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Coarse mix from Mole Country Stores

daisymaisy

Young Bun
Just wondering if anyone else uses this please? Was having issues sourcing our normal pellets locally, so bought a bag of this to try, but it seems really 'wet'.
 
What are the ingredients like? Is it a museli style mix? I've not heard of it.

Personally, I order all my rabbits' pellets online. For a start, I cannot get the volumes I need to feed my horde at a reasonable price in shops! I wouldn't go back to buying their pellets in shops unless it was a dire emergency.
 
It's very hard to describe - I'll upload a photo tomorrow. The ingredients look good, although I can't see the nutritional values. Daisy & Maisy really seem to like it though. I've been gradually mixing it with what I have left of the old food, but they're only picking the new mix out. It's sort of a museli-pellet blend!
 
Ps - it's a 20kg sack. With chicken feed and bedding to buy, it's cheaper to get from there for me than it is to fork out on multiple delivery charges!
 
I wouldn't touch anything with a museli (or even museli-ish) mix with a barge pole, but that's just how I personally feel about it now. I order 10kg bags, along with 2kg Fibafirst and on Amazon that's usually free delivery. And whenever I buy it off eBay instead because it's cheaper/a cheaper bulk buy, then that is virtually always free delivery too. (It's Science Selective Adult, I feed.)

Even with 14 rabbits, a 10kg bag lasts me a month to a month and a half. They only have a comparatively little amount (like an eggcup full per rabbit) a day, as the focus is obviously hay, followed by fresh greens and forage. In summer, I tend to feed even less pellets because there's so much forage about. :)
 
That's what I thought Amy, but it's not on the ingredients list. I'll get those photos after the school run!
 
I don't know about this particular food (I've only been into a Mole Country store once, though did) but usually those sorts of foods are very bad for rabbits. The pellet part of their diet should only make up a very small amount anyway but it's important that it's of a high quality. The most important thing is the fibre content. The problem with muesli types of foods is (aside from selective feeding) often the non-pellet parts are bad for or in some cases even dangerous for rabbits (peas, corn, seeds, molasses etc)

How much do you feed them if you don't mind me asking? It's possible you may be giving them far more than they need. 20kg of pellet food would probably last me months and I have eight rabbits :p They only need a very small amount. A minimum of 80% of their diet should be hay, then fresh veg/plants etc. Pellets come in as a very, very small portion of their overall diet.
For my eight I buy a box of fibafirst (about £8-9 depending on where you get it) and that lasts me for roughly a month? Maybe a little more? They only have one stick a day and they seem healthy on that. My first rabbit spent most of her adult life with no pellets at all, I only reintoduced them in her last year as she was starting to lose weight. When she was younger I gave her either bunny brunch (terrible, terrible food) or museli as I didn't know any better and I only found out later that it was causing her trouble. She had stasis several times and uneaten cecotrophes that would stick to her underneath (sticky bottom).

Good brands that I've used are Science Selective (you can get this in big bags, I think the biggest is 10kg? Pets At Home often has it on offer too), Burgess Excel and Fibafirst (also made by Science Selective). Fibrafirst is more expensive and definitely not as well liked as SS or Excel pellets but it has a much higher fiber content so I personally prefer it, however if they wouldn't eat it I'd be just as happy to give SS or Excel :D
Don't forget rabbits will often love things they shouldn't, a bit like us :p

I currently have a subcription on amazon for Fibafirst which can be a pain to find (nowhere sells it locally) but Science Selective and Excel are usually pretty easy to find. Pets At Home sell them in their stores as do many pet shops.
Many online retailers like VetUK, Viovet, Pet Supermarket, Zooplus etc - even Pets At Home - do free delivery if you spend a certain amount (usually around £29) so I stock up and do it all in one order whenever possible.
I know Pet Supermarket does free deliver over £19 and they do the 10kg Science Selective for £20.99. Don't forget it only makes up a very small amount of their diet so that would last two rabbits for ages.
I have seen to 10kg for about £16 in the past from other retailers (as I say Pets At Home often have it on offer)

These may be worth a look :D:
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/components-rabbit-diet.asp
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food.asp

Also this is a wonderful list comparing different brands for ingredients. I found it very useful in the past when deciding which food to buy:
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

Good quality food and in the right amounts keeps rabbits healthy and in the long run that is so much cheaper than vets visits. For example too much dried food means eating less hay, which can contribute to dental problems. It's around £200 for mine to have their molar spurs (genetic but can also be caused by lack of hay) taken down. My netherland dwarf seems to need it every 7 months so far.
Stasis too is another potential result from an incorrect diet (though can be caused by many things) and aside from being life-threatening it is also often expensive to treat as it usualy requires the rabbit be admitted. I've had to deal with more stasis problems than I'd like to think about and if I were to guess an average cost I'd probably put it around £300-£400 though it can be more (in the case of Jazzie she cost just over £1000 in two days, including taking her to the emergency vet and staying overnight).
Prevention is always best whenever possible :thumb:
 
I usually get the Allen & Page - 20Kkg get split between me and the mother-in-law, but even then, 10Kg last us months and months! I've now found another local supplier thankfully, so its back onto the good stuff :)
 
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