Our Conditioning Mix Recipe

If you use a good quality pelleted ration for your rabbits, it should provide all the nutrition they need. So why, then, do many of us feed supplements? We are all looking for that "magic formula" that will put "finish" and "condition" on our animals so they will compete well.

Sometimes rabbits are finicky eaters and just won’t eat the pellets you give them. Sometimes we just have trouble finding a brand of feed that works for us and our bunnies. That’s when many breeders decide to give them "a little something extra" to put some flesh on the bodies and bring the coat into bloom. Mainly we are looking to increase protein and fat in the diet.

No feed or conditioner can fix genetic shortcomings! It won't add depth, topline, or any other conformational trait which the rabbit lacks. It can only enhance what is already there.

The most common conditioners are oats, barley, sunflower seeds and wheat germ. These provide some protein and fat as well as all-important fiber. Calf Manna or Animax are also used by many – these are milk replacement pellets given to calves and are very high in protein, but low in fiber. These can cause your bunny to go into a molt, and could cause young rabbits to get enteritis, so use with caution. Many rabbit supply companies sell some type of "whole grain conditioner". One very popular ready-made conditioner is "Doc’s", which comes in a pelleted form and has been successful for many top breeders.

We have used many types of conditioners in the past, and for the last several months have been making our own "recipe" that seems to work for us. It has put nice condition on the juniors that have grown up with it, and has put lovely finish on the coats of the Polish and Mini Rex. Let me stress that this is just what works for us – it may not suit you or your rabbits at all.

Our rabbits absolutely love this stuff, and know the sound of the spoon mixing in the bucket! They get so excited that they run circles and hang out of the doors so far that they fall out, which would be extremely funny if it weren’t so dangerous. So we’ve learned to keep the cage doors closed!

Warning!
Use of ANY supplemental feed or treats, especially when high in protein, fat, or water content, could put your rabbits (especially the young) at risk of intestinal complications! It must be monitored closely and adjusted to suit your particular needs and situation.

1 part oat groats (about a gallon)

Oats provide some protein, some fat, and fiber to help protect the intestinal

system. These are steam-rolled to digest easier and look like Quaker oats.

1 part barley ( gallon)

Like oats, it furnishes protein, fat, and fiber.

1 part beet pulp (gallon)

This is the fibrous dried pulp left over after the juice is pressed out of

Sugar beets. We give it to ponies and "spirited" horses to help them

maintain a good weight without revving up the metabolism. It provides

a good amount of fiber and calories, but is not a "hot" feed like corn, which

can cause hindgut problems in the rabbit. It looks awful (ugly, gray) but

the bunnies love it.

Vita B12 crumbles (about 1/2 cup)

This is a horse supplement product I pick up at the feed store.

B12 is supposed to increase appetite. It degrades in the presence

of light, so keep it covered. It is also difficult to absorb through

the intestine, so probably much of its use is actually lost. We do,

however, see the bunnies cleaning up more of their feed when

we use it, so I keep buying it. Might just be my imagination….

Brewer’s Yeast (about ¾ cup)

Also a horse supplement, though you can probably get it at a food

store. This provides protein and may aid in digestion.

Yucca Extract Powder (about 1/3 cup)

Don’t get Yucca-flavored supplement – you want the real thing.

Yucca helps to reduce the ammonia in the urine, making your

rabbitry safer against respiratory illness. A little pricey.

Wheat Germ (about one cup)

Provides protein, fat, fiber.

"HealthyCoat" Apple Flavored Vitamin E Supplement Oil

Another horse product – this is a soybean-based oil that comes in a

gallon jug. Many people use wheat germ oil, but I’ve found that

it goes rancid rather quickly and the bunnies don’t care as much for

it. They love the smell of this stuff. Provides essential fats which

put a finish on the fur.

Each week I mix enough of the dried ingredients for that week’s worth of feeding. Each day we put enough of the dried mix for that morning’s feeding into a bucket, to which we add enough "HealthyCoat Oil" to moisten the mix and make the powdered ingredients stick to the grains. Mix well. Give each adult rabbit one tablespoonful.

We begin feeding the dry mix (without the oil) to young rabbits at about 8 weeks of age. Start by giving them just a half teaspoon or so and work them up over the course of a few weeks. When they are about 4 months old we begin giving them the mix with the oil, watching carefully for signs of diarrhea.

In the winter months, we added 1 part Calf Manna to the mix, but stopped using it once the weather warmed up. (It increases metabolism and could it make it harder for the bunnies to handle the heat). NEVER give Calf Manna to junior rabbits!!! It will give them diarrhea and possibly enteritis.

We feed this conditioning mix each morning, along with hay, and regular pellets at night. If you put the conditioner on top of the pellets at night, you’ll find the rabbits digging out all the pellets to get at the last grain of conditioner.