Rat Food question

Ok so I ran low and had to drive 130 miles round trip to pick up some more, my question is, does chicken food work in a pinch for rats? I know rats at our place growing up ate our chicken food just fine heh


18% protein
5% fat
4% fiber
4500 units A
1900 units D
10 units E
1mg K
90mg C

Compared to rodent diet

18% protein
6% fat
3.8% fiber

seems to be pretty close to same in the basic percentages.

When I look at the ingredient lists it seems to be almost the same thing, Im still planning on going to Harlan-Teklad blends but still working on that as I hit a snag.

Any input?

Is the first ingredient in the chicken feed corn by chance?

You would more than likely end up with a nice allergy situation or a mite problem. Chicken feed isn't autoclaved and sterilized before being bagged as Mazuri and Harlan are. It's not clean and may contain dead bugs, rocks, other organic matter that isn't edible but may be poisonous to the rats if eaten. Also, chicken mash is usually ground up corn and other by-products, not to mention no meat source(as rats are omnivorous and chickens aren't as much, although they do eat some insects).

I feed chicken mash to my crickets and they do fine on it. Rats on the other hand probably wouldn't, and I don't see any benefit to doing that other than it is cheap.

If you want something for them to eat in a pinch, feed a high-quality(Nutro, Wellness) senior dog food that has a protein content less than 18% as well as some vegetables/fruits, and you will be alright. It's always good to supplement the lab blocks with veggies and fruits as well as a bit of dog food here and there. They need that animal protein to thrive and produce good, healthy litters.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Is the first ingredient in the chicken feed corn by chance?

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Im guessing it is corn rather than soybean

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

You would more than likely end up with a nice allergy situation or a mite problem. Chicken feed isn't autoclaved and sterilized before being bagged as Mazuri and Harlan are. It's not clean and may contain dead bugs, rocks, other organic matter that isn't edible but may be poisonous to the rats if eaten. Also, chicken mash is usually ground up corn and other by-products, not to mention no meat source(as rats are omnivorous and chickens aren't as much, although they do eat some insects).

I feed chicken mash to my crickets and they do fine on it. Rats on the other hand probably wouldn't, and I don't see any benefit to doing that other than it is cheap.

If you want something for them to eat in a pinch, feed a high-quality(Nutro, Wellness) senior dog food that has a protein content less than 18% as well as some vegetables/fruits, and you will be alright. It's always good to supplement the lab blocks with veggies and fruits as well as a bit of dog food here and there. They need that animal protein to thrive and produce good, healthy litters.

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If I freeze the bags before using it will that reduce the insect/mite concern? I ordered the two bags from the guy so I can just toss them out, it wasnt expensive. I just thought I would check it out since it was a nearby place.


I swear no one around here sells rat food :)

But then you would still have the allergy concern and having scabby rats everywhere that are itching themselves bloody instead of eating. Chicken mash may be an ok diet for chickens, but it is not a complete diet for breeding rats that need large amounts of high-quality fat and protein in their diet to produce healthy litters. Chicken mash is also incredibly dusty, so your rats may come down with upper respiratory difficulties.

I just don't see where the benefits are to feeding that stuff.

Feed stores may not carry the rodent feed on their shelves, but if they sell Mazuri brand ANYTHING, then they can order it. Rodent formula 6F works well for breeding colonies as the protein % is 16% and is it a high-quality diet.

Where I live, there's a Purina feed store in almost every city. Purina makes Mazuri. The feed store might look at you funny when you ask them for rat/mice food instead of poison/bait, but generally they should be able to order it for you. Just ask them to look it up in their catalog. The first time I ordered a bad, they had no idea what the stuff was since no one had ever ordered it before.