# Growing oats as feed



## Hopalong Causually (Jun 7, 2017)

Has anybody tried anything like this?
I'm wondering about the efficacy of planting a half acre or so of oats to use as partial replacement for pellets in the rabbits' feeding regimen.  The plan is to use oats to reduce, but not totally eliminate, the amount of pellets used and reduce the cost of maintaining the meat rabbit herd.  The total feeding program would consist of pellets, alfalfa and/or timothy hay, and oats.  The monetary investment would be minimal and the labor and equipment needed would not be prohibitive.  Recycling the manure into the field for fertilizer seems only natural.  Are there any nutritional problems with this approach?


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## Pastor Dave (Jun 7, 2017)

I grow my own grass hay and dump the manure out there. That works fine if you just try to scatter it fairly even.

I do use alfalfa pellet feed, and have rolled oats on hand, but only use them if one gets diarrhea. Since this doesn't occur hardly at all, I don't use much oats. I don't know what a regimented amount will do for their GI tract. You might ask @Bunnylady 
Hope you get the answers you're needing.


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## Bossroo (Jun 8, 2017)

You can buy a 50# sack of oats a lot cheaper than growing oats on a half acre.  I would grow any crop that is much more productive and monetarily more valuable on that land.


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## greybeard (Jun 8, 2017)

Probably missed the window for oats in your area, as Mar to early April is the optimum time for spring oats. Mostly planted in Spring to help the soil and other things planted at the same time.
I don't know squat about using them for rabbit forage, but you'll want to plant them at the rate of 1 1/2 to 2 bushels/acre.  32lbs in a bushel of seed oats, so one 50lb sack would be more than enough for 1/2 acre.
I plant oats in the fall for supplemental feed and just buy whole feed oats for seed, and get good results, on lightly tilled or disked ground, seed spread and lightly drug to cover with something like an old gate or length of chainlink fence. Obviously, rolled or crimped oats won't work. Just throwing them out on top of the ground like ryegrass seed won't work.
With cattle, I do have to watch for bloat issues with oats.


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## Bossroo (Jun 8, 2017)

greybeard said:


> Probably missed the window for oats in your area, as Mar to early April is the optimum time for spring oats. Mostly planted in Spring to help the soil and other things planted at the same time.
> I don't know squat about using them for rabbit forage, but you'll want to plant them at the rate of 1 1/2 to 2 bushels/acre.  32lbs in a bushel of seed oats, so one 50lb sack would be more than enough for 1/2 acre.
> I plant oats in the fall for supplemental feed and just buy whole feed oats for seed, and get good results, on lightly tilled or disked ground, seed spread and lightly drug to cover with something like an old gate or length of chainlink fence. Obviously, rolled or crimped oats won't work. Just throwing them out on top of the ground like ryegrass seed won't work.
> With cattle, I do have to watch for bloat issues with oats.


In Cal. , you can plant barley, oats, and wheat in equal amounts in the same ground, then cut the crop at the dough stage of the wheat, when dry but the plants are still green , bale the "hay" .  This mixture is very palatable  and is quite nutritious as a hay feed to horses and cattle.


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## greybeard (Jun 8, 2017)

I do the same here, except for barley. I usually mix ryegrass, winter wheat, oats, sometimes some brassica in a cement mixer and then shovel it in my 5 bushel seeder.


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