New and Improved Rabbit Chow

As the mom and administrator of Black Diamond Rabbitry, it is my job to try to make things easier here when I can. 

Pretty early on (as in, when making our rabbit chow for the first time), I decided the recipe was ridiculously difficult.  Of course, we got the recipe from a much larger scale breeder.  So it stands to reason that it's going to make a lot of feed. 

But this blog is for youth raising French angoras, and most of these youth are not feeding dozens of rabbits.  The larger scale breeders can mix their feed in horse troughs or massive barrels.  The rest of us have to deal with what we have on hand generally.  For us, that means Rubbermaid totes and four-gallon buckets from the donut shop. 

So, using the same recipe, I broke it down into more manageable quantities.  Life is much better now.

Here's the updated formula:

15    lbs 18% Purina Show
10    lbs 15% Bar Ale
2.5   lbs wheat
3.75 lbs barley
3.75 lbs oats groats (whole grain oats)
1.25 lbs black oil sunflower seeds
1.25 lbs calf manna

We also made some slight changes.  You'll notice we changed to Bar Ale for the 15% feed due to something we learned at the Gridley show from the angora ladies there.  Our friends forgot to bring food for their rabbits.  We were in a panic to find the right feed for them, and it was going to be a 45 minute drive, one way.  Not good.  The angora ladies said it wasn't such a serious matter to change the feed, as long as what we used was from the same manufacturer.  Our friends were using Purina Complete, and the nice angora ladies had some Purina Show, which they gladly shared with our friends. 

Because of supply issues (our local store never has the Bar Ale in stock that the banner outside their store advertises--grrrrr), we had a longer distance to drive to get it.  And because of that and what I perceive to be a collapsing economy and problems with JIT delivery, we thought it would be a good idea for our bunnies to have their pellets from two different manufacturers.  That way, if one suddenly becomes unavailable it will not be such a serious change in their diets. 

Fattening Up Rabbits, Part 2

As you read in the first post of this three-part series, I need to fatten Muddy Buddy up to meet the minimum show weight for senior French angora rabbits.  I have been weighing him every day to make sure he is eating enough.  In addition to his normal feed, I have also been giving him strawberry leaves and a slice of homemade molasses oat bread every day.  He loves the sweeter bread, so he will eat more. 

Last Wednesday Muddy weighed 5.15.5.  Today he weighs 6.6.5.  I think the bread is working!

Here is the recipe for Molasses Oat Bread, in case you would like to give it a try.


Molasses Oat Bread

Yield:  3 loaves

4 cups boiling water

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup molasses

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

9-10 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  Cool to 110-115 degrees.  Add yeast; mix well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down and divide into thirds; shape into loaves.  Place in three greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.