mazuri

[Anna]

well, i am frankly tired of feeds ending up sub-par. i was a big fan of PANR but then they switched it up to nutrena (i think?) and it made my chins' poo soft. i put them on oxbow because i know mazuri can make chin poo soft too. they loved oxbow, lost a bit of weight but nothing dramatic and then held that weight and did great, until i opened the last bag. they will hardly touch it.
i don't know what's up with it, so now i am at mazuri. i have just started the switch and they seem to be nibbling on it. i know tradition is good, are there any other good feed suggestions if this does, in fact, cause me some problems?and how common is the soft poo side effect in your experiences?

 

[tunes]

Nutrena is not PANR. PANR became a bunch of initials again, but Nutrena is a completely different company.

If your chins experience loose poos, then watch Mazuri closely. Many, many people have issues with their chins developing loose poos on that particular feed.

I don't panic over every soft poo, unless it's prolonged. Sometimes chins just get a bit of soft poo. It isn't necessarily the food. It could be stress, temperature change, etc. If you find a good food that works, they maintain their weight, activity, etc., even with the occasional soft poo then stick with it. Frequent feed changes are not a great idea with chins, whose digestive tracts just don't handle them well.

 

[Idgie]

Idgie eats Mazuri and doesn't have any problems with it. She seems to like it. Good luck.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

A customer of mine uses Mazuri and has noticed a huge difference in weight (gain, not loss) since she switched to it.

I never had an issue with it when I fed it, it was just not cost effective as my herd size continued to increase.

I second the frequent feed switching being bad - I hope you find something that works for you soon!

 

[RDZCRanch]

Anna, let me know if the Mazuri doesn't work. I'm using a local rabbit pellet and would have no problem shipping it to you since I order about 10-15 50# bags at a time, taking out several pounds every now and then won't do anything to my supply.

 

[Laurie]

Some of my chins did not do well on Mazuri. I experienced soft poo often with Bobo & GiGi, Leonard and Mick & Wesley. I got tired of pulling pellets for a week and giving only hay and cleaning off ledges. I attended a seminar given by Gene Adcock over 4 years ago and he said Mazuri is on the very bottom of the non pet store feeds and recommened Nutrena. I switched my chins to it--not only do they love it and have gained a lot of weight on it, it's much cheaper than Mazuri. I know some people feed Mazuri and like it, but for me it was hassle dealing with loose poo frequently.

 

[AZChins]

I've used Mazuri for over 13 years now and I never had any issues with soft droppings. Or, I should say that I never had a problem with the feed causing soft droppings since most occurrences of that were not food related at all.

Right now I have over 260 chins and there is only one chinchilla that has mushy droppings. It isn't from the food, it's because my husband insists on giving this chin a treat every night and it caught up with both of them. I really believe that he's not just giving one treat and that Butters gets more and may be getting an unapproved treat.

Anyway, I like the Mazuri. I especially like it for the rescues that come in needing to gain weight because they will actually eat it. The babies gain with it, mother chins do well on it. It's a good all around feed for a herd like mine.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I have used Mazuri also for about 12-13 years. Never had a problem with it also

 

[Andrea]

I have used Mazuri and Tradition. I prefer Tradition because they eat more of it (less waste). No soft poos on either food for my chins.

 

[momenteller]

I don't know that we can get Tradition out here-- can we? (You're in NorCal, right Anna?) What about Manna Pro Sho? I see that at many feed stores. Also, maybe you just want to try a different batch of Oxbow. I saw in your other thread you mentioned the Oxbow formula switch. That actually happened quite awhile ago. According to the company, the recent changes were just to the packaging.

 

[Andrea]

Ryerson Ranch ships 12lbs of Tradition for $20 total (flat rate shipping). I have three chins and 12lbs lasts a good amount of time...though I know $20 is a lot for 12lbs of feed.

 

[Brittany]

I saw in your other thread you mentioned the Oxbow formula switch. That actually happened quite awhile ago. According to the company, the recent changes were just to the packaging.

I can't find the thread now (of course) but it was discussed a few months ago, and even though they claim that the recent switch was just the bag, it was actually the formula too. Oxbow claims there was no formula switch, but if you read the labels you'll see there are differences. 1 of my chins has stopped eating the Oxbow since then, and some other members have also reported a change. Luckily most chins, including 2 of mine, don't seem to mind the switch.

I've been dealing with digestive issues in the chin who didn't like the new Oxbow. The vet who's been helping me said that Oxbow did something similar a few years ago with their vitamin C tablets. They said there was no formula change when the labels said otherwise.

 

[momenteller]

Here is the thread, Brittany:

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24566&highlight=oxbow+formula+change

I'm not convinced the change was recent. Based on the info in the thread, I gathered the feed change happened awhile ago, and they later changed the packaging to reflect those changes.