Regardless of the size of the household (whether it’s a pair of rabbits or a large farm), care should be taken to ensure that the animals are fully and efficiently fed. After all, the health of animals will depend on the food to a large extent. Further, on what should be the correct composition of feed for rabbits, as well as instructions for making it yourself (attached video introductory video).
About feed
They are intended for the formation of a complete nutritional diet and usually consist of a large number of ingredients based on vegetable raw materials with added protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. All components are thoroughly crushed and qualitatively mixed by pressing. The finished mass is then forced through a special form (granulator). The result is a so-called granulated feed.
Combined feed can be divided into three types:
- Full ration. Complete feed that fully saturate the body of animals necessary for life with micronutrients. In this case, the rabbits will not need any vitamin supplements.
Council If the diet of rabbits consists solely of complete feed, animals should have constant access to fresh water.
It is worth noting that the feed for rabbits are divided into several groups depending on the percentage of their ingredients. For example, feed for young and adult individuals, also for pregnant / lactating females and for various breeds (fur / meat), is isolated.
To make the rabbit feel healthy and full of strength, it is important to use the following components:
- Green food. Excellent source of vitamins and minerals that are perfectly absorbed by rabbits. Particularly valuable for them are legumes and legume-cereals, such as vetch, clover, oat-pea suspension, etc. The green fodder used for the preparation of the combined, allows us to solve two problems at once: to reduce the diet of animals and at the same time provide them with a full complex of mineral substances . It is also desirable to add to the diet any meadow or steppe grass. Dandelion, plantain, burdock, colza, willow, wormwood, etc. are excellent. In the autumn period, you can add potato tops, cabbage leaves, turnips, etc.
- Rough food. These include the bare branches of any trees, hay and straw. By the way, the number of branches that a single adult consumes per day should not exceed 200 g.
- Roots. Any waste of gardening, melons, root crops of various vegetable crops, etc., are quite suitable for rabbits.
- Silage. A great option for the winter diet. It is a starter, consisting of herbs, vegetables and root crops.
- Animal feed. Must be included in the rabbit diet. It can be whole milk, whey, buttermilk and various types of flour (meat, fish, etc.).
- Concentrates. Should not be more than half of the total diet of rabbits. This could include cereal feed and ready-made feed.
Formation of the compound feed
Since the standard composition of food produced for rabbits on an industrial scale is rather complicated and requires the use of too many ingredients, it can be somewhat simplified at home. So, for the preparation of the home version of the compound feed for rabbits, you will need the following components:
- Herbal part. In the cold season, dried meadow / steppe plants, vegetable tops, straw are used. In the summer season, this part of the feed can be replaced with fresh juicy grass and vegetables. The composition of herbal feed is extremely useful and rich in vitamins, which is especially important for animals in cold winters. In the finished feed - at least 40%.
- Grain part. This is the basis of a complete feed, which provides the rabbits with protein and fiber to the full extent, which allows them to quickly gain the necessary weight. Various types of grain crops are suitable for food preparation, including legumes and even sunflower seeds. The content in the finished feed - about 58%.
- Vitamin supplements. Use vitamins should be dosed, in limited quantities. As mentioned earlier, this is whole milk (if you are not sure of its composition, you can use a dry alternative), various types of flour and fodder yeast. Despite a small percentage of additives in feed for rabbits, they enable animals to develop a stable immunity and support their active development. The content in the feed is about 0.5%.
- Minerals Support the development of the body. Used in strictly measured quantities. This can even include lime and chalk. The content in the feed - about 1.2%.
Ingredients processing
To independently prepare high-quality compound feed for rabbits, not enough tools at hand. For these purposes, special equipment is used, the cost of which will quickly pay for itself if you keep rabbits for sale.
So, for the preparation of homemade feed you will need the following tools:
- Hay dryer This tool is optional, but it can be used to qualitatively dry the grass and does not worry that it could dry out poorly (if it were a matter of natural drying).
- Motokosa. A great tool for harvesting hay (even on an industrial scale). The price is low, and saving time and effort is substantial.
- A hay chopper is used to make a herbal mixture. It is an extremely important tool, since the quality of most ingredients of the feed depends on it.
- Crusher for grain. Perfectly copes with any grain, crushing it to the desired fraction. Without it, to prepare high-quality food will be very difficult.
- Maslopress. It is not necessary to use it. At first, you can completely do the usual grinder. Maslopress also helps to get good quality oil from oilseeds.
- Granulator. Without a pelletizer, the prepared mixture would be simply useless: the tool allows you to compress the dry particles of the prepared feed and convert them into pellets. By the way, you can safely use this device to prepare food for any farm animals.
So, all that needs to be done is to grind the ingredients qualitatively, then mix them thoroughly and send them to the granulator. If the device does not have a special function of incorporating the liquid into the granules, it is necessary to additionally provide the rabbits with fresh water.
That's all the subtleties that you should know for making high-quality compound feed for rabbits with your own hands. Good luck!
What it is
Compound feed is a mixture of plant components, enabling the rabbit to get everything necessary for normal and complete nutrition and development. It is often possible to find granulated feed, which is very convenient in storage and in consumption.
Compound feeds are heterogeneous in their intended use and can be classified into three types:
- Concentrates (usually used in conjunction with natural food).
- Supplements (vitamin and mineral).
- Full ration (make up a complete "menu" during the day).
The choice of one or the other depends on the preferences of the rabbit breeder and on the goals he sets.
In order not to get lost in the variety of compound feeds on the market, should focus on labeling:
- The letter K (KK) is usually denoted concentrated feed.
- P - feed premix.
- PC - good nutrition for the rabbit.
- BVD - protein-vitamin supplements.
- PMVS - protein, vitamin and mineral supplement.
If a full-fledged PC food can be the basis of the diet of animals, then all others can only be used as an addition to fresh food.
Pluses feed
-
Balanced diet, necessary for the productive development of animals.
- Helps to saturate the body of the rabbit with all the necessary nutrients.
- At times, the risk of an intestinal infection is reduced due to the fact that the animal mistakenly ate moldy or poor-quality stale food.
- It is very convenient that among the various options for feed you can choose suitable for a particular occasion, for example, for pregnant females, nursing, young - to take into account the characteristics and needs of the animal.
- Nobody will interfere with combining feeding with mixed feed with adding juicy feed, vegetables, vitamins, mineral supplements to the animal ration.
- Feeding on rabbits feed very quickly.
- The time for the feeding procedure is reduced, and accordingly, the time costs and for the entire care of the livestock are reduced.
- The calculation of the daily rate is simplified, it is especially important for beginners.
- Compound feed, unlike hay, is very simple to store, it will not require the construction of a special impressive by the size of a building like a shed or hayloft.
- Savings: with a large amount of rabbit breeding, even purchased feeds, not to mention cooked ones, will cost the livestock owner several times cheaper than vegetables and root crops. This is especially true for the off-season, when the grass is not available.
Such a wide list of advantages led to the wide popularity of animal feed among the most responsible and serious breeders aimed at obtaining a result.
The composition of feed for rabbits
It is very important for rabbit breeders to know what is included in the compound feed for rabbits. Modern producers offer many different options, so the owner of a fluffy herd has a choice. Consider what is included in the diet for eared fish.
The main part of the feed - cereals:
-
oats
- wheat
- corn
- barley
- lentils
- broad bean
This allows us to take into account the characteristics of rabbits, since in nature in natural conditions, it is the grain crops that form the basis of their diet. In mixed feeds, they are presented in a crushed form and make up at least one third of the volume of the product.
In addition, ready-made feed includes in its composition and Other healthy ingredients for rabbits:
- yeast
- bran
- grist
- cake
- meat and bone (fish) flour
- vitamin-herbal flour
- roots
- tuber crops
This composition allows the animal body to get everything you need for full development and growth.
Important! When choosing a finished feed, pay attention to its mineral composition. It should contain in sufficient quantities phosphorus and calcium important for the full development of animals. Females during lactation need higher doses of these minerals.
The composition of the feed depends largely on what goal the rabbit breeder sets and on the period of the animal's life. So, for young stock, the following composition would be optimal:
- corn and grass meal - 20% each
- sunflower meal and grains - 15% each
- wheat - 10%
- oats - 9%
- limestone flour, phosphate, fodder yeast, meat and bone meal - 1% each.
- minor additions of table salt and lysine.
If rabbits are fattened for meat, the content of grass meal in the composition of the feed should be at least 40%, and the feed itself should also include barley (at least 30%), peas, wheat bran, yeast.
The daily rate of feed for rabbits
In order to organize proper and healthy nutrition, each rabbit breeder needs to be guided in the daily rate necessary for the animal to develop normally. Let's understand this difficult question. The number of grams of feed depends on the category of animal:
-
Young individuals (aged 45 to 60 days) - 140 grams per day.
- Reached 60-90 days - 205 g.
- Adults (90-120 days) - 280 g
- Royal rabbits (rest period) - 180 g
- Royal rabbits (mating period) - 230 g
Rabbits:
- Pregnant women - not less than 170 g (optimally - 180 g).
- Nursing (with rabbit up to 10 days) - not less than 170 g not more than 330 g
Rabbits with offspring:
- Rabbits age 11-20 days - from 190 to 400 g
- The age of the little rabbits is 20-30 days - the consumption increases from 200 to 560 g.
- The age of the little rabbits 30-45 days - from 230 to 700
As can be seen from the presented norm, the greatest amount of feed is needed by the rabbit during pregnancy and lactation, as well as by the young. The required dosage is also increased during the cold period.
Secrets of the use of animal feed in productive rabbit breeding
Each owner of a fluffy livestock should know the following The main tricks of competent feeding animals:
-
Rabbits should always have clean water, otherwise there is a high risk of exhaustion, diseases of the digestive tract, leading to the death of the animal.
- For the organization of feeding, get comfortable feeders, in which you can pour both granulated concentrates and standard feed formulations.
- It is important to pay attention to the storage and feed, for this suitable dry room with the organization of ventilation. Be sure to periodically check the quality of the product.
- The feeding regimen of adult animals is 2-3 times a day, but the young should be fed more often, but in smaller portions (6 times).
- If you combine fresh natural food with compound feed for rabbits, then the feeding pattern is as follows: morning - ½ feed, in the afternoon - fresh food, in the evening - ½ feed.
Cooking feed with their own hands
For beginner breeders, there is nothing more convenient than buying a finished product, fortunately, manufacturers offer a wide selection. But the more experienced craftsmen can prepare food for the livestock with their own hands, while achieving some savings and being able to fully take into account the needs of a particular herd. How to cook compound feed for rabbits with your own hands?
Important! If you have a significant amount of rabbits, for the preparation of mixed fodder with your own hands, be prepared to purchase not only the ingredients themselves, but also equipment for crushing grain, grinding grass, mixing.
Prepare mixed feed is quite simple:
- Choose the most suitable recipe and stick to it clearly.
- All vegetable components of the composition should be carefully checked, dried, it is important to remove all third-party impurities.
- To prepare vitamin-grass flour, you will need ordinary wild herbs, leaves of garden trees and shrubs, tops of vegetable crops. Leaves and greens pour warm water and, while stirring, bring to a creamy state. Next, the resulting mass should be passed through an extruder (and in its absence, an ordinary meat grinder will do), then it is dried.
- It is possible to do otherwise: dry the grass, then grind it already in the dry state to obtain flour, mix it with crushed grain.
- When adding corn, it should be carefully crushed, and can be brewed.
- In general, the composition of the feed can include seeds of oilseeds.
- Be sure to add to the mix elements rich in protein: meat and bone meal, yeast, wheat bran, meal.
- The easiest way to enrich the product with minerals is to add crushed chalk.
- To create food in the form of pellets, will have to purchase a granulator.
What plants are most useful for livestock?
-
Clover
- Alfalfa
- Peas
- Lupine
- Vika
- Sainfoin
Also useful for the stomachs of rabbits are parsley, raspberry, nettle.
Prepare a compound feed for rabbits labor is not even for a beginner.
Feeding livestock - an important stage of the breeding process, allowing you to get strong and healthy animals, ready to breed, with beautiful hair and fed. That is why the choice or preparation of compound feed for rabbits should be approached especially carefully, given the age of the animal and its category.
Good compound feed for rabbits
The diet of the rabbit should consist of a mixture of specially selected vegetable and mineral components, which together provide the necessary amount of nutrients. Such a multicomponent mixture is called compound feed. Depending on the need for use with other feeds, it is divided into the following types:
Polnoratsionny is used as the only type of food, without the need for additional feeding of other nutrients. It contains a mixture of plant, animal and mineral components necessary for a rabbit.
They are used as an additional source of food and are mixed with the main types of food for rabbits such as:
- green
- rough,
- roots,
- silage,
- animals and vitamin-mineral,
- concentrated,
- granulated.
Green feed
Affordable and inexpensive, but at the same time very useful and nutritious food for rabbits. In the wild, it makes up the lion's share of the daily diet for these animals. The use of green plants can reduce the concentration in the feed more expensive components, but still does not allow to abandon them completely.
Succulent green foods are available during the warm season, especially they are easy to get in the middle of spring and early summer before the sun dries them. After a long winter, when rabbits did not receive fresh grass for a long time, it should be introduced into their diet gradually, since a sharp transition affects the intestinal tract, and often leads to the death of a healthy animal.
Of the common crops, rabbits can be fed:
In addition to them, many wild meadow and steppe grasses that are ubiquitous and nutritious are no less useful and nutritious:
Грубые корма
In winter, when there is no fresh grass, the main ration of the rabbit is pre-harvested roughage:
Dried grass suitable for hay, which was used in the diet in the summer. Dried grass loses its good taste and animals eat it less willingly than fresh. This is true for hay from meadow or steppe grasses. Rabbits search in search of tasty small stalks, throwing out at the same time less interesting. As a result, more than half of the hay is digging under your feet.
More willingly and organizedly eaten hay from alfalfa and sainfoin. It is not only tastier than the meadow one, but also homogeneous, thanks to which the animals do not dig in it, but take stalks in a row.
Since rabbits have long and sharp front teeth that they grow throughout life, they need to be ground. To do this, you need to add young branches of trees to the diet. In summer, the shoots should be without leaves, so as not to cause eating disorders. Rabbits willingly devour the bark while grinding their teeth.
Compound feed for rabbits
In winter, you can give previously prepared twigs, which were cut and dried in late spring or early summer. Such branches are harvested together with the leaves, tied up in small bunches and stored in a dry place until winter, after which little more than 200 grams are added to the ration for each adult per day.
You can use branches in feed:
Roots
An important component of the daily diet, especially in winter, when there is an acute shortage of juicy vitamin feed. Rabbits willingly eat roots and tubers, such as:
Potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke must be pre-cooked, after which they can be served crushed in a mixture with cereals, cereals and other additives.
Silo is a beautiful view of feed for winter maintenance of vitamin balance in rabbits. The basis for its preparation is sunflower, corn, carrots, cabbage or beets. It is important to ensure that the silage is not spoiled, so when preparing it, you must strictly adhere to the technology.
To do this, the green mass must be crushed and compacted tightly into the container. Top with a layer of sawdust and sealed with clay. If cracks appear on the clay, they should be immediately coated to prevent air from entering the silo.
Animals and vitamin-mineral feed
Lack of vitamins and minerals is a very common problem in the winter, especially in the absence of stocks of root crops or silage. In this case, special animals or vitamin-mineral supplements will come to the rescue, such as:
- feed yeast,
- bone flour,
- fish flour,
- a piece of chalk,
- salt,
- tricalcium phosphate, etc.

Industrial feed
Compound feed is a mixture consisting of finely chopped ingredients that are required for daily feeding. High-quality animal feed contributes to the rapid set of body weight with less food costs.
Three types of industrial feed are produced for rabbits:
- complete,
- concentrated,
- additional.
Polnoratsionny designed for continuous feeding. Concentrated is used in combination with other feeds, and supplementary - in the form of an additive to the basic diet.
Compound feed for rabbits has a high nutritional value, so the animals quickly gorge.
The amount of feed needed by one rabbit depends on its sex, size and age, on the temperature outside the window and readiness for reproduction. Pregnant and lactating bunnies should receive more feed, as well as young animals during the growth period. The daily norm for pregnant rabbits is 175 grams, and females who feed their offspring are given 230 to 700 grams! Little rabbit after weaning from the mother in the daily diet include about 140 grams of feed.
Compound feed homemade
Compound feed prepared by yourself is cheaper than purchased one and allows you to change the recipe at your discretion. To make compound feed for rabbits with your own hands you need an extruder. The device is not cheap, but you can always find a used copy.
Manufacturing process
Some breeders cost the mixer, meat grinder and feed pellet mill. Instead of a granulator, you can use a drill and a nozzle for mixing cement. Granulated fodder is more nutritious, which means rabbits gain weight faster.
The manufacturing process begins with the grinding of grain and other components, which are then mixed and put into the granulator. The size of the granules depends on the size of the nozzle used. The extruder mixes, shapes and conducts heat treatment of all ingredients. The granulator, on the other hand, works like a press, the food it produces is stored less than after heat treatment.
According to user feedback, the feeds produced by the extruder have increased enzyme activity and high digestibility.
Animals get better food, which, moreover, requires two times less. Another plus is that the high temperature of manufacture will allow the release of products from toxins and harmful microorganisms.
Full mechanization of the process of creating food is impossible without a feed pelletizer or extruder, a grain crusher, an oil press, a dryer or a hay chopper and motokosy. Motokosa is relatively inexpensive and helps harvest a large amount of hay with less physical effort. The dryer is necessary for high-quality drying of hay, without mold and mustiness. By means of a crusher grain is processed in flour. Screw maslopress crushes oily cultures.
Full mechanization of the process of creating feed is impossible without a feed pelletizer or extruder, a grain crusher, an oil press, a dryer and a hay chopper, motokosy. Motokosa is relatively inexpensive, but it helps harvest a large amount of hay. The dryer helps to avoid failures when drying herbs. Purpose of a grinder follows from the name: with its help grass is turned into a mixture. By means of a crusher grain is processed into flour. Screw maslopress crushes oily cultures.
Ingredients for feed
If you do not have all the necessary equipment at hand, do not despair, because in the mixed feed, the main thing is not the shape of the pellets, but the components. With a large population of animals, it is better to mechanize the whole process of making food, but for small farms it is possible to replace part with manual labor.
The main advantage of self-production is the cheap price of food, the ability to control the quality of ingredients, change their proportions and recipes.
Excess feed can always be sold. This is a good additional source of income.
The composition of feed includes:
- cereals,
- green feed
- vitamin and animal impurities.
Cereals are an integral part of a complete animal diet. They are responsible for the set and maintenance of weight, provide animals with fiber and protein. Oats, barley, corn, wheat, sunflower seeds, soybeans, legumes are suitable for rabbits. As green fodder, plant stems, tops from a vegetable garden, straw, fresh grass, roots and vegetables are used.
Green feed is necessary for the growth and development of animals, their use reduces the cost of the finished product. Vitamin and animal impurities include milk powder, soybean meal and sunflower meal, yeast and vitamin mixes, fish and bone meal, chalk, premixes. These additives are necessary for the immunity of animals.
The composition of the hand-cooked food should depend not only on the available ingredients, but also on the age, sex and animal health.
According to the reviews of rabbit breeders, the advantages of their own production are as follows:
- animals gain weight faster
- less sick
- more balanced diet,
- feed optimization.
It is important to remember that when feeding with animal feed of own or industrial production animals need constant access to water, as well as grass and hay.
Types and meaning
Depending on the livestock and the type of farmed animals, the owners face an important task: the choice and preparation of good nutrition for each day. In summer, this issue is solved relatively easily: there is a lot of fresh grass and vegetables. In winter or in early spring, this is not possible, and without all the necessary substances, the animals will quickly die. The solution may be the purchase of ready-made dry feed, which are classified into three types.
Feed additives are usually used to provide the rabbits with vitamins and all the necessary micronutrients. Such mixtures are not given separately, but mixed in certain proportions with the main feed. The advantage of supplements will be ease of use and the ability to independently control the amount of incoming substances. The disadvantage is only the cost and the need for permanent acquisition, which is also not always possible.
What is the weight of the rabbit breed Butterfly, you can learn from this article.
On the video composition of feed for rabbits:
Feed - concentrates usually contain all the necessary elements in a "condensed" form. They are not used as an independent food, but are mixed into a diet of coarse and succulent fodder. Concentrated feed must also be purchased, which is not always justified in terms of profitability of cultivation.
How rabbits of the Rizen breed look can be seen in the photo in this article.
Complete feed - this is the feed in the full sense of the word. This type of mixture completely satisfies all the needs of animals in nutrient and vitamin substances. Compound feed is very convenient to use, it is eagerly eaten by fluffy pets and it is much more economical than ordinary mixtures.
Unlike grain, it is completely absorbed by animals, its structure allows for additional grinding of teeth, and this is a problem for most rodents. In addition, when using the combined full-ration mixtures, the animal gains weight faster and is less sick, since its diet contains all the substances necessary for the full development.
How the White Giant rabbits look like can be seen in the photo in this article.
Using compound feed for rabbits helps:
- Quickly gain weight to animals.
- Avoid many common diseases.
- Optimize feed delivery.
- Save time and money.
- Provide a complete diet.
In essence, the compound feed replaces the main animal nutrition. To ensure everything you need, you just have to arrange round-the-clock access to clean water, and also give the rabbits enough fresh grass or hay. This method is suitable in case of lack of time, as well as for forced absences from home or permanent employment. The composition of feed is varied and calorie, so the animals will not need anything.
On the video composition of feed for rabbits at home:
To provide all the necessary for the development of feed should not only adult animals, but also young, as well as females during periods of pregnancy and feeding of young. That is why the purchased mixture is slightly different in its composition and percentage.
Rabbit Rex price and the basics of the content listed in the article.
Basically, these mixtures are labeled accordingly, so before buying it is useful to consult the seller. Among the variety of ready-made feeds, the most positive feedbacks on the use of the PC are - 90. Its composition is very diverse and is ideal for raising young stock from the age of one month.
The composition of the feed PC - 90:
- Corn.
- Wheat.
- Soybean meal.
- Sunflower cake
- Herbal flour.
- Complex of vitamins A, D3, E, P, K3, PP and group B.
- Amino acids.
- Salt.
- Micro and macronutrients: calcium, sodium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, cobalt, selenium and many others.
- Multienzyme composition.
The content of nutrients is the most balanced and suitable for growing rabbits. Energy value - 237 kcal / 100 grams of product. Food is well digested and eagerly eaten by pets. In addition, its delicate structure does not irritate the sensitive digestive system of animals. That is why you should not buy feed for rabbits feed intended for feeding other animals.
on the video composition of granulated feed for rabbits:
If the number of rabbits you do not have is too large, the purchase of special feeds will not “hit” the family budget, but for mass breeding of fur-bearing animals the amount of expenses will increase significantly. To save not at the expense of quality, you can set up an independent production of compound feeds at home. How to do it as successfully as possible, tell the following information.
In this article, you can find a description of the Soviet Chinchilla rabbit breed.
Manufacturing
This method will not only save money, although the difference between the purchased and homemade mixes will be quite tangible. In addition, you will be able to independently regulate, and most importantly, control the quantitative composition of the mixture and ensure its quality and freshness. If there is an opportunity to purchase special equipment, and with large volumes it is simply vital, the process of preparing feed will not take much time and effort.
What is needed for the preparation of feed:
- The grass part is the dried stalks of meadow plants. You can also use dry tops of garden crops and straw. This important criterion of the diet will help to significantly reduce the cost of household feed. Its vitamin composition is extremely useful for small animals and is very necessary in winter. In the summer you can partially replace this part with fresh grass and vegetables.
- Cereals are the main component of a full feed. It is this part that determines the weight gaining process and provides the rabbits with the necessary protein and fiber. For feed, almost all types of grain are used: wheat, barley, corn. Legumes enrich the diet and add extra nutritional value. You can use peas, corn, soybeans and sunflower seeds. Such a diversity will allow you to quickly gain weight and fully meet the needs of animals.
- Animal and vitamin supplements usually used in small quantities. This is whole milk powder, meat and bone meal and fish meal, as well as purchased prefixes and fodder yeast. Despite a small percentage of the content, these substances allow us to develop immunity-resistant immunity and develop safely. Nursing rabbits and the growing young can be given whole milk in its natural form, but if there are doubts about its composition, it’s better to be limited to the dry version.
- Minerals also needed to form the body. Usually it is crushed chalk and even lime, but only in specially specified volumes and preparations.
What is the lifespan of ornamental rabbits, is indicated in the article.
On the video, how to make feed for rabbits:
To visualize the required amount of all necessary substances, you can use the table below. Such a composition can be conventionally varied depending on the age and needs of animals.
What is the pregnancy period in rabbits, you can find out by reading this article.
What you need for making their own hands
No matter how much you plan to keep rabbits, it is advisable to use mechanized devices for the preparation of compound feed. If the usual diet of these animals does not include such careful grinding, then in the mixture it will be just a necessary condition.
In order to completely eliminate the time-consuming process of manual labor, it is necessary to initially invest a considerable amount of the necessary equipment. Costs will quickly pay off, especially if you establish a small business and sell feed to neighbors and acquaintances.
Myxomatosis in rabbits treatment at home and how to carry out this procedure can be found in the article.
Equipment for the preparation of feed:
- Motokosa will help harvest hay just in industrial quantities. The cost of such a device will not be too great, but time and effort will save you enough.
- Hay dryer - not mandatory, but very thoughtful type of agricultural machinery. With its help, it is not necessary to wait for the allotted time and worries about possible failures while drying the harvested grass.
- Hay chopperas it is already clear from the name, it is necessary for quick and high-quality creation of a herbal mixture - the main component ingredient in any kind of compound feed.
- Crusher for grain crops will help to process the grain in a suitable fraction of a homogeneous flour. Without this device to get high-quality food simply will not work.
- Maslopress screw designed for grinding oily crops. If desired, this can be done on the grinder, but the use of special equipment will additionally help to get sunflower oil of fairly good quality. Such a “by-product” is probably useful for various purposes, but the purchase of this equipment can be put off until later.
- Granulator or extruder - an important point in the creation of feed. Измельченная в порошок смесь непригодна для кормления кроликов, пыль забивает бронхи и вызывает спазматический кашель и болезни зверьков. В таких приборах сухие частички усиленно трамбуются и преобразовываются в гранулы, размер которых можно варьировать.This device is simply necessary for the manufacture of animal feed for other animals, its cost will pay off depending on the volume of production, but in any case, this process is difficult to adequately replace.
In the video, how to make feed for rabbits yourself:
After purchasing the necessary equipment, the models of which are represented in the unthinkable assortment, you can begin the process of creating feed. To do this, you must first prepare all the necessary ingredients, grind their share of the desired state and mix thoroughly. If you are using a special extruder, adding liquid is optional. In granulators this component can be included in the mixture, it is necessary to study the equipment manual.
After all the dry particles are thoroughly mixed, you can proceed to the final stage. On the Internet there are many projects and drawings, how to make a home granulator yourself. If you are using a purchase model, you must first study the instructions and after that begin to work. Usually, the dry mixture is fed into the compartment for pressing and ready-made pellets appear through a special opening. The principle of the extruder also includes additional heat treatment, so the feed will be simply sterile.
Feeding the rabbits can be carried out in several stages, or you can simply pour out a daily portion. The main requirement is the presence of fresh water at any time of the day, so that the animal does not suffer from thirst after dry food. Mixed feed should not be harvested for the future, it’s better to be limited to a week or two in stock and to store the mixture in hermetic containers and in dry rooms.
Domestic feed should not be stored longer than a month, and since its production will depend entirely on you, the costs of transporting it are reduced, and the quality will always be consistently high. All of these simple rules will help make growing rabbits an even more profitable business and facilitate regular care for these capricious animals.
Concentrated feed
This group includes grain feed. For rabbits, it is best to use a mixture of different types of grain crops, including:
You can give the grain of one culture in its pure form without mixing, but you should be careful of protein-containing, namely corn and soybeans, which in large quantities can harm.
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Granulated feed
Balanced pelleted feed is able to provide the rabbit with everything needed to grow and maintain the body. This feed consists of a proportional mixture of many components that are pressed into pellets. Such granules are easily eaten by rabbits, while they grind the teeth of animals.
Granules are poured into a special feeder, which is eaten by rabbits. This reduces the time spent on servicing rabbit cages, especially when using automatic bunker feeders. In addition, the cell remains clean much longer than when using other types of food, since there is no waste of undernourished and spoiled food.
For the manufacture of this type of food at home you need special equipment. Therefore, as a rule, dry granules are bought in the store, which incurs significant financial costs. Granulated feed can be selected depending on the rabbit's age, sex, and breeding goals. This feed is available for:
- little rabbits,
- adults,
- females in lactation,
- fattening for meat.

The need for feed
Compound feed is the most useful and nutritious food for rabbits. Its use is especially important when group keeping several animals in one cage. This is due to the fact that a stronger individual will eat the most energetically valuable kind of food, leaving only garbage for weak animals. In the case of feeding with feed, this probability disappears, since the whole mass is homogeneous and it cannot be sorted out by its components.
Feeding with mixed feed allows to achieve high results of weight gain of rabbits, increasing milkiness in nursing rabbits. This is especially useful in the winter when it is not possible to provide a full-fledged diet using separate types of food.
Cooking feed with their own hands at home
And now let's talk about cooking feed for rabbits at home with your own hands. Independent production of mixed feed reduces the cost of keeping rabbits. For the manufacture of compound feed will need equipment for grinding grain.
There are several popular recipes of feed, with different nutritional indicators depending on the purpose of their application.
Recipe for fattening meat
It is used for feeding animals before slaughter, which allows you to gain the necessary mass in the minimum amount of time. For feeding feed will need:
- grass meal 40%,
- barley 20%,
- corn 10%
- wheat 10%,
- sunflower cake 10%,
- soy 5.5%,
- fodder yeast 2%,
- meat and bone meal 2.2%,
- table salt 0, 3%.

Nutritional Recipe
Used for pregnant and lactating rabbits, male producers with active breeding and squatted young. It is important not to use compound feed for meat feed for newly laid-off rabbits, since they require a high content of calcium for the initial diet, which is absent in the required amount in other recipes. For enhanced feed must be mixed:
- grass meal 30%,
- barley 20%,
- oats 20%,
- wheat 12.5%,
- sunflower cake 13%,
- fish meal 2%,
- bone meal 1%,
- feed yeast 1%,
- table salt 0, 5%.
Seasonal features of feeding rabbits
In the summer, feeding doesn’t cause any problems, since green fodder is present in sufficient quantity, which, in combination with concentrated ones, is capable of supporting the normal development of the animal’s body. But in winter, roughage that forms the basis of the diet can not provide all the needs, especially for young animals, pregnant women and nursing rabbits.
Thus, feeding rabbits with compound feed eliminates the need to periodically maintain the required level of one or another feed in the cage. It allows you to completely abandon or reduce the consumption of hay, root crops and other components of the daily diet.
In addition, it can be poured into the bunker trough in large quantities, which for a certain period will eliminate the need for periodic feeding. What kind of feed for rabbits is better? Purchased or homemade you decide.