Poultry Feed for Rodents

After comparing label after label, I've FINALLY determined that you CAN use poultry feed for rodents. You just need to use caution when choosing exactly which poultry feed to use. Do NOT use egg-layer feed, unless gutloading is necessary for calcium deficient animals, and then you should only use it for 2-3 days before feeding the rodent to the calcium deficient herp.
A general purpose "raiser", "starter" or "grower" poultry feed fits the same rodents that would be fed on a Harlan diet. I would go for a 20-24% protein diet for a breeding colony. Also, when buying your poultry food, make sure you either get crumbles or pellets, NOT mash (powder). The pellets will be about the size of the alfalfa pellets in a lower quality rodent seed mix. The crumbles are generally very small, just crunched up pellets, generally a good size for very young rodents.
A downfall to the poultry feed would be that it isn't as hard as the blocks, and chew "toys" would be necessary to keep incisors worn down.
What was the point in taking all of this time to check the labels and do a bit of research on mouse/rat nutrient requirements? Well, first, Purina Mazuri and Harlan products are not always easily obtained, and second, in most circumstances, the poultry food is going to be MUCH cheaper than rodent foods. Rodent blocks in my area cost $1.05/lb, while proper poultry feeds purchased at Tractor Supply (Dumor brand) are about $.33/lb. If I were to take the time to drive to the Purina mill, I could probably get it for about $.20/lb. The poultry feed could cut your feeder bill in half, without sacrificing essential nutrients.

I have no idea about using poultry feed. I do know quite a lot of people use hog feed. I am trying it with my mouse colony. So far I've not had much success, but I believe that has to do with a combination of not enough time yet & low quality rodents, rather than the feed.

I have heard of quite a few people using it as well, plus hog feed sits better in the rack.

One thing you need to use caution with when using an alternative is the Vitamin A content. If it's too high, it can cause birth defects as well as reabsorbtion in pregnant females. Ironically enough, in lab studies, too much is worse than not enough (it takes a LONG time before any effects show from a lack of it, but you can stop production completely if the feed has too much). I'm not sure what the Vitamin A content is in the average hog feeds though. It does seem to be pretty darn cheap though, but I would also watch the protein content, as some are a tad low for a breeding colony. Anyways, let me know how it goes. :)

Do you have any photos of what the actual feed looks like? I can see problems with the size/texture of the poultry feed.

Be very cautious.... I will stick to rat food for RATS!

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Originally Posted by stangs13

Be very cautious.... I will stick to rat food for RATS!

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Do you know what rats eat in nature?

Thanks for sharing this info. I think I'll spend some time soon checking out labels at Tractor Supply!

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Originally Posted by Somed00d

Do you know what rats eat in nature?

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Good point here, rats are scavengers in nature isn't it? my bet they can adapt easily..

Generally, 16-18% is a good protein level for our breeding colonies. I use Harlan 2018 for nursing mothers, and Mazuri 6F for the breeders. We always have weaners around 60-80 grams at 3 weeks of age. The mothers have large litters, my average is right around 14 pups per mother, personal highest is 17 just this past month to a first time mother. (That was a surprise to walk in on!)

I'd rather not go too high with protein (above 20), because males don't need such a high protein level, and many rats do show the skin allergies with the high protein content. ( I have at least 4 out of 40)

I always recommend Mazuri 6F or 9F to people, and if they use any other feed to try and mimic the ingredients closely and protein, fat and fiber as well. I'll have to look at chick feed, but the crumbles and lack of hard gnawing doesnt sound like a good alternative just on the waste level. You'd have to put in it a bowl and I figure the rats would quickly soil or throw around the food.

Becky has offered non medicated hog feed as an alternative, or a high qualtiy senior dog food. I trust Becky as she is the queen of ratty knowledge around here LOL :D.

I believe she also uses the hog feed along with her mix, and she has something around 40 lovely pet rats. (She raises mice for feeders)

I have tried poultry feed. One problem is lots of waste since they are soft. The crumbs become bedding very fast.

The rats I kept before usually kept seed mixes in the dish, however, I just tried some poultry feed on the mice, and they were using the dish as a digging box. Lol. I still want to try the poultry feed though, because I always have some around for when we take our son down to feed the ducks at the park.

The mice get the hog feed mixed with some cereals and grains, the rats get the mostly organic mix made with a little bit of Wellness Senior dog food.

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I would go for a 20-24% protein diet for a breeding colony.

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24% is pretty high!

Not really. I'm pretty sure 18% is generally recommended for male rats and around 20% for females and hairless. 22% - 24% is actually pretty decent for a breeding/nursing female and a troop of wild babies. The males aren't as important in a colony to me, and I'd rather have my breeder females get adequate protein than not enough because I'm trying to cater to the males' level of protein. It just doesn't make sense to me to feed a diet tailored to male rats when your colony is mainly breeding females and their young.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

The mice get the hog feed mixed with some cereals and grains, the rats get the mostly organic mix made with a little bit of Wellness Senior dog food.

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Is that for nutrition reasons, or personal preference?

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What was the point in taking all of this time to check the labels and do a bit of research on mouse/rat nutrient requirements? Well, first, Purina Mazuri and Harlan products are not always easily obtained, and second, in most circumstances, the poultry food is going to be MUCH cheaper than rodent foods. Rodent blocks in my area cost $1.05/lb, while proper poultry feeds purchased at Tractor Supply (Dumor brand) are about $.33/lb. If I were to take the time to drive to the Purina mill, I could probably get it for about $.20/lb. The poultry feed could cut your feeder bill in half, without sacrificing essential nutrients.

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So if I go to tractor supply, and get Dumor poultry feed...my rats will be as healthy as using the "rat Food recipe" that is stickied?

I can't even get a label on Dumor feeds, so I'm not exactly sure. You need to use caution when picking up the poultry feed, as some are better than others.

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Originally Posted by Bettacreek

Not really. I'm pretty sure 18% is generally recommended for male rats and around 20% for females and hairless. 22% - 24% is actually pretty decent for a breeding/nursing female and a troop of wild babies. The males aren't as important in a colony to me, and I'd rather have my breeder females get adequate protein than not enough because I'm trying to cater to the males' level of protein. It just doesn't make sense to me to feed a diet tailored to male rats when your colony is mainly breeding females and their young.

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How do you know the females are not getting enough protein when nursing? Have you had sick rats when they wean? Are they not maintaining weight very well? What are the effects from not feeding enough protein?

I'm asking because I take quite a bit of pride in my colony. I treat all the breeders like pets, and actually serve two different feeds for my breeders. I pay close attention to their mass at weaning, how the litters look, how many in a litter, how big they are at weaning... it's all very important to me.

I have great success with 16-18%. Now I read that somehow my rats are not being fed the proper amounts of protein?

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22% - 24% is actually pretty decent for a breeding/nursing female and a troop of wild babies.

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For feeders it’s a lot.

Excess protein, can lead to scabs, hair loss, kidney failure if you want to produce healthy feeders you need to make sure your breeders are provided with and healthy diet, you do not want your breeders to die prematurely.

Some of the best lab blocks on the market, designed for feeder animals usually average 16%-18% in protein, which is way, enough for a nursing female, and also for pups when they start eating on their own.

I have females that I have acquired in May last year that are still STRONG breeders for their age averaging 10 babies (18 month is the average age for menopause in rats), younger females usually average 14-16 babies not to bad for females that would have nutritional deficiency due to a low protein diet :rolleyes:

A good diet will help your breeders stay healthy and produce nice healthy litters.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

How do you know the females are not getting enough protein when nursing? Have you had sick rats when they wean? Are they not maintaining weight very well? What are the effects from not feeding enough protein?

I'm asking because I take quite a bit of pride in my colony. I treat all the breeders like pets, and actually serve two different feeds for my breeders. I pay close attention to their mass at weaning, how the litters look, how many in a litter, how big they are at weaning... it's all very important to me.

I have great success with 16-18%. Now I read that somehow my rats are not being fed the proper amounts of protein?

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If that works for you, then stick with it. I've used up to 25% protein for rats with absolutely no problems, with better weight gain than with a lower protein content, and with no problems for my males. I was producing stockier babies at 20% than I was with a lower protein content. However, I don't plan on breeding my females until they can breed no longer. I have never bred a female to the point that she could not produce anymore, I simply have no reason to, and would rather retire my females early with less litters. Granted, I have 4 balls and one corn snake, and the rats come as pets first. I have the luxury of retiring females without burning them out.
If what you do/use works for you, then stick with it, but I'm going to stick with what I know and have done in the past and know to work.