We had a really mild winter but it was a very difficult one for our bunnies, especially our German Angoras. All our animals had lots of dander, dry and itchy skin and several got fleas for the first time ever. We were also disappointed to see that although wool production was still good, many of our older animals just didn't have the body condition we like to see on our animals.
In the past we supplemented pelleted feed with sunflower seeds and this seemed to help. Going off Betty Chu's recipe for English Anogras, we made a new mixture supplement to see if we can build up some condition and keep the dander down. You can bet we are busting out our home made aromatic grooming oil spray as well for spritzing during groom out sessions.
Betty Recommends:
In the past we supplemented pelleted feed with sunflower seeds and this seemed to help. Going off Betty Chu's recipe for English Anogras, we made a new mixture supplement to see if we can build up some condition and keep the dander down. You can bet we are busting out our home made aromatic grooming oil spray as well for spritzing during groom out sessions.
Betty Recommends:
- 4 parts of l7% - l8% protein rabbit pellets,
- l part of Calf-Manna + barley + milo + wheat + sunflower seed with shell,
- l part of whole oats,
- l part of 14% textured horse feed or sweet feed if your can find good fresh supply, otherwise skip.
We have plenty of wheat and barley here on the Palouse so made our supplement like so:
1/2 whole rolled oats
1/6 black sunflower seeds with shell
1/6 wheat
1/6 barley
We are feeding a 4:1 ratio of pelleted feed to supplement.
Our next step is setting up an aquaponic fodder system. We usually grow fodder in the summer but this year we are going to experiment with setting up a more permanent and sustainable technology to reduce water waste and allow us to grow other foods for the rabbits and family. - more on that once it is up and running.
Stay tuned to see what the results are in the next couple months. The rabbits sure appreciated the feed as soon as we added it but then, they love all food ;)
Our next step is setting up an aquaponic fodder system. We usually grow fodder in the summer but this year we are going to experiment with setting up a more permanent and sustainable technology to reduce water waste and allow us to grow other foods for the rabbits and family. - more on that once it is up and running.
Stay tuned to see what the results are in the next couple months. The rabbits sure appreciated the feed as soon as we added it but then, they love all food ;)