Pellet question

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ShaggysGirl wrote:
Hi,
New here how ya all doing?
We got our 3 bunnies on Mana Pro http://www.mannapro.com/ss_pro_tech.htm
They also have Timothy Hay at all times. Is this a good pellet. I am wondering if it is since the first ingredient listed is Dehydrated alfalfa mea and I thought Alfalfa wasn't good for them.
Thanks
Rhonda

Depending on their age its fine.

I feed Purina Fiber 3
My one bun is doing better then he ever did on timothy.




Edit to Add.

How old are your buns?
Have they had any health problems?
How long have you had them?
 
iv been feeding my bunnies alfalfa since they were 4 monthes old now they are 4 years old their doing fine and they looooove their hay
 
Alfalfa isn't necessarily bad for bunnies. Alfalfa is higher in protein and higher in calcium than many other types of hay. In turn, alfalfa based pellets, like yours typically have a higher protein percentage than timothy based ones. I think minimum of 16% protein is quite typical in alfalfa based pellets. Some people feedl alfafa pellets to their buns their whole life and they see no issues. Some believe that alfalfa causes rabbits to gain more weight because of higher protein count. It's one of those still hotly debated things of our day with rabbit diet ;)Some rabbits have issues with calcium; urine sludge and so on. For those reasons those bunnies are encouraged to stay away from alfalfa.

I don't recall people having bad things to say about this Manna Pro pellet. What I did notice was that your pellet has a max crude fiber amount of 21%, which sounds a little bit low. I suppose if your bunnies love to eat hay and they eat lots of it in conjunction with their pellets, then this would be ok. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Here is our library thread on pellet content, by brand. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17


 
I am a new rabbit owner and there are so many pellets out there its confusing.:? Any opinions on what is the best pellet at a decent price?

Also, I use a feeder so she can eat when she wants. I don't know what she's doing but there's always a big pile of wasted food that fell down into the tray. She must be pushing it out somehow. Is she doing this on purpose? Any ideas on how to stop this waste? Would a bowl be better?
 
Arwen, how old is your rabbit? What's her health condition?
Best pellet is a very debatable thing... decent price depends on where you are and what stores are available to you. Buying in larger sizes are usually cheaper (10 lbs and above) but you'll have to consider freezing the bulk of it so that the nutritional value doesn't diminish over time.

I would only advise as a blanket statement that you should try to avoid any pellet that has "stuff" in it. Any seeds, colorful bits, etc. is excess and has no business in a rabbit feed. You should get just plain hay based pellets.

If your bun is young, unlimited feed via a feeder is ok. If you bunny is an adult rabbit, unlimited feeder is not a great idea because they can overeat and get obese.
 
She just turned 1 in March. I bought her from a breeder and she is very healthy.

Thank you for the info on pellets with "stuff" in it. I did buy one bag of it that had all the goodies and it was expensive. But when I saw what she was doing I bought a cheaper bag of just plain pellets. The breeder told me 16-19% protein but didn't specify much else.

I also give her carrots, turnip greens and other dark greens like leaf lettuce. So far she doesn't seem too fond of fruits other than a couple nibbles of apple. She loves hay. I bought bale from a feed store because I used it for other animals so I don't know if its alfalfa or timothy. Seems to be mixed opinions on which is better.

I've also seen mixed opinions of free feeding vs. controlled feeding. I guess rabbits can be like cats....I have 4 cats which free feed. 1 is thin, 1 is average, and 2 are chubby lol. Guess it depends on each individual?


 
Oh and the seeds, and colorful bits and stuff....does that go for treats as well? Such as those seed sticks and little cubes? She likes them. Should I stop giving them to her? What else makes a good treat. She didn't like the yogurt drops.
 
I personally don't like to feed any of that stuff. Seed sticks, honey sticks, and other packaged junk food. Yogie drops are really bad because I've read rabbits are lactose intolerant. Plus they are just sugar! Carrots, though they are a veggie, are in the treat category. Carrots contain so much sugar that bunnies will eat themselves silly, but it's just going to make them chubs.

The alfalfa/timothy pellet debate goes on, but honestly, it's such a small part of rabbit dietthat it might not be worth it to obsess over it unless your bunny has health problems with excess calcium (in which case you'd avoid the alfalfa). For hay, it is best to feed a grass hay. Alfalfa is a legume, and it's sweet and high in calcium. Buns'll eat it because it's yummy, but a grass hay like timothy is higher in fiber content and lower in calcium.

Fruits are definitely a treat - high in sugar :)

For a 1 year old bun of medium size (around 5lbs), 1/4 cup of plain pellets a day is about as much as they should have. I feed my 4 and 5 lb buns only about 1/8 cup of pellets because I give them big big salads twice a day. Remember, pellets are only a supplement to make sure the bun is getting all the nutrients they need. House bunnies who are fed a good variety of food typically don't need a lot of supplementary pellets. House rabbits are also way less active than rabbits in the wild, so they don't burn as many calories. House rabbits can gain weight by overfeeding pellets very quickly.

That said, the individual bun does have something to do with it. I can feed my bunny Toby a cup of pellets and leave him be for 4 days. He'll pick at it when he wants to. But if I give Kirby a cup of pellets, he'll shove it all in his mouth in an afternoon. Some bunnies know when to stop and some don't -- that's really up to them. I habitually restrict pellets for everybunbecause I have one bun who really needs boundaries.
 
Thanks for the replies, To answer the questions they are 11-12 weeks old around and about. Healty as can be, one is sneezing though I think it may have been the pine shaving I was using under their hutches in the catch tray. Last night I switched to pine pellet bedding hoping that will take care of that. we've had them a week. Today each is going into their own hutch and we are wiring them in a area to play inbetween two chicken runs... at least if the dig out on the sides they will still be in a protected area :) They've been in one hutch in garage till a few days ago when we got warmer I moved their hutch outside. Last night was our first rain and they seemed to be dry so I think we have them in a good spot :)

I'm going to keep them on the mana pro and let them have unlimited Timothy hay. They' have gotten some veggies from the house in the summer when our garden is going good they'll get some greens from there.

Hope you all have a great week
Rhonda
 

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