Making your own rabbit mix

[studiobird]

Hello

I am wondering if any of the members here could share the make up of their rabbit mixes that they make themselves? I am looking at making my own mix (currently I get it from a breeder) and I want to get some ideas about what other people feed.

I am specifically looking at bulk making, so large quantities.



Thanks

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I dont know anyone who makes their own pellets.

 

[studiobird]

No, not making pellets, rather a mix of grains and such or does everyone only feed pellets to their rabbits?

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I feed Timothy Pellets, Timothy Hay and Orchard Grass.
They also get some Veggies.
They are house rabbits so they dont need grains with there pellets

 

[kirbyultra]

Hmm me too, my rabbits get pellets and hay and fresh greens. Sometimes for coat conditioning I'll give him a pinch of oats with their pellets but that's more or less it. Do you feed them grains as a treat?

 

[irishbunny]

I know a lot of people make their own mixes for animals like rats/mice/hamsters plus a lot of horse owners do and their diets are fairly similiar. I'd love to find out if anyone has come up with their own, healthy mix

 

[akane]

Horses and rabbits really aren't designed to do well on grains. The most knowledgeable owners and vets I know do not use any grains for horses. They supplement with things like black oil sunflower seeds and beet pulp. The entire member base of a really good horse forum do not use grains. The diet of animals like horses, rabbits, and guinea pigs should consist of hay and fresh greens with the pellets containing mostly alfalfa, timothy or another hay and supplements. I know someone that makes their own pellets and sells them and if she could she would not include any grains but a certain amount is required to get it to go through the machine and keep it's shape.

If you do give grains oat, wheat, and barley are the safest.

 

[studiobird]

That's interesting.

Here is a picture of a rabbit mix you can buy at a produce store, and while it is not what I am planning, it is close

http://www.petandgarden.com.au/Content/ProductImages/131884.jpg

I'm looking at Rabbit Pellets (45%), Oaten and Wheaten Chaff (40%) with a small amount of Lucerne Chaff for winter (5%) and then a small amount of commercial rabbit grain mix (10%). Or something close.

If I could buy some equine pellets cheap I would add that too, but I would have to buy a whole bulk bag, and as it is I am not sure our rabbits will go through the bulk rabbit pellets in the 3 months recommended.

They are given oaten hay each day as well on top of all that. They also get fresh food a couple of times a week, but most of the time they refuse to eat it. The baby is the only one who eats fresh.

They have been raised on a mix of pellets/chaff/seed which is why I would like to continue (as they are doing fabulously on it).

Thanks for all the input, I will research it some more!

 

[ninetoes01]

It looks like you are doing your research, and learning lots, which is awesome. But I do have a question, because I am trying to learn a little bit more (or what little people seem to know) about rabbit nutrition.
I was under the impression that corn was something that was really bad to have in a rabbit diet, and the less options there are for them to choose from in the mix, the better. The reason why I heard corn was bad, is because when it is dehydrated, it often has a mold in it, so it is best to stay away from these mixes. What have you learned about this, and can you please tell me if I'm wrong? Thanks so much!

 

[studiobird]

I know that picture shows corn in it, but it is not typical (I just grabbed the picture as it was big and showed other things other than pellets). Even in commercial rabbit mixes in Australia there seems to be limited amount of corn.

I never fed it with my rats and mice, and don't plan on adding it to a rabbit mix. It is too unpredictable and unstable, especially if you have a forager who digs through their food on the cage floor the corn spoils too easy if it gets wet. Other grains are protected a little by their outer shell.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

we use Timothy Complete pellet, Timothy Hay and various vegetables.

 

[akane]

Corn is just cheap calories for any animal. It has very little useful nutrition except for building fat and helping to provide energy for livestock to stay warm in winter. It is the most difficult grain to digest which is also why it provides a lot less useful nutrition than other grains along with having a higher potential for causing health problems than other grains might. Again oats, barley, and wheat are going to provide more useful and balanced nutrition along with being easier to digest while alfalfa and soybean meals can provide a lot of vegetable based protein. Sunflower seeds are very easy to digest while providing more kcals than corn and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals that improve health and coat quality. Sunflowers are just too expensive to feed to entire herds of livestock.

Corn is one of the few things the US produces in large quantities which helps to make it the cheapest thing around so it gets tossed in to all sorts of animal feeds to up the percentages in the nutrient profile. Irregardless of what animal I'm feeding I try to avoid corn with the only exception being chickens since they are good at digesting a wide variety of grains and it's near impossible to find corn free poultry feed.

As for the mold it is somewhat true. All grains have the potential to grow toxic mold along with some nuts. If you remember the issue with peanuts awhile back that got damp during storage and caused contaminated peanut butter. Corn is slightly more likely than the rest to grow mold and the mold is not always visible without black light or microscope so it can grow anytime during harvesting, storage, and processing in to pellets or sweet feeds without anyone along the line noticing it. In livestock it tends to cause encephalitis or swelling of the brain which results in symptoms that can be mistaken for rabies. Our local equine vet that I took classes from sees it every year and it's always a scare wondering if he might be dealing with rabies this time. I have also seen it cause inflammation followed by intestinal necrosis in a guinea pig.

Since it is possible with all grains the best way to avoid it is to buy from companies, both the feed producer and the feed store, with good quality control and store your animal feed properly. Don't set bags directly on feed room floors or any surface like concrete when the weather is humid and don't let the bags get rained on even if they look solid. The seams can leak even on otherwise waterproof bags. Then by the time you get to the bottom where the water leaked in everything may be dry so you won't realize it could have potentially been contaminated weeks or even a couple months ago.

 

[Stone_family3]

When I got my Belldandy from the breeder she gave me a mix of pellets, oats and sunflower seeds. While Belldandy does get pellets she also has unlimited hay, the leftovers of whatever produce I'm cooking with, and occasionally oats and sunflower seeds.

My daughter also enjoys picking the dandelions and the clovers to feed to the rabbit.

 

[Bahaa Hamdan]

Ooh, now that's an old post to comment on.. however, i have my own rabbit mix which i never share with anyone around, yet am gonna share it here with you guys.
this formula or mix,, helped my rabbits over the years gain some weight, coat, strength and immunity against diseases.
you will need to add the ingredients together slowly while mixing them..
you'll need;
50 kg of Barley, 50 kg of corn, 20 kg of Smooth Lentils Hay, 20 kg of Bran, 5 kg of Soybean Powder, 200 grams of Turmeric Powder, 50 grams salt, 50 grams Lime Powder, 200 grams Dry Mint Powder, 200 grams Ginger Powder, 200 grams Mugworts Powder, 200 grams Onion Powder, 200 grams Garlic Powder, 100 grams Fenugreek Powder, 100 grams Black Pepper.
all together makes a wonderful mix for a strong and a healthy rabbit.
its preferable to feed them timothy hay and some green veggies, and add small portions of this mix twice a day.