Good bunny pellets

[raven123]

I am having troubles finding a good pellet brand because I know the Walmart brand isn’t good, Kaytee isn’t good, and I even recently found out that Oxbow has added molasses to their pellets. Hermione loves pellets but I don’t want her to be having the wrong kind of pellets, I only give her 1/4 cup of pellets a day but I’m just am wondering what kind of pellet I should give my bunny now that I’m so low on options.

 

[Blue eyes]

You can try Sherwood:
https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/rabbit/
I've also found their pellets on Amazon.

 

[Zee-Man]

I supplement fresh forage and fresh hay (or dried hay in the winter) with Southern States pellets. Your post made me go grab the ingredients list. It is very non-specific with the bulk plant matters; Processed grain by-products, Forage products, Plant Protein products. It has a nice list of vitamin supplements. It has a nice list of minerals. It has quite a nice list of pro-biotics. It also has molasses.

What is it about molasses that you don't like?

From the International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology:
Microbes in the rumen break down the sugars in molasses rapidly,
which extensively causes a rapid release of energy that makes molasses very useful for
balancing other feeds in the dairy diet all year round. Feeding molasses to farm animals will
improve digestion of pastures/hay; increase milk production, help maintain body condition
and appetite and result in less feed waste.

The paper indicates molasses as a pre-biotic. Rather than working in the rumen of bovines it works in the cecum of our monogastrics. It serves the same function, the prolifieration of the probiotics. But, I am probably missing something since all I can find about molasses in feed stock is positive.

 

[zuppa]

I supplement fresh forage and fresh hay (or dried hay in the winter) with Southern States pellets. Your post made me go grab the ingredients list. It is very non-specific with the bulk plant matters; Processed grain by-products, Forage products, Plant Protein products. It has a nice list of vitamin supplements. It has a nice list of minerals. It has quite a nice list of pro-biotics. It also has molasses.

What is it about molasses that you don't like?

From the International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology:
Microbes in the rumen break down the sugars in molasses rapidly,
which extensively causes a rapid release of energy that makes molasses very useful for
balancing other feeds in the dairy diet all year round. Feeding molasses to farm animals will
improve digestion of pastures/hay; increase milk production, help maintain body condition
and appetite and result in less feed waste.

The paper indicates molasses as a pre-biotic. Rather than working in the rumen of bovines it works in the cecum of our monogastrics. It serves the same function, the prolifieration of the probiotics. But, I am probably missing something since all I can find about molasses in feed stock is positive.

Is there anything about percentage of protein, fibre, calcium, phosphorus?

 

[HoppyRabbits06]

You can try Sherwood:
https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/rabbit/
I've also found their pellets on Amazon.

My rabbits love those pellets! they are the best.

 

[raven123]

I supplement fresh forage and fresh hay (or dried hay in the winter) with Southern States pellets. Your post made me go grab the ingredients list. It is very non-specific with the bulk plant matters; Processed grain by-products, Forage products, Plant Protein products. It has a nice list of vitamin supplements. It has a nice list of minerals. It has quite a nice list of pro-biotics. It also has molasses.

What is it about molasses that you don't like?

From the International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology:
Microbes in the rumen break down the sugars in molasses rapidly,
which extensively causes a rapid release of energy that makes molasses very useful for
balancing other feeds in the dairy diet all year round. Feeding molasses to farm animals will
improve digestion of pastures/hay; increase milk production, help maintain body condition
and appetite and result in less feed waste.

The paper indicates molasses as a pre-biotic. Rather than working in the rumen of bovines it works in the cecum of our monogastrics. It serves the same function, the prolifieration of the probiotics. But, I am probably missing something since all I can find about molasses in feed stock is positive.

Well Someone once told me that molasses isn’t good for rabbits because it will slow down their digestive tract and that isn’t good because hay and greens go through there faster and that would make it so there would be a bunch of hay and greens behind the pellets and the pellets would go slowly causing a blockage.

 

[Zee-Man]

Is there anything about percentage of protein, fibre, calcium, phosphorus?

Crude Protein 18%, Crude Fiber min 14% max 16%, Calcium max 1.5%, Phosphorus min 0.5%

 

[zuppa]

Crude Protein 18%, Crude Fiber min 14% max 16%, Calcium max 1.5%, Phosphorus min 0.5%

That is very high protein your rabbits must be very fat
Protein is max 13% recommended for an adult and 16% for babies and nursing mothers or maintenance. Also high Calcium (recommended max 0.7 for an adult, 1% for babies and mothers) and low fibre which is 19% min recommended. So I wouldn't say it's healthy choice, excess Calcium can cause kidney stones and joint pain when your rabbits are getting older, they can also have problems because of overweight won't be able to groom themselves and reach their cecotropes.

 

[Zee-Man]

Well Someone once told me that molasses isn’t good for rabbits because it will slow down their digestive tract and that isn’t good because hay and greens go through there faster and that would make it so there would be a bunch of hay and greens behind the pellets and the pellets would go slowly causing a blockage.

There are several grades of molasses. A and B are not suitable for monogastrics having a lot of sucrose. Grade C has little sucrose left and blackstrap is nearly no sucrose. Grade C is used in non-bovine animal feeds. Blackstrap is pretty much only marketed for humans, although it is also used in feed. The more complex carbs that are left stimulate the growth of the probiotics. Whether the probiotics are naturally on the forage or hay or in the pellets the molasses helps the colonies grow. Like humans and other monogastrics, rabbits rely on symbiotic bacteria to digests food. Unlike human, but similar to horses, they need specific bacteria to metabolize cellulose in their cecum.

 

[Zee-Man]

That is very high protein your rabbits must be very fat

I do appreciate the feedback. Doesidoe only has restricted pellets, ~2.5 oz each day. Forage and hay are free choice, although she invariably chooses forage first over hay. She would eat only pellets if I gave them to her free choice. In the late spring and summer she doesn't get any pellets and verges into a body score of 2. As autumn approaches I supplement with pellets to get her to a body of score of 3 to head into the winter with.

 

[zuppa]

I do appreciate the feedback. Doesidoe only has restricted pellets, ~2.5 oz each day. Forage and hay are free choice, although she invariably chooses forage first over hay. She would eat only pellets if I gave them to her free choice. In the late spring and summer she doesn't get any pellets and verges into a body score of 2. As autumn approaches I supplement with pellets to get her to a body of score of 3 to head into the winter with.

How old is she and what breed, any pics? So I understand that she lives an active life outdoors and maybe her needs are different than average house pet rabbit