What feed?

[Nubster]

Sorry, tried to search as I figure this has been covered, but the search function doesn't work for me...

Anyways, local options for me are Southern States brand or stuff from TSC which includes Purina brand, Producer's Pride, and several Manna Pro options including Double Duty, GRO, PRO, and SHO.

 

[akane]

There is no best. There are as many opinions as there are breeders. If your rabbits are coming from a nearby source and most have been on the same thing then go with that as they've been bred to do well on it. Otherwise basically just pick one and see how they do. If you aren't happy with the results pick another. Eventually if you are breeding your own and not bringing in new stock constantly your rabbits will be bred to do well on whatever feed you've been using because you'll keep the ones doing the best on it.

 

[MaggieJ]

I agree with Akane, with the added suggestion that you read the ingredients labels for the brands you are considering (or visit the websites to get the ingredients lists) and avoid those that are vague or contain significant amounts of corn.

 

[Nubster]

OK. I was just wondering if there was something that should be avoided. Kinda like Ol'Roy dog food vs. Iams. I know a lot of times store brands are usually not so good so I wasn't sure.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The foods to avoid are those sold at pet stores and Walmart- they usually have all of the colorful bits of dried vegis, etc. My rabbits have been fed both Purina Show and the Manna Show, and have done well on both.

 

[Nubster]

Right, I couldn't afford to buy that stuff anyways to support breeding rabbits.

 

[akane]

All the feedstore feeds will be plain pellets. The only thing to look for is like maggie said vague ingredients such as roughage products (still not sure what that is), grain by products... mystery ingredients where they could include anything they want because it doesn't list a specific product. You'll pretty much only find this in the small local brands. All the big brands will have named ingredients but corn is considered inferior grain for various reasons and some will have useful (but slightly more expensive things) like flaxseed (found in one kent product) which helps with coat condition and provides some nutrients not found in other ingredients.

All the products are individual and different but no one product has worked perfectly for enough people that everyone will point you at it. Every product has had someone get a few bad bags, had rabbits not do as well on it, had someone else buy tons without a single bad bag and their rabbits do great on it.... It's a local thing that depends on your mills and your rabbits.

 

[Fatboy]

I found a feed in my area that is put out by Bartlett, it has NO CORN at all. My rabbits have done absolutely wonderful on it, but I found it just like everyone else said..... trial and error.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I would stay away from purina. THey make aweful dog and cat food. I wouldnt trust them making bunny food either. Just my thoughts.

 

[currituckbun]

Southern States brand has no corn and is 18% protein . I went away from it for a while and used Purina. I don't think my rabbits grew as fast on the Purina 16%. I feed hay at all times so as I have just learned this would water it down to 14% so that is why, possibly, I noticed the reduction in condition.
I switched because of the 6 young rabbits I lost to enteritis but I am starting to think that the illness was from a compromised intestinal flora balance . I had given mom Pen G while nursing.
I am back to Southern States and very happy. It is less expensive than the Purina and this latest batch of young ones are growing fast.

 

[Nubster]

Thanks and that's good to know that the SS stuff is decent. Especially since there is one walking distance from my house. All other options are 45+ min. drives.

 

[akane]

While I wouldn't feed their dog and cat food purina rabbit food is no worse than the average out there. I believe it does have corn and a few fillers though so I wouldn't choose it over something like manna pro or kent in this area but I would probably feed it over nutrena and definitely over country lane. I wouldn't feed the latter for anything and why I fed horse pellets until the new feed store went in that carried other things.

 

[rrh1252]

I feed hay at all times so as I have just learned this would water it down to 14% so that is why, possibly, I noticed the reduction in condition.

I am new to the forum and to raising meat rabbits and have much to learn.
So feeding a constent supply of hay will lower the protien level in the pellet,will it then slow down growth rate to reach market weight :?: (I feed alfalfa to the growouts)<br /><br />__________ Sat May 12, 2012 8:17 pm __________<br /><br />

I feed hay at all times so as I have just learned this would water it down to 14% so that is why, possibly, I noticed the reduction in condition.

I am new to the forum and to raising meat rabbits and have much to learn.
So feeding a constent supply of hay will lower the protien level in the pellet,will it then slow down growth rate to reach market weight :?: (I feed alfalfa to the growouts)

 

[MamaSheepdog]

So feeding a constant supply of hay will lower the protein level in the pellet,will it then slow down growth rate to reach market weight :?: (I feed alfalfa to the growouts)

Alfalfa is a high protein hay. When I was feeding pellets, I gave grass hay (bermuda) and occasionally alfalfa in flake or cube form. Now that I feed grains rather than pellets I feed alfalfa.

Giving hay may slow your growth rates, but if you factor in the losses of kits to diarrhea when not fed hay, I think the results would balance out evenly or even in favor of feeding hay as part of the diet.

 

[rrh1252]

thanks!

 

[trinityoaks]

Another option is grain-feeding. You might not get rapid growth, but I've never had any feed issues in my rabbits. There's a whole section on natural feeding here on the forum. Whatever you do, make all feed changes gradually (over a period of several weeks).