# My own Feed Mix



## Autumn2005

I finally bit the bullet and started making my own mix. Basically, I looked at the four main non-corn ingredients on a bag of my usual mouse food, got those, mixed them with rabbit pellets, and wild bird seed mix. I didn't know how much of each kind to put in, so I did a scoop here, scoop there, until it looked right. Here's what I have:

2 scoops rolled Barley
2 scoops Wild Bird Seed
1 scoop rabbit pellets
1 scoop Soybean Meal
1 scoop oat groats
1 scoop wheat

Is there anything on this list that shouldn't be? Anything that isn't here and should be? Anything that I should be adding more/less of?


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## Rhasputin

I'd avoid the soy bean meal. Most of the soy in the US is GMO, and not good for mice, especially if you intend to breed.
Everything else looks good. I like to mix in some horse treats, the kind with the apple meal or dried apple bits in them, in my mix, so they can have a bit of fruit in their diet. 
I just got a bag yesterday, 20 pounds for $14 at the feed store.

Looks good though!


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## Autumn2005

Thanks! Like I said, soybean meal was one of the four main ingredients. What does GMO mean?


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## Rhasputin

Genetically Modified Organism. They're basically enhanced to be able to absorb tons of pesticides, without dying. Unfortunately, as a result, the pesticides are in the food that we, and the mice eat. There's a lot of information on the 'Mouse Fancier' forum about it right now. It's really terrible for breeding mice, because it can cause infertility, and higher infant mortality rates.

My mice love the horse treats. And I'm gonna deffinately recomend them to everyone now. :lol: 
It's got grains and oats and molases, as well as delicious apple mush, all extruded out into little nuggets, that look like lab block. 
And no soy or corn! Hooray!

I also mix in rolled oats, white millet, wellness dog food, and fruit and nut bird seed. I like my mix to have a high fat and protein content. 
I'm hoping that around Halloween, I can go scavenge at the pumpkin patch for busted up pumpkins, and get a butt load of seeds for the meeces!


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## SarahY

You'll need some meat based protein in there if you're taking out the Soybean, but otherwise it looks good to me!

If you notice your mice are getting fat you may want to reduce the amount of bird mix, but it depends on what your mice are up to. I feed more bird mix than I think is normal with no adverse effects because my all of mice are either growing or breeding so they use up the extra nutrients, but my mix would make pet mice very fat indeed :lol:

Sarah xxx


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## Autumn2005

My mice are breeders, so I think they'll be alright with the bird seed. I'll keep an eye on that, though! What should I replace the soybean meal with? (And now what do I do with the 50 lbs bag they made me buy???)


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## Rhasputin

Try returning the bag to the store. 
If not, maybe you can sell it, or donate it at the very least.

Replace the soy bean stuff with dog food. High quality stuff with no soy and no corn, make sure the first ingredient is REAL MEAT, not byproducts or something. Wellness is a good food, and so is blue buffalo. 

My mice eat tons of seed and nut food (except the brindles and RYs) because I like them to have lots of energy and body mass.


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## Autumn2005

I feed my dogs Pedigree, does that count? (Don't have the bag to check the ingredients!)


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## Rhasputin

Nope. Pedigree is no good. The food is made mostly out of corn.

Look for a food that is labeled 'holistic', and you've probably got a good one. You're not going to find these at a grocery store, or petsmart. You'll probably have to check a slightly more specialty, or family owned store.


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## Autumn2005

Dang it! Okay, so how much dog food to mix in? One scoop like the soybean meal? Are there any otehr types of meal out there I could use?


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## Rhasputin

It's really up to you!
I use about 1/5 to 1/4 dog food in my mix.
I go to the pet store and get the free sample bags all the time . . . :roll:


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## Autumn2005

Could I use actual meat meal? Is there one that it better than another (beff, poultry, etc?)


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## Rhasputin

You can use real meat, and eggs if you'd like. 

If you can find meat meal (not byproduct meal), then by all means, have at it.


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## Mymouse

Rhasputin said:


> It's really up to you!
> I use about 1/5 to 1/4 dog food in my mix.
> I go to the pet store and get the free sample bags all the time . . . :roll:


Do you use dogfood for up to 25% of your mix?
What do you think about chicken pellets and would you use the same amount of that?


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## Rhasputin

I don't know much about chicken pellets. But if they're made of real meat, and not byproducts, then go for it.

You have to test the waters with your mix. See what works best for you.


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## Autumn2005

How will you know if they're made of byproducts or meat? Check the ingredients again, or will it say? What's wrong with using byproducts meal?


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## Autumn2005

What about cat food? I know cat food is really high in protein too.


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## Rhasputin

Dog food is usually closer to the needs of mice.

The ingredients on the bag, will say byproduct, or not. 
Byproducts are things like feathers and beaks and random organs and scrap pieces of chicken. . . not real meat.


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## LimaMikeSquared

I mix in something like Bakers Complete, (into the hamster and bird food mix) - the beef one it's between a dried and wet food dog mix - so the chunks are sort of soft. Any similar would do as long as the ash component is quite low.

Julie


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## Autumn2005

What about if I add alfalfa pellets? Alfalfa is a legume, and has a high protein content. Does anyone know how much protein the mice should be getting? Percentage-wise?


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## Rhasputin

I think it's about 16%-25% that I've heard people using.


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## Autumn2005

Okay, what about Canidae dog food? I looked it up, and it seems good. But does it matter what flavor I use? Beef vs. lamb vs. chicken?


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## Rhasputin

Canidae is pretty good. I know I feed my cats the Felidae stuff, and it's got nice ingredients. I don't think your mice will mind which flavor you use.


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## Autumn2005

Good grief, the protein content on those bags range from 20% to 40%!


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## Rhasputin

Well yes, but once you mix it in with your other food, the protein content gets lower, since it's not the only thing they're eating.


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## Autumn2005

That's true. I think I'll probably stick to the 24-26% protein ones. I heard somewhere that too much protein causes skin lesions or something in mice... Is this true?


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## Rhasputin

It can cause allergic reactions in some mice.


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## SarahY

> I heard somewhere that too much protein causes skin lesions or something in mice... Is this true?


Yes, that is true. It can cause lesions, hair loss and itchy skin, and permanent kidney and liver damage. It doesn't matter how much protein the dog food has in it, if it's got lots just put less in the overall mix.

Sarah xxx


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## Autumn2005

I picked up a pack of Canidae All Life Stages today, protein content 24%. So my mix consists of 8 scoops or parts... Is 1/8 of total mix volume alright for the mice?


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