Horse Mix/Barley Rings/A&P Pellets

Hi All

My 2 french lops are now 19 weeks old. I purchased them from a breeder in Eastbourne who was lovely and is member of Rabbit Council and does many big shows, etc. ie, I really don't have any concerns about her as a breeder

When I got my 2 at 10 weeks, she gave me a bag of mix that they were on and also purchased a bag of the Allen & Page Breeder Pellets for me.

The mix is a mixture of Horse/pony mix (very similar looking to a rabbit mix from shops) and the A&P Pellets (half and half, although I do put a bit more of the pellets in now) and then then have a very small handful of the Barley rings as well (also a horse feed).

They are been doing amazingly well on the feed, never had upset tums or bad bottoms, put weight on nicely, etc. It is obviously a good thing cost wise too as the large sacks are only around £6-8 each as they do eat a reasonble amount still (I've just this week cut them back a little as they are hitting 5 months old).......... however my vet was stunned and had never heard of bunnys being fed a mix like this and I haven't found any other people that feed them this type of food.

Do you think I should move them off the feed - is it soooo wrong?:?:?

They also have in their diet...readigrass, hay (although never been that keen on hay) grass (they are out for at least 4 hours a day, usually more), broccoli and celery and sometimes a little basil or rocket.

Thank you on your thoughts.
Ali

I am still learning but I know that barley rings may be used a treat for buns. Not sure why anyone would want to feed them horse and pony mix though. i think that both that and the barley rings will result in very porky buns very soon. Also I'm not sure if the vit and min content will be right for baby buns.
The basis of their diet should be hay/grass but I don't know at what age you need to be stricter with their food - I have 2 year olds so well past the baby stage.
Readigrass is also nice as a treat or in small quantities - again i think that because its not designed for buns, it might not be good in large quantities.
Herbs are always good.
Hope someone more knowledgaeble comes along as feeding is a minefield (as I'm discovering)
good luck with the babies

Hi Ali, Tell us more about the feed, does it have a brand name?

Feeding horse feed sounds rather odd to me. If she's showing her rabbits, I wonder if she's giving them horse feed when young to increase their growth rate.

Unfortunately, being a member of the British Rabbit Council means very little - the BRC can be joined by anyone willing to pay the subscription fee. I think opinions of rabbit showing are also pretty low amongst most forum members here.

I'm not saying she's a bad person of course, if you were happy with her then that's good. I just think perhaps she's told you to feed your rabbits feed that she uses herself to increase chances of winning shows. It's probably not wise to feed rabbits a diet meant for a much larger and entirely different species of animal. I'd think in the long run it would make them overweight.

Allen and Page pellets are fine though (I've never used Allen and Page, but if there is a 'normal' variety rather than the 'breeding' type, I'd switch over. I imagine breeding pellets are much higher in calories), as well as lots and lots of hay and the readi-grass is good too. Fresh grass is a very natural food for them and certain veggies and a little fruit can be fed in moderation. Basically, you want to give your rabbit a high fibre diet, so they need constant access to hay and other fibreous foods.

I feed my bunnies the occasional barley ring as a treat. It's important not to feed too many - they are actually designed for underweight horses so again, have far too many calories in to be fed to rabbits regularly.

Thanks for your replies.

I think I'll look into replacing their feed slowly with something more rabbit based. I'll do a search on here and find what most others are feeding and try them on that.

Ali

I did read on here last week that Allen and Page natural can cause buns to lose weight and condition... and that the breeder grower was better for young buns.

We've just took in a baby giant cross.. she's in process of being swapped to SS. But she isn't keen. I'm looking round for a suitable alternative and was tempted with the breeder grower upto 6 months old.

Hope that helps

I've also read that giant breeds need more protein than smaller buns.. and that they can suffer with joint problems in later life.. just something else to check out and consider for me as I would rather get her on a good food now that will help work against joint issues :wave:

linzi1loveanimals said:

I did read on here last week that Allen and Page natural can cause buns to lose weight and condition... and that the breeder grower was better for young buns.

We've just took in a baby giant cross.. she's in process of being swapped to SS. But she isn't keen. I'm looking round for a suitable alternative and was tempted with the breeder grower upto 6 months old.

Hope that helps

I've also read that giant breeds need more protein than smaller buns.. and that they can suffer with joint problems in later life.. just something else to check out and consider for me as I would rather get her on a good food now that will help work against joint issues :wave:

Click to expand...

Thank you for those pointers - it was never like this when I had buns 30 years ago :lol:...seemed much simplier :lol:.

Everything about my 2 looks good, beautiful coats, good poo's, good weight, etc (my vet said the same) - just a shame really that I feel I should move off what works:roll::roll:

I feed mine A&P natural rabbit pellets and they are absolutely fine on them. They've never lost weight eating them. Where did this information come from?

My bunnies didnt do to well on A&P I have to say. The best food I have found for my bunnies is Science Selective pellets. Very good condition and weight!

Along with this I feed hay/fresh veggies. They also get grass time.

I have never heard of a bunny eating food that is meant for a horse :shock:

Horse and Pony Mix

I Was Just wondering if the horse and pony mix had a brand name.

Alot of breeders make up thier own mix.
I would gaduarly take them off the pony mix/ barley rings and just give them the A+P breeder grower. Would be a lot easier for you to get and as said, barley rings are quite fattening.
Also you might want to cut thier feed a little untill they eat more hay as it is important they eat enough hay.

I have to admit I fed Smokey some horse mix when he was ill- he had breathing problems and often went off his food. I fed him 'meadow sweet' that had honey and mint in it an it did encourage him to eat. I asked the vet and they didn't think it would be a big issue because they have a very similar disgestion. It didn't upset Smokey's tummy at all and kept him eating when he was a bit poorly.

I wouldn't feed them horse mix ordinarily though.

Tboi2580 said:

I Was Just wondering if the horse and pony mix had a brand name.

Click to expand...

Hi - The brand that the breeder uses is Highlight Horse & Pony mix (which is a red and white bag). I couldn't find anywhere that sold that, so they are on Saracen Horse & Pony Mix, which I checked the ingrediants of and they were on par with Highlight (I also checked this with the breeder).

I appreciate that you guys seem not to be keen on Rabbit Showers, but I believe she was a very honest person, and most definately absolutely loves her bunnys / The breeder is also a breeder for English Lops as well and has fed her lot on mix/pellets/barley rings for many years. I realise one of the reason she chooses this is because it's cheaper to buy the larger horse size :? - but I will move them off this slowely and maybe just keep them on the A&P Breeder grower for a while, see if they're okay on just that - if not, move them onto one of the others.

Regarding the Barley rings, they actually only get like 4-6 of them a day, nothing major at all. They were on slightly more when I first got them and they were only small babies. They now weigh 3.96 and 3.59, so are doing really well.

Photo of them below "chilling" in the garden

Thanks guys for all your help
Ali x

I'm not saying the horse mix is nessisarlily bad or that they are going to get fat ( im thinking maybe it is different with French lops ... I know I couldn't feed them regularly to my dwarfs :lol: ) but yes would be easier to just go on Allen and paige

Really hope Allen and Page doesn't cause buns to loose weight, as I've just purchased some today to try to cure Murphy's excess caecatroph problem and hes not the fattest bun in the world to start with:shock:

Gorgeous bunsters

All 12 of mine are on the Allen and Page atural pellets and are all in fine and dandy condition.
Occasionally an older bun (6yrs +) may need a little more than A&P, but it depends on the rabbit and its individual health.

I'd say 98% of the 120+ rabbits in the sanctuary are on A&P and do well.

My lot love the barley rings too, and have 3 each evening for bedtime

BB Mommy said:

Gorgeous bunsters

All 12 of mine are on the Allen and Page atural pellets and are all in fine and dandy condition.
Occasionally an older bun (6yrs +) may need a little more than A&P, but it depends on the rabbit and its individual health.

I'd say 98% of the 120+ rabbits in the sanctuary are on A&P and do well.

My lot love the barley rings too, and have 3 each evening for bedtime

Click to expand...

Thanks thats reassuring

Oh my goodness!!!!! I am in love with your bunnies That has to be one of the best bunny love pics I've seen Loxxy doesn't have A&P, but does love barley rings, but again, she doesn't OD on them - a little bit of what you fancy does you good I say I hope she never goes off them - I bought a HUGE sack :lol: