I would like to make my own mouse food and have been researching different mixes. Most of them list oats. My question is which type of oats do I use: whole, crushed, hulled, rolled? I'm hoping that I can use whole or crushed so I can buy it in bulk from the feed store. I would love to know what other people use for their mice.
Which oats should be used for mouse food?
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Oat groats, rolled oats, whole oats are all fine. It is best to avoid the "quick oats".
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What are bruised oats?
Ones that got beaten up by the other oats :lol: Sorry, couldn't resist. I found this which may prove useful:
Types of oat
• Whole oats: These are as they come from the field, complete with the husks (or outer casing). This means they have the highest fibre level of all oats and grains. However, very young horses or veterans with teeth problems may have difficulty chewing these, so will not get the full nutritional benefit.
• Bruised oats: The husk of the oat is broken to allow access to the nutrients. Bear in mind that this process will shorten the shelf life of the oats to a few weeks.
• Rolled oats: Rolling has a similar effect to bruising. Traditionally, horsemen would buy whole oats and roll them on an ad hoc basis to maximise storage time.
• Crimped oats: This process damages the husk and increases the surface area, so the digestive juices can get to work more effectively.
• Clipped oats: Oats are often clipped alongside bruising. The ends of the grain are trimmed to give a neater final product.
• Crushed oats: This is a rougher process, which involves breaking both the husk and the kernel of the oat. This makes them slightly more digestible, but they suffer from an even shorter shelf life.
• Naked oats: These are not processed, but are grown to have loose husks that are shed when harvested. This lowers the fibre content and increases digestibility. In addition, they have a third more digestible energy and protein than a standard oat, plus they are high in oil. These elements are the 'rocket fuel' in oats.
Types of oat
• Whole oats: These are as they come from the field, complete with the husks (or outer casing). This means they have the highest fibre level of all oats and grains. However, very young horses or veterans with teeth problems may have difficulty chewing these, so will not get the full nutritional benefit.
• Bruised oats: The husk of the oat is broken to allow access to the nutrients. Bear in mind that this process will shorten the shelf life of the oats to a few weeks.
• Rolled oats: Rolling has a similar effect to bruising. Traditionally, horsemen would buy whole oats and roll them on an ad hoc basis to maximise storage time.
• Crimped oats: This process damages the husk and increases the surface area, so the digestive juices can get to work more effectively.
• Clipped oats: Oats are often clipped alongside bruising. The ends of the grain are trimmed to give a neater final product.
• Crushed oats: This is a rougher process, which involves breaking both the husk and the kernel of the oat. This makes them slightly more digestible, but they suffer from an even shorter shelf life.
• Naked oats: These are not processed, but are grown to have loose husks that are shed when harvested. This lowers the fibre content and increases digestibility. In addition, they have a third more digestible energy and protein than a standard oat, plus they are high in oil. These elements are the 'rocket fuel' in oats.
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Ok, the oat groats available over here are the oats with the hulls removed. I was told they are marketed for goats at feed stores.
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Oooooo thanks MouseBreeder, that helps a lot!
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I just finished a 25kg sack of bruised oats and have had to use my back up of rolled oats until the next delivery.
My mice much prefer bruised oats and the rolled oats i have is very husk heavy.
My mice much prefer bruised oats and the rolled oats i have is very husk heavy.
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I will have to watch and confirm, but i believe the mice strip off the outer husks and just eat the inside, so therfore I believe whole is best, as you can genrally trust the nutritional contents as its protected by natures packaging.
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This is interesting, as i have observed that 'older' fanciers prefer whole oats and newer fanciers prefer bruised.I'll be back. said:
The point about keeping nutritional content is a good one, bruised or rolled oats hold nutritional value for around 6 weeks i believe, so for people with lots of mice this isn't a problem.
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The rolled oats I referenced are the kind sold as human-grade in grocery stores. They do not have husks.
I agree with Sarah. I used to feed oat groats when I had pet mice only, but it would cost a LOT to feed the amount of mice that I keep now on groats. I think I'll just have to win the lottery so I can build myself a custom mousery with the best facilities, buy only the best food and spend as much time as I like in there :lol:
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Mousebreeder you must have 1000s of mice? 
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I use the same Stina let the mouse work to get the food.
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