like 2-4 kits. A
Doe that's going to produce and worth keeping.

I'm just looking for a extra protein as what I feed
Now is little low in protein. I'm not at 16-17% where the
Recommendation.<br /><br />__________ Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:27 pm __________<br /><br />So there's pellets you can get that are
For turkey and pigs? What is that called?
Would it hurt the doe at all like BOSS can?

How much do feed a day?
Could I still feed the mixed greens
That I currently am feeding with the
Turkey/pig pellets. Sorry if these are stupid
Questions!

 

[Dood]

It's called turkey and hog feed, chow or grower.

Just do a top dress so a few tablespoons at the most. The fat level is lower than BOSS so they don't get the extra oil with the protein like you would with the sunflower seeds. Corn is often the main ingredient and some rabbits have difficulty digesting this but I've never had any issues.

 

[2 bun-owner]

My buck would be the problem if any.
He's a touchy one. I have had tummy trouble
With him but nothing I couldn't manage on my own.

sorry dude!! I know I'm a pain in the rump.

If I decide to go this way I would have
To start slow anyways since it's new to
Them to prevent tummy problems.

Would you still feed the greens, and pellets then?
And can you get this feed at like fleet farm or a store
Like that? Is it spendy?

 

[Blackmoriah]

My buck would be the problem if any.
He's a touchy one. I have had tummy trouble
With him but nothing I couldn't manage on my own.

sorry dude!! I know I'm a pain in the rump.

If I decide to go this way I would have
To start slow anyways since it's new to
Them to prevent tummy problems.

Would you still feed the greens, and pellets then?
And can you get this feed at like fleet farm or a store
Like that? Is it spendy?

Same with my buck, he's the one who always have a tummy problem. Just this morning I noticed that his poop is stringing together. I also feed him fresh papaya everyday.

he's only getting oats groats now with unlimited hay and greens. No BOSS or pellets for him. But I always touch him to check if his loosing weight, so far his muscles are firm, not skinny that I can feel sharp protrusion on his spine.

Oh they also get ACV on their water always.