Purina Mills Rabbit Chow?

[Katmais_mommy]

Its sold only in specialty feed/grain stores. The type i'm interested in is the Fibre pellets. Ive read the packaging on all of the different types of rabbit chow they sell and the ingredients/nutrition facts look really good.



Does anyone feed this to their rabbits?

 

[Randi]

I thought all of their pellets were alfalfa based - is this incorrect?

 

[Katmais_mommy]

Yes, they are alfalfa based, which isn't a con to me although I know most rabbit owners give timothy-based pellets. Plus, the pros outweigh the cons on the nutrition label.

 

[Suz]

I do. I get it at the local Co Op. It's the blue bag and says "Show" on it. I think there are a couple different Purina Chow ones. But I have a young Flemish Giant who needs alfalfa, so that's what I would be feeding her anyhow.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

The Fibre formula tends to have mixed results. Some people have rabbits that do extremely well on it, but others do not. When it first came out, they actually marketed it towards breeders as a higher fiber alfalfa pellet. Initially, all good reviews! Then people starting losing whole herds on it. Some people still swear by it though.

I have used the blue bag show formula, which has worked well for me. Even as a breeder, I actually prefer the green rabbit chow bag which is slightly lower protein but my rabbits look fantastic on it- healthy, shiny coats and they dive right into their pellets every night.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

Same here Julie, Purina Rabbit Chow COmplete, normally a green bag from Tractor Supply Co- but we still have the pink bags here. I just check expiration dates. THis is the best coats I've had since I switched off the Nutrena Naturewise and I have a mix of Purina Rabbit Chow COmplete and Manna Pro Show.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

It's been too long to edit my old post, but I re-read it and I think it came off wrong. I didn't mean to be so harsh on the Fibre feed. I just heard through forums that some people were really struggling with it at one point in breeding/show herds. In the worst cases, some people were losing rabbits, but in other cases, they were just seeing not-so-great condition. This was within maybe a year of it coming out.

It's been out for awhile, so it may be fine now...I just highly recommend their green or blue bag feeds the most!

 

[Flash Gordon]

what were they losing their herds to?.do they know it was from the fibre 3 ? did they necropsy? what was the deciding factor of death from the herds ?i need more in depth details ..,i have no prob stopping the fibre 3 but i need more info on it...i can go back to the green bag ...the coats on my buns have never really been shiny on either feed...they are always shedding and all my solid colored buns seem to have dull coats ..even Flashie lately..his coat is NOT suppose to look dull..i know hes past his 'SHOWING" age..altho i dont show .so i know once they are past a year or something their coats arent as nice..but dull ???

 

[Katmais_mommy]

I only asked about the Fibre 3 because my bunns dont seem to get their daily intake of fiber from just hay.

I dont show mine, but if everyone is saying that that kind is the best Purina kind, then i'll try it. I dont want to risk anything with the Fibre 3.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Flash Gordon wrote:

what were they losing their herds to?.do they know it was from the fibre 3 ? did they necropsy? what was the deciding factor of death from the herds ?i need more in depth details ..,i have no prob stopping the fibre 3 but i need more info on it...i can go back to the green bag ...the coats on my buns have never really been shiny on either feed...they are always shedding and all my solid colored buns seem to have dull coats ..even Flashie lately..his coat is NOT suppose to look dull..i know hes past his 'SHOWING" age..altho i dont show .so i know once they are past a year or something their coats arent as nice..but dull ???

This was a few years ago now, so I don't remember details anymore other than the outcome. The losses were feed-related, but for what reason, I don't remember. It is just something that was wide spread within the communities I was a part of so I prefer not to use it, myself.

With that being said, there are occasionally outbreaks like this from other food brands as well. Sometimes bad feed goes out or sits in the warehouse too long and we don't know until it's too late. I don't think that was the issue with this, but my point is that it doesn't mean everyone stops feeding it forever. So if it is working well for you and you don't want to bother switching, that is okay and there is no need to. I was just saying that the situation still rings in my mind and I just prefer to feed other formulas for that reason. Just a personal preference and bias, I guess.

If you're having trouble with coat condition, you may want to try upping the protein a bit. Sometimes if protein is too low you'll get dull molty coats. Wool or rex breeds especially tend to need 18% protein to maintain their coats, although like I said, my herd does fine on the green bag which is like 16%. Rabbits are very individual so it is trial and error until you find what works for you! Or, if your rabbits are on very limited pellets it might be worth it to increase pellet amounts a little before switching protein...it may just be that they need a little more of those nutrients in their diet.

Katmais_mommy- You can get compressed hay cubes (both timothy and alfalfa) at most feed stores. That might be a way to add extra fiber and they are fun to play with/chew on too!

 

[Maureen Las]

I looked this up ( I don't use it but am wondering what the problem could be with it)
it seems to me that the fibre in it might be the parboiled rice bran
otherwise it looks like a good alfalfa pellet ..but I would be hesitant to use it if there are any questions aboiut it

http://www.lumber2.com/Rabbit-Food-Fibre3-p/pm0055802.htm
Idon't know but maybe it is not the right kind of fibre. just a guess???

 

[Flash Gordon]

im not uppin their protein..no way...they get plenty.

ive been using fibre 3 for enough time to go thru 3) 50 lb bags ..id like to know what kind of symptoms these people had to lose a WHOLE herd before they could fix the problem.. and if nobody got necropsys done how do they know it was from diet?..i love my bunnies and ur telling me that some people lost their herds to what im feeding..this does not sit well with me.....i want more details.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Flash, I don't mean to upset you by saying that. I realize how much you love your rabbits and if I felt that it was going to hurt your rabbits, I would tell you that directly. It's just that feeds work differently for different people. Just because the Fibre formula is not my personal preference doesn't mean that no one uses it. When people post on a forum, they are usually looking for a variety of experiences and opinions...my experiences lead me to the chow or show formula but if you are seeing good results on the Fibre, that is ok too. There are plenty of people that do!

At the time that it happened, the losses were very sudden, in otherwise healthy rabbits, and not long after the feed was changed. Some breeders did do necropsies on the rabbits and I would imagine that they were finding a backed up digestive tract or bloat or something, I just don't remember because it was a little while ago now and my herd wasn't personally affected. The only reason people ever lose more than one rabbit in a breeding herd is because there are not symptoms, or the symptoms occur too shortly before death to correct. So there are always necropsies done by people so that they can stop it and save the rabbits who are remaining.

I'm sorry that my comments upset you so much, I didn't mean to do that. It is just an experience (hearing those stories around) that encourages me personally to choose another feed. I still love the Purina brand and my rabbits have done great on their formulas for me. I get it so fresh- less than a month old often times and my rabbits love it. Purina is a GREAT brand and I'm all for them so don't take me wrong, I highly, highly suggest them. I just use a different formula.

If the formula works well for you- shout it from the rooftops! Purina needs people like you with good experiences on it to help get word out, to balance out bitter old people like me who are still a little paranoid to use it. LOL! Like, I said this was when it VERY first came out, so I am sure that (actually I know that) Purina has changed the formula a bit since then. I don't remember exactly what changed, but it may have very well been to correct those exact road bumps in the beginning.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

You can lose rabbits on pretty much ANY feed, at any given time.

I was VERY hesitant to switch to Purina because I'd heard mixed feelings on it, but I switched anyway. The most common feed I've heard that has caused problems in the past is Pfaus, but really, any production plant/mill could produce a bad batch of feed, and you aren't going to know until it's fed.

Emily