US BREEDERS: Current Feed and Kit Production?

[threewingedfury]

I'm curious as to which types of feeds breeders in the US are currently using and how their kit production for 2012 was and how 2013 is going so far. Considering last year was a horrible year for hay, I'm wondering if baby production has dropped throughout all feeds or just some in particular that I'm hearing about. Really looking for breeders who have at least 20 females in breeding, but all comments are welcome. Just list what type of feed you are using, if your production went up or down from the year before (any change in the number of females in production as well) and if you've experienced any feed related problems that might change your production. Thanks!

 

[aznmexaggie]

I am on Manna Pro Sho and had similar litter sizes in 2012 compared to 2011 but had higher kit mortality this year, (didn't make it to weaning) especially in the first half of 2012. I also had difficulty getting good hay (still a problem). So far for 2013, I have not had any babies yet. I have 22 females in breeding.

ETA: I retired about 5 females in spring and fall and put about 7 new ones in breeding.

 

[threewingedfury]

Thanks Sumiko. Anyone else willing to share?

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

We are currently feeding manna pro pro. We have 26 breeding females. We had 56 babies born last year. Up 14 from last year with a large decrease in kit mortality. This year we lost 2 kits I believe.

We are up to kit 5 this year with 10-12 pregnant girlies. Found two more today. There are four girls who are also raising babies currently.

 

[AZChins]

I haven't really been breeding too much here. Last year I did put a few more girls into breeding and we had around 60 babies born without any major problems. The kits made it to weaning without any problems, there was one kit that passed away at around 8 weeks that appeared to just stop growing at around 5 or 6 weeks. I always expect to have some problems. 2012 was actually very good with very minimal problems with any of the chins. (My major issues were with chins well into their teens passing away, but I am sure that that was due to age and nothing more.) I feed Mazuri, it's worked for me for a long time without it causing any problems for the chins.

I'm not sure how many chins I have in breeding right now. There are many older pairs that don't produce regularly or have stopped completely.

 

[Vyxxin]

My kit production was WAY up last year. No change in feed, not a huge increase in breeding females either. I did put a bunch of new males in, but my herd is aging and a LOT of the girls are getting up there in age and I STILL had record production. Normally around 14 girls in breeding and around 25-30 kits. This year around 15/16girls in breeding and 39 kits produced. I've had more triplets this year than the previous few years as well. I use MannaPro PRO and have for a few years now. I like it, my girls stay plump on it even through weaning. I do notice that my males seem to increase or decrease my production more than females. Which makes sense in run breeding scenarios I suppose. Still, if a male is a slow breeder or altogether dud, it can really hurt your numbers in a hurry. I also notice MOST of my males tend to give themselves breaks (if that makes sense, what male doesn't want to breed?!?) But what I'll notice is when they're fresh and in their prime they'll give it their all. Get all their girls pregnant within a short time. Then, production in their line slows the following year usually. It may pick back up, especially if you get them some different girls to romance...but this is what I've gnerally found. Hope you get your production issue sorted quickly, I know how it is. We're not "chin mills" but we do like a self-feeding hobby

 

[Cuddlebug]

My production is really up so far this year. Last years production was 10 kits. I have 10 females and 3 males in breeding set up as trios and separate the preggo girls into cages of their own. This year, I already have 5 on the ground with 3 more pregnant females and I am sure more are in the works. I usually do not have any where near these numbers this early in the year. I am feeding PRCS and h ave been for years.

 

[jags]

My production was nothing to be impressed by but much better than the year before all on Tradition.

I do know of someone in Indiana who has 100 females in breeding and had 425 babies last year on Heinold rabbit feed.

 

[threewingedfury]

Randy.. how many females do you have in breeding now and how many kits did you have born last year?

I'm just trying to see I guess if my problem could be feed. I'm on Tradition, had 70-80 females in breeding throughout last year and I ended up with 125 babies born with a super high mortality rate. I had really good production until September, and now I've only had 14 babies total born since the first of October.. I was pushing 20+ babies a month throughout the majority of last year and then everything just stopped. I've spoken with several people who use it as well who noticed a decline in production, and I'm trying to see if anyone noticed it in their feed, or if it's a coincidence with Tradition. It may not be Tradition at all, it could be something entirely different. I'm thinking that this started after my chins went on the batch with included seaweed - almost 4 months after they were introduced to the new formula, production shut down.

 

[jags]

I know Ryersons and Ritterspach have both had real good production this year on Tradition.

I have around 700 females in breeding and had about 900 babies last year. The year before really sucked with only about 600. I have been switching out some of those big ole monster males that did great at the shows but that just do not seem to want to get busy with the girls.

 

[Spoof]

I switched back to Manna Show about four weeks ago. I average around 3 babies per female per year.

The last 8 months I was using a feed that had calf manna in it called Petrus, I figured it would be ok as part of a balanced diet. It caused a huge gap in birth weights. My litters are traditionally within 3-4g of each other. The last six months the gap has widened slowly from 3-4g to the last 6 litters having 20-30g babies with 60-70g siblings.

The death rate of the tiny ones is high so I changed feeds. I won't know if production is affected until the fall litters. I'm right in the middle of the spring boom.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I feed Ace Hi Show rabbit and my production has decreased. I don't think it has anything to do with my feed, but some problematic hay I was using. I have about 30 females in breeding and had 64 kits born last year which was a record year for me. My year usually starts out pretty slow, but I have been having at least one litter born every month for the last 20 months since switching to this feed. This time last year I had 6 babies born and this year I only have 3.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I have about 35 females in breeding and had 105 babies last year - 20 more than the year before. Of course, last year I had more females in breeding than the year before. I lost 5 kits for various reasons this year. I feed a mixture of Mazuri and Purina show rabbit. I add the show rabbit to save money on feed. I have no problems getting good hay from the farmers. NJ is known as the Garden State for a reason. Hope this helps

 

[bchins]

I feed Manna Pro Premium Rabbit Feed, and had a very low amount of babies born last year. I did acquire a new herd, which hasn't produced much since they've been here. I had 230 babies born last year with about 180 females in breeding. I feel I had a pretty high mortality rate, or at least higher than I'd like it to be. Had quite a few litters of triplets, which many were to first time moms... So far this year I've had 40 babies born, 9 have died (2 stillborn). It didn't help though that I've already had 5 litters of triplets, most of which were to first time moms. I'm trying to supplement more soon to be moms with Calf Manna to see if it has been an issue with milk production. I did have a talk with our Fleet Farm because they were selling (and only had in stock) expired feed.

 

[EMSChins]

I use Shoots Chinchilla Feed.

In 2011, I had 10 breeding females and had 28 kits, with 4 deaths/stillbirths (14% mortality rate). My females therefore averaged 2.8 kits for that year.

Last year I added females and got up to 32 in breeding by the end of the year. I had 113 kits, with 17 deaths/stillbirths (15% mortality rate). I therefore averaged 3.5 kits per female in 2012.

So basically my production per female average went up from 2.8 to 3.5. I was on the same feed both years. My kit mortality was higher than I had the previous year especially at the beginning of 2012. Weighing all possible causes, I eliminated giving a homemade supplement used by several other breeders to my breeding females. The supplement has a very small amount of calf manna in it. My mortality dropped way off after that. While the kit sizes on average did not appear to be any different statistically, for some reason my kits weren't making it to the 24 hour mark while the females were on that supplement.

Can't say scientifically that was the cause but eliminating it sure helped my mortality rate decrease.