The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

Does anyone here have experience with raising meat rabbits on sprouted grain fodder? I've been trying to research it here and at BYH. It seems to be a very divisive subject, so I'm gathering as many personal experiences as I can.

Based on that, so far I'm leaning toward offering pellets, fodder, and hay, and letting the rabbits decide what they want.

What do you think?

If you are able to navigate the BYH site, I applaud you. I had so much trouble finding and searching over there. I gave up and go to other sites now. This site is great and very easy for me to navigate. But that site is not as close to this one in organization as I had hoped.

As for rabbits, if the meat ones are comparable to meat chickens, maybe a limit on the food is needed. Something to look into if you are offering 3 kinds of food. It might be something along the lines of they need so much roughage so feed that first then top off the day with an afternoon filling of pellets.

 

[Kassaundra]

Ever had scabies?
I'm pretty sure they are a typo!

Nope, never had the "pleasure"

 

[Kassaundra]

Does anyone here have experience with raising meat rabbits on sprouted grain fodder? I've been trying to research it here and at BYH. It seems to be a very divisive subject, so I'm gathering as many personal experiences as I can.

Based on that, so far I'm leaning toward offering pellets, fodder, and hay, and letting the rabbits decide what they want.

What do you think?

I am just starting and my buns LOVE sprouts. I do not grow to fodder stage, but the sprouts are their favorite hands down. I plan on sprouts and forage to be the majority of their food adding a handful of sunflower seeds (not sprouted) for nursing or pregnant does.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

If you are able to navigate the BYH site, I applaud you.  I had so much trouble finding and searching over there.  I gave up and go to other sites now.  This site is great and very easy for me to navigate.  But that site is not as close to this one in organization as I had hoped. 


As for rabbits, if the meat ones are comparable to meat chickens, maybe a limit on the food is needed.  Something to look into if you are offering 3 kinds of food.  It might be something along the lines of they need so much roughage so feed that first then top off the day with an afternoon filling of pellets.

BYH is definitely not as mature as BYC. I figure participating will help it grow!

Meat rabbits are a bit different than chicken.. They are herbavores, and live mainly on grass. As I understand it, the pellets are mostly alfalfa, with other minerals and such added to make complete nutrition. With that, a lot of people also give hay, but not alfalfa, something like Timothy or orchard grass.

So its all mostly grass either way you slice it. The difference is cost. I can produce sprouted wheat for much less than I can buy pellets. So if supplementing with sprouts is viable, I want to do it. I just haven't decided how much, and that's where I'd like opinions from those who have tried this out.

 

[misbhaven]

I have never sprouted seeds for my rabbits, I feed the more expensive pellets I love to go to my feed store at the beginning of the week when they get trucks in always they slit bags while unloading pallets that are 30%-50% off.maybe missing 5 lbs at most..I got Rabbit food for $12 yesterday, scratch for 9.66, and two bags of chicken feed for about $10 each..right now i am canning and freezing veggies all corn cobs are getting saved (frozen) for winter treats for chickens, I have 3 freezers though..I use a first cutting timothy alfalfa hay blend not straw and i get that from a farmer who cuts it for his horses etc for about $5 a bale in the winter....
I think the problem with sprouting one thing is no diverse diet wild rabbits don't sit and eat just one kind of green they move around looking for different goodies..
I think there would be the same issue with any animal also if one thing was just primarily given...

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I have never sprouted seeds for my rabbits, I feed the more expensive pellets I love to go to my feed store at the beginning of the week when they get trucks in always they slit bags while unloading pallets that are 30%-50% off.maybe missing 5 lbs at most..I got Rabbit food for $12 yesterday, scratch for 9.66, and two bags of chicken feed for about $10 each..right now i am canning and freezing veggies all corn cobs are getting saved (frozen) for winter treats for chickens, I have 3 freezers though..I use a first cutting timothy alfalfa hay blend not straw and i get that from a farmer who cuts it for his horses etc for about $5 a bale in the winter....
I think the problem with sprouting one thing is no diverse diet wild rabbits don't sit and eat just one kind of green they move around looking for different goodies..
I think there would be the same issue with any animal also if one thing was just primarily given...

One of the things that discourages me about discussing rabbit food is that it sometimes seems as though everyone who raises rabbits either has a back field full of timothy, or they know a farmer who does, or they have three acres of weeds they can pull up and freeze. I don't have those things. I have 0.5 acres and most of it is taken up by my house.

I agree that feeding rabbits nothing but wheat grass wouldn't work. At the very least, they'd need to have pellets offered, as well. I just want to know how this has worked out for people who have done it in the past.

 

[Turk Raphael]

Most of our rabbits don't live long enough to really care about a diverse diet, except the pure breeding stock. The rest are eaten or frozen, so high quality pellets is far and away, better for us!!!!

As it turns out, our 'yard foreman' really loves rabbit and he and his wife are raising 3 foster kids so we give him a few .75 bloods, now and again. I know they get paid to care for the kids but they still appreciate the added variety for THEM. Mercifully there are still people like them who can deal with kids like that. I get the idea that at least one of them is a really bad problem but they love him and battle on. They also have a 16 year old grandson to care for.

The oldest foster kid is about 7 or so and all of them think it's some kind of 'funky' new chicken...

He's SURE they wouldn't eat a bite if they know they were rabbits because the kids have a couple pet lop-eared things that they adore.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@hoosiercheetah

You can come up here and take cuttings from my 2 acre pasture that isn't in use right now. It absolutely pains me to just mow it and see all that good food go to waste.

I don't have bailing equipment so right now it's just getting mowed like a lawn and totally going to waste. Every time I'm on the tractor mowing I keep thinking about all the meat animals that could be grazing it and how much food is going to waste. There are so many plots of grass like that - even the edges of the road - where animals could be staked or pastured and moved daily to provide meat either for the family or to sell or to give to those in need. It just really bothers me every time I'm out driving and see so much food going to waste.

 

[misbhaven]

One of the things that discourages me about discussing rabbit food is that it sometimes seems as though everyone who raises rabbits either has a back field full of timothy, or they know a farmer who does, or they have three acres of weeds they can pull up and freeze. I don't have those things. I have 0.5 acres and most of it is taken up by my house.

I agree that feeding rabbits nothing but wheat grass wouldn't work. At the very least, they'd need to have pellets offered, as well. I just want to know how this has worked out for people who have done it in the past.

btw i have less than an acre but about another half a can use roads that were never built etc.and my neighbors don't care if my chicken wander..labor for hay ,straw, grain works also put an ad in the farm section on craigs list..my husband is going to bale straw for straw for the winter..and in the fall there is usually a lot of ads for hay and straw as farmers get more selling direct to people.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

btw i have less than an acre but about another half a can use roads that were never built etc.and my neighbors don't care if my chicken wander..labor for hay ,straw, grain works also put an ad in the farm section on craigs list..my husband is going to bale straw for straw for the winter..and in the fall there is usually a lot of ads for hay and straw as farmers get more selling direct to people.

Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to look for those things!