timothy pellets in big bags?

[SnowyShiloh]

Now that we have 6 bunnies and 2 of them are very hungry babies, we want to buy bunny food in bigger bags. We've been buying 10 lb bags of Kaytee Timothy Complete pellets but that just isn't cutting it anymore. We'd like to buy some kind of food from the feed store instead that comes in a bigger bag. Does anyone have suggestions for a good timothy pellet like that? Thanks!

 

[pinupchick]

Feed stores usually carry low-quality alfafa pellets. I just did a quick search and found this company: http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/pel_rabtimothy.html

A 50lb bag shipped to your house would cost around $50. Not sure what you're paying now, but they also have smaller bulk bags too. Worth checking out.

 

[CCWelch]

I am going to throw this question in....how are the timothy rabbit pellets different from the Timothy horse pellets? both ingredient lists read pretty much the same.

 

[pinupchick]

I'm not an expert on horse feed, but I think rabbit pellets are usually fortified with vitamins whereas horse pellets are usually just straight up compressed hays. I'm also not sure about size, but would assume horse pellets are larger.

 

[naturestee]

I haven't seen timothy horse pellets that are fortified. That's a big reason to feed pellets to rabbits- it ensures that they get all their nutrients.

I've never seen feed stores carry timothy pellets for rabbits, although some do carry 15% protein pellets that might be good for some pets. Certain brands are really good- they have to be. That's what show breeders use. Otherwise you could look into buying in bulk from Oxbow, Sweetmeadow, or another place. Although shipping to Alaska might be the killer.:expressionless

Edit: And actually, the babies are on alfalfa pellets, right? Get thee to a farm store! We can help you choose a good pellet if you're not sure. When I was fostering babies, I bought from one of the local farm stores instead of paying through the nose for Oxbow alfalfa pellets.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Naturestee, the babies are actually on timothy like the big buns because I was told that timothy is fine for little ones. It WOULD be more cost effective though to feed them alfalfa pellets! We have a feed store in town too but I don't know what brands of alfalfa pellets they offer.

Pinupchick, I checked out that website and it would cost $133 to ship a 50 pound bag of pellets here :shock:

Seriously, my bunnies' pellet consumption has tripled in the past month. The babies eat 3-4 times as much as the other bunnies and Ned and Phoebe Mae are both getting extra servings each day for weight reasons. We went from 4 servings of pellets each day to 12-14!

 

[Must_Love_Pets]

I get all my feed from my breeder. She makes her own and is great quality. She sells all the way up to 50LBS bags. She ships everywhere too. Worth it to me, I drive all the way from San Jose to Lathrop just to get her fresh feed and hay. It;s a day road trip but I do it becasue her feed is the best! Priced really good too.
http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/



I never have and never will buy pet store food for my buns.

 

[naturestee]

Hmm, I'd much rather have babies on alfalfa pellets. They need more protein and calcium because they are growing. It's like the difference between puppy food and adult maintenance food.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Must_Love_Pets wrote:

I never have and never will buy pet store food for my buns.

I know you probably weren't trying to imply I'm a bad owner for buying pellets from a pet store, but it kinda feels that way. I live in the middle of Alaska. Not a lot of options exist for getting bunny food. Petco is the only store in the entire town that sells timothy pellets and as I mentioned earlier, shipping giant bags of food up here costs over $130. I love my bunnies but they're doing well on the store pellets and I'm not willing to spend $150 for each bag of bunny food that everyone else is paying $20 for. The little 10 pound bags of food at the pet store already cost $22 each.

Naturestee, now I feel like a bad mommy! The vet is the one who said the babies can have timothy. Considering how fast they've been growing and how healthy and chubby they are, the timothy doesn't seem to have damaged them and they've been on it for 5 weeks now. Kerensa grew up on the timothy pellets too and is very healthy thankfully.

I'm leaving town on Thursday and get back at the end of August. When I get back we'll switch Maximus and Mabel over to alfalfa pellets because I want what's best for my babies. I just don't want to do it when I'm not home in case they have tummy troubles or something from the new food. And having Paul and a pet sitter deal with slowly increasing the amount of alfalfa pellets in addition to everything else...

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Dr.'s Foster and Smith have free shipping on orders over 49.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Larry, the shipping isn't free to Alaska unfortunately. I've looked into them before and ordered bird toys from them.

Does anyone know if this food is at all suitable for our 12 week old bunnies at least? My husband checked out the feed store and said they had this in stock: http://www.nutrenaworld.com/nutrena/products/more-species/rabbits/premium-rabbit-pellets/index.jsp

 

[naturestee]

I know I've seen Nutrena locally and it looks like pretty good quality stuff from the labels. I think that's what one of my friends feeds and her adult (pet) rabbits do great on it.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

That's good to know! That page doesn't have the ingredients listed which made me suspicious. Looks like I need to do some research about what exact ingredients and nutrients bun buns should get in their food.