Poultry Feed for Rodents

[Bettacreek]

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.

[kc261]

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.

[littleindiangirl]

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

[Bettacreek]

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.

[stangs13]

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

[Somed00d]

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

Do you know what rats eat in nature?

[Alice]

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

[kratos]

Do you know what rats eat in nature?

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

[littleindiangirl]

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 .

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)

[amon]

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