# Which Rabbit Feed is better?



## CountryGirl (Jul 14, 2010)

Here are the ingredients for 2 different brands of rabbit feed. What would be the best? How do you tell what is a good ingredient list and what is a bad ingredient list? I know how to tell a good brand of dog food from another.....but I don't know what to look for in rabbit feed.

1. Purina Select Series Grow


Ingredients:
Dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat middlings, soybean hulls, soybean meal, feeding oatmeal, cane molasses, brewers dried yeast, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, dl-methionine, calcium carbonate, monocalcium phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, ferrous carbonate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, choline chloride, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, yucca schidigera.


2. Purina Complete Rabbit Feed

Ingredients:
Forage products (alfalfa), wheat midds, roughage products (oat or rice hulls), plant protein products, grain products, molasses products, calcium carbonate, salt, dicalcium phosphate, choline, chloride, DL-methionine, ferrous oxide, magnesium oxide, niacin supplement, vitamin E supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, zinc sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite.


----------



## bunchsbunnybarn (Jul 19, 2010)

I like Purina Show formula--- the blue bag.  My rabbits stay in condition and seem to do better on the show table.  I have used many different brands over the yrs., but I have been using Purina Show for the last 3 yrs. 
Everybody has thier own opinion on feed.  You want a fresh, dust free & pellets that are not crushed.  

Protein is important, depending on what you are raising: Meat rabbits I would use a higher protein. You want them to gain as much in the 10 weeks before slaughtering them.
For all others use 16%-18% protein is fine.
Hope this helps!


----------



## Tinted (Jul 20, 2010)

I mix Purina Show formula and ManPro Sho formula for my show rabbits. Works like a charm.


----------



## PureSnowChic (Oct 3, 2010)

I also use Purina Show. Mine are doing great!


----------



## ChickenPotPie (Oct 3, 2010)

Is the "Grow" the gray bag (called Professional)?

Looks like the "Complete" lacks brewers yeast and folic acid.  I don't know that one is better than the other rather they are better for one purpose or another.  One might be better for nursing does and growing kits, another might be very basic food for pet rabbits. 

I, too, feed Purinia Show (blue bag) and get good results.  It's my favorite.  I've tried other brands.  I did not like others.  I have a small wooled breed, my sons have a small normal furred breed.  We also have a meat breed.  So, very different rabbits, purposes, and needs.  

If I were to get serious about my Chins (meat breed) I might buy the Purina Professional (gray bag) to support my does with litters.  Bucks can get by on the same.  Grow is a bit cheaper than Show and my meat rabbits eat a good deal so that makes it a good choice, too.

The Purina show, however, seems to have the greatest amount of recognizable, beneficial ingredients.  Purina knows they have to put out a good product for their show exhibitors or loose $$$.  I've always thought their blue bag and gray bag to be the only ones to consider.  Even for a pet rabbit, is it not good to give them the best for their health?  Why give them anything less (unless you just can't afford it)?

FYI, here is the ingredients list for Purina Show:

INGREDIENTS
Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Middlings, Ground Soybean Hulls, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Wheat Flour, Cane Molasses, Soybean Oil, Ground Oat Hulls, Lignin Sulfonate, Salt, Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Iron Oxide, L-Lysine, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Supplement, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Dried Yeast, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Ferment Product, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Manganese Sulfate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Zinc Sulfate, Dried Yucca Shidigera Extract, Copper Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate.

I like that there are important vitamins and minerals but also that there is yeast, Acidophilus for healty gut, yucca to decrease ammonia in the urine, and, hmmmm,  lysine.  I forget what lysine does.  Anyway, I like it.  I know from experience it works well and can keep my long hair rabbits in good condition during the show season, on kits, and summertime as well.

I have a friend who mixes the blue and gray bag 50/50 and love the results she gets.  If your feed store has trouble keeping one in stock, it is a good idea to mix two different bags or brands to your rabbits don't have to go off one completely.  

I'm curious, though, for what purpose are your rabbits that you will be feeding.  I guess that is the most important question.  lol


----------



## xoxocammyxoxo (Dec 22, 2010)

I know the topic was started about the Purina brand of rabbit food. But what are some other good feeds out there for rabbits? I don't think we have anything but Del's Rabbit food out here...:/ If I have to order and have it delivered, fine but I'd like to know. Like I found a website with Mana Pro. I like what I saw but would like other opinions.


----------



## ChickenPotPie (Dec 22, 2010)

IMO the quality rabbit feeds are Purina, Manna Pro, Nutrena, Pen Pals, and Heinhold.  I know there are others out there but those are the major brands that come to mind.  I'd use Pen Pals if they had it on the West Coast.  

That is not is not to say that local feeds are not good.  I started out with Templeton, a locally milled feed and I liked it very much.  It was cheaper than Purnina Show but my feed store did not have it in stock consistently.  Rather than keep switching feed back and forth, I stuck with Purina Show.  It gave me the same results as Templeton.  

Definitely check the lable.  Talk with the feed store clerk.  Call the company.  Ask questions.  If you're not sure what an ingredient is, ask.  I mean, what are "wheat middlings"?  It may not be simply wheat (it's not).  Also, why might a company add Yucca to it's feed?  Does another feed have essentially the same ingredient but give it another name (ie.  an enzyme derived from Yucca).  Ask.

Try out a feed.  Have a control group on your current feed.  Try the others out on the new feed.  I tried a local feed that comes highly recommended.  It was more expensive than my current brand.  There were a large amount of fines but it did not ship far at all and I saw no improvement in my herd.  The switch and added cost were not justified so I went back to Purina.  Another example of a bad switch: I have a friend who tried a well known brand and did not have a single litter for 1 yr.  As soon as she got off it and tried another brand, her does started to have litters again.  On the other hand, I have friends who've seen very desirable improvements with a feed switch so, recored your findings/differences with the new feed you're trying out so you can make the best decision on what feed to stick with.


----------



## AlaskanShepherdess (Dec 22, 2010)

I actually don't feed rabbit chow, I accidentally found out that livestock alfalfa pellets are excellent rabbit feed and CHEAP! I went to a rabbit show, not intending to buy a rabbit... but Oreo stole my heart and I came home with him, and didn't have anything for a rabbit, but we had alfalfa pellets for my brothers sheep, so I just gave him that, and he has turned out to be the healthiest rabbit I have ever had! He has never had typical rabbit feed and his coat is SUPER soft, softer then our Rex's had been. His eyes are bright and shiny and he is just a happy healthy little Bun-Buns.

In recent days I have looked at other rabbit feeds just out of curiosity, and making sure he had everything he needed (I got him at 6 weeks I think and he is nearly 2 now) and I was disgusted to find that most rabbit chows have grain and strange fillers that I would never want to feed him in them. So I stick with the alfalfa pellets that are cheap. It costs me less then $40 a year to feed him. (which I live in AK and everything is more expensive here)

He also gets all the brome hay he wants, and during the winter my kitchen scraps (carrot tops, celery leaves, etc). During the summer he gets at least a large handful of weeds every day and often I let him out on a leash for a couple hours to browse through the garden weeds.

For treats he gets little bits of grain or raisins, and occasionally a piece of human food that he LOVES like bread or cake. But those very rarely and only TINY amounts.

I had not been giving him a mineral (my bad) and noticed that his coat started getting a rusty color (copper deficiency) to it (he is a broken black) so I gave him some kelp, which within two weeks it returned back to normal color completely. But I just read on my bag that it isn't recommended for rabbits so I need to research and find out why.


----------

