# Rabbit Feed



## The Haven Rabbitry (Oct 17, 2012)

Hello All,

I breed show quality Polish, and currently use Manna Pro, which my rabbits have done extremely well on. HOWEVER, apparently in my area and surrounding states, we can no longer get this. I am wondering what the next best brand would be? Here is a list of what types of feed I have available to me:

Purina
Pen Pals
Blue Seal
Producers Pride
Big Red

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


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## woahlookitsme (Oct 17, 2012)

We use purina and mix the blue(show 16%) and gray bag(professional 18%). Although our buns are doing well on it (my moms polish actually get fat on it before they hit senior age) it has become pretty pricey in our area (about $19.99 per bag). We are going to switch to bluebonnet (16% Protein and $17 a bag) after the ARBA convention. Dont want the buns going into molt just yet lol

I know that pen pals has had good results with other breeders and we wished it was available to us but I haven't found any close.


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## The Haven Rabbitry (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks... I don't have pen pals in my area either, but a breeder I do joint breedings, etc... with gets it, so I know I can pick up bags from her.


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## woahlookitsme (Oct 17, 2012)

I have heard good things of it and know a few breeders with really nice stock that use it. They also have a very informational website about rabbits and even a youth award competition. Nice


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## iLuvMyLilBuns (Oct 17, 2012)

*I currently use Sherwood Forest. It's an all natural rabbit food that my rabbits LOVE!! They make pellets specially designed for show rabbits so here's a link if you want to check it out  The only down fall about it is that you will have to order it online 

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/sherwood-forest-natural-rabbit-food/

Out of all the foods you listed I would personally go with Pen Pals because the breeder I got my Holland lop rabbit from uses that and she claims it's the best food for showing. I do show my rabbit's but I choose to use Sherwood Forest but I would reccomend Pen Pals because the breeder I talked to is very experienced and has great show rabbits so I trust her opinion 

Good luck!!*


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## Imbrium (Oct 17, 2012)

personally, all I'll feed is sherwood forest because it's all natural and the only pellet without any sugars/molasses in it.

here's a semi-recent thread that has some good discussion/opinion sharing on various brands of food:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=75731&forum_id=48


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## ldoerr (Oct 17, 2012)

When I had my rabbitry I fed Purena gray bag. I LOVED it and got pretty good results using it given my situation (Long story).


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## OakRidgeRabbits (Oct 17, 2012)

I use Blue Seal Show Hutch Deluxe. My rabbits LOVE it and they keep good fur/flesh condition on it.

The most important thing, really, is what you can get freshest. And for breeding/show, you'll want around 16-17% protein with 2-3% or so fat.

There has been a lot of discussion about the Manna Pro issue on various Facebook groups. It seems that Blue Seal and Pen Pals are pretty commonly suggested. Purina seems to be touch and go depending on the area. Big Red and Producer's Pride aren't quite as popular among the people I talk to.


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## grasspack (Oct 17, 2012)

What would you recommend for people with pets over the age of 6 month? We feed Oxbow to our two.

Alice


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## majorv (Oct 19, 2012)

For pets, the consensus on this forum seems to be Oxbow or Sherwood Forest.

For show/breeding, I do wish we could get Pen Pals because we heard good comments from the ones who use it. As Sarah said, Purina is just getting too expensive for us so we're trying something new. The feed stores around us only carry Purina and M-G (which I won't use). Tractor Supply carries Manna Pro. I feed 16% protein to my Polish and we mix 1/2 16% and 1/2 18% for our Tans because they are a more active breed.


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## OakRidgeRabbits (Oct 19, 2012)

grasspack wrote:


> What would you recommend for people with pets over the age of 6 month? We feed Oxbow to our two.
> 
> Alice



I feed the same thing (Blue Seal) to both my pets and show rabbits. It really depends on what you prefer personally. My feed choices over the years have always been with the rabbits' health and wellbeing in mind, not just what's cheap or in bulk for a "large" herd. In fact, this isn't a cheap feed at all!

I wouldn't trust something to my show/breeding rabbits that I wouldn't feed our pets. 

However, there are many good feeds out there. Like I said before, it mainly depends on what you can get the freshest and what keeps your rabbits in the best condition. Their body should feel firm and well-filled, and their coat should be evenly colored and shiny. If the rabbit is constantly molty, feels flabby or boney, or seems to shed more often than they should, the pellet may be either too low or too high in protein.


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## grasspack (Oct 19, 2012)

Hello,

I obviously want to feed them the best. I know you get what you pay for. I also know that my two neutered/soon to be spayed bunnies do not need something that is made for breeding/showing animals. At least, I wouldn't think they would. 

What % protien is best for the typical lazy pet?

Alice


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## woahlookitsme (Oct 19, 2012)

You might want to post your question in the nutrition and behavior topic. There are also nutritional guidelines and other threads in there that you can look at and it will most likely answer your question before you post it. 

I believe 13-15% is okay for pet buns


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## OakRidgeRabbits (Oct 19, 2012)

Alice, there really isn't a "best" food, that's what I'm trying to say. 

You certainly want to steer clear of foods that contain little colorful bits, seeds, etc. It should be a plain pellet. But people's opinions on pellets vary a lot.

Personally, I recommend an alfalfa pellet of 15-16% protein and 1-2% fat for an adult rabbit. In my opinion, fiber content isn't a big concern in a pellet as long as you're freely offering a grass hay. However, you'll also have people who adamantly oppose alfalfa pellets completely for adults...some rabbit owners don't even feed pellets. And others say a high-fiber pellet is absolutely necessary.

On the other hand, my pets are eating a show formula and that works just fine for them too.

See what I mean? There are lots of options! If the pellets you're currently feeding are fresh and the type and amount you're feeding keep your rabbits in a healthy condition (as I described above), that is the best diet for them.  There's no reason to switch things around unless you find that you're having trouble with the current diet.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Oct 20, 2012)

The Holland breeder Ripley came from I know uses Pen Pals and their buns do very well on that. I don't know where right near me to get it, so we've fed our buns Purina for years. The Purina has worked well, I really like Purina Fibre 3, though over the years we've used the show feed (they seemed to gain more weight with that) and also their green bag. Eventually when our feed store stopped carrying Purina, we switched to Nutrena. I really didn't like Nutrena and we're switching them over to Oxbow now and going to stick with that.


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## Blaze_Amita (Oct 22, 2012)

I currently use Purina Show(blue bag) and I'm not as happy as I was on Nutrena Naturewise(though that's not on your list available!)- So I'm going to go back to Nutrena, even if it means traveling farther for feed. It's worth it. 

Pen Pals and Blue Seal I've heard with good sucess as well. 

I've tried Big Red and Producer's pride, even with my meat pen and was completely unsatisfied with it- will not use it again, not even for meat pen rabbits.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Oct 28, 2012)

Blaze_Amita wrote:


> I currently use Purina Show(blue bag) and I'm not as happy as I was on Nutrena Naturewise(though that's not on your list available!)- So I'm going to go back to Nutrena, even if it means traveling farther for feed.Â  Â It's worth it.



What have you noticed with Purina and Nutrena that you did and didn't like?


When ours were on the Purina show food, aside from easily gaining weight, they were GREAT. With the Nutrena, I've noticed their fur is pretty bad and they don't seem to like it very much. Just curious if the fur has to do with that, maybe not.


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## Blaze_Amita (Oct 28, 2012)

*Bunnylova4eva wrote: *


> Blaze_Amita wrote:
> 
> 
> > I currently use Purina Show(blue bag) and I'm not as happy as I was on Nutrena Naturewise(though that's not on your list available!)- So I'm going to go back to Nutrena, even if it means traveling farther for feed. It's worth it.
> ...



I've had my guys in the past hold weight and condition wayy better on the Nutrena- and much more enjoyed their feed, I have quite a few that don't really like the Purina Show- some go as far as to flip their dishes once or twice a week- I'm just overly not as satisfied with the Purina Show as I had been on the Nutrena.

Most of it is up to the buns.


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## woahlookitsme (Oct 28, 2012)

Yep every bun is different. The lady at rabbit con said use whatever works for your herd. Every herd is different


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## fuzz16 (Oct 29, 2012)

im on mana pro atm...ive heard a lot of bad recently from a couple local big time breeders on purina so i switched. ive heard good things on pen pals, but they dont have any distributor cept for about 40miles away and thats not logical for me right now


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## majorv (Oct 30, 2012)

It's not really fair to say that Purina is bad. As someone at the Rabbitcon said (at convention), feed is always changing to some degree...doesn't matter what the brand...Purina, Manna Pro, Pen Pals (the national brands) are milled indifferent mills across thecountry and depending on the time of year they use different cuttings of hay in their feed. You feed what works for your rabbits. Now, I do understand that some years back Purina changed their formulaand some people weren't happy with the change. The person at convention who explained all this said that no matter what brand you use,the most important thing you should do is read the feed tag attached to the bag you're buying, and don't buy feed that is more than 1 month old.


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## fuzz16 (Oct 30, 2012)

i personally liked the change that purina made with their feed, im pretty sure their show feed didnt change as much as the green bag..the pet one.


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