# Chicken scratch, hay, and rabbits



## Scout (Mar 16, 2010)

I'm about to get back into rabbits again and am trying to figure out a way to do that without pellets. I have a LOT of good meadow hay, some alfalfa, and chicken scratch, along with dandelions and veggy stubs lol. So would that work or is there a better way? I'd like to try and keep things pretty cheap, going thru a rough time... But really, who isn't lol. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!


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## Bunnylady (Mar 16, 2010)

Pelleted feeds have only been available for about 70 years; obviously, people had to feed rabbits something else before then. The problem is, since pellets came on the market, they have been almost the exclusive way of feeding rabbits for countless generations. It's kind of a case of the feed being engineered for the rabbit and the rabbit being engineered for the feed. 

Certainly, it is possible to feed rabbits without pellets, but you need to know what you are doing. You need to know the nutritional needs of the rabbit, and the nutrient content of the various items that you feed, and keep it all in balance. I'm sure that there have been plenty of people over the years that fed "whatever" and seem to have gotten it right, through sheer dumb luck, but they also may have had problems that they didn't recognise as being feed ralated, too!

I would recommend that you do a lot of research before you start this. Otherwise, you may find that trying to feed rabbits "on the cheap" may cost you in a lot of ways that you haven't anticipated!


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## chinbunny1 (Mar 16, 2010)

Scratch grain won't do it for rabbits. ther eis too much corn in them, and not enough fiber. It may be best to thoroughly reserach it as bunny lady suggested or use a good quality pelleted feed. Whatevet you chose you need to make sure the diet is balanced and the rabbit is getting enough nutrion and fiber from it.


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## Scout (Mar 17, 2010)

Well, that's what I thought, but I've been hearing about bunches of people lately raising rabbits on that exact diet, so I thought maybe it could work. Some people I know even feed a mix of meadow hay and alfalfa exclusively and seem to have pretty good luck, so I was just wondering. Thanks


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## Bettacreek (Mar 26, 2010)

I bought cheapy pellets. $10 for a 50lb bag and four rabbits are eating a pound every day and a half or so. That's $.14 per day for pellets or $4.24 per month. Mine are a year old buck, 3 month buck and two 3 month does. I of course free-feed the pellets and hay. You could probably mix in some of your grain (though scratch is more expensive than rabbit pellets here). Free-feed hay at all times of course.
You could try feeding straight hay. Wild rabbits don't eat manufactured pellets, and even domestic free-range rabbits don't seem to have any issues without pellets. Just keep an eye on them and see how they do. I just personally feel safer with  at least some pellets in there for the vitamins.


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## kelsystar (Apr 3, 2010)

The high protein level in pellets helps fryers reach weight faster than straight grass.


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## Karma Creek Farm (Jun 28, 2010)

I did have my rabbits on pretty much the same diet. I choose chicken scratch that had very little corn in it, and fed grass/alfalfa hay. I had been having difficulties for months getting my rabbits to reproduce (lack of interest, small litters, lots of losses) prior to this when I just had them on pellets. I am not sure if the diet change was the contributing factor but within a month of chicken scratch/hay all of my does were breeding and the litter sizes increased. However, I did find that the grow out took a little longer. 

The scratch cost the same amount as the pellets, but at least I knew what was in it. I went back to pellets when the chickens scratch I was buying changed to mostly oats and was inconsistent and dusty. I am still using pellets though I am tempted to try the scratch again.


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## nicktide (Dec 22, 2010)

I am moving my herd away from pellets and have done a lot of research.  Since pregnant and nursing does need 17% or 18% protein and others need only about 11 - 12%. I tweeked a recipe I found in an older book (hoesteaders handbook to raising small livestock).

My base is oats mixed with protein pellets.  I get oats for $0.13 per pound and 38% soybean protein pellets for $0.22 per pound.  The ratio is approx. 50 lbs oats to 15 lbs pounds protein pellets.  This is an 18% base feed for all rabbits.  to bring the protein to where I want it, I plan to feed the pregnent and nursing does good alfalfa which has protein of 18 - 20% and the others get timothy or orchard grass that has about 7% protein.  Figuring that they will eat roughly 60% hay, the does protein wont change much and the others will get about 11.5%.

This food blend costs me about $7.53 per 50 lbs for 18% protein.  Beat that!  It does not include hay prices.  I can get good timothy or orchard for about $4 for 40 - 45 pound bale to bring prices lower and alfalfa for about $7 so that wont change the cost much per pound.  Regular grass has roughly the same protein as timothy so mixing some in wont hurt.  I also planted a little alfalfa beside my house and have grown winter rye cover crop in my garden which is good spring hay.  There is clover near my house that I can harvest by the bagfull which should have roughly the same protein as alfalfa.  I have been trying to find out if maple leaves would be good to mix in with hay since I have huge silver maple trees.  I started growing sunchoke and comfrey to keep costs down. 

You can also keep an eye out.  There are often apple and pear trees that no one harvests.  Just make sure they are pesticide free and get permission.  There are 6 big pear trees at the school near my house that I harvest.


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## nicktide (Dec 22, 2010)

By accident I just found the rabbit part of the book I mentioned above printed online.  Well worth the read.  It comes complete with recipes with scratch grains.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Raising+rabbits.-a014366269


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## tortoise (Dec 23, 2010)

chinbunny1 said:
			
		

> Scratch grain won't do it for rabbits. ther eis too much corn in them, and not enough fiber. It may be best to thoroughly reserach it as bunny lady suggested or use a good quality pelleted feed. Whatevet you chose you need to make sure the diet is balanced and the rabbit is getting enough nutrion and fiber from it.


There are people that raise meaties on exclusively corn.  I can't do that with angoras (not enough fiber to prevent wool block), but my litters don't fatten up as quickly as I'll probably make a mix like nicktide does for the babies.


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## RabbitMage (Dec 23, 2010)

tortoise said:
			
		

> There are people that raise meaties on exclusively corn.


I can't imagine that being good for long-term health, though.

Everyone has to find what works for them, but for us, pellets are the best way. We get ours from King Feed. They do fixed formulas, so the ingredients don't change according to what's cheaper. I think we're paying around $13 a bag, but our rabbits only each 4 ounces each or so, and it's easier for us than having to mix things, grow things, and hope we're getting all the ratios right.


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