PANR and Purina Mills Feeds

[Little Chinta]

Out of curiousity, am I the only one that doesn't care for Purina Feeds in general? There isn't a chance I would feed Purina to my horse, and have looked at the Rabbit Show formula and am leery about feeding "products" (ie "forage products") to my chinnie girl. Purina also have what's called a "constant formula feed" which is different than a fixed formula. A constant formula feed is always going to agree with the guaranteed analysis, but allows the company to use the most cost effective product on the market. One bag of feed could be different from the next any given day. Whereas a fixed formula means that, no matter the ingredient cost, the ingredients will always be the same (hence feeds that can change prices fairly quickly).

I can see that, due to cost, and apparently good outcome of the feed in chinchillas (I can't say for myself), why it is fed.

What are your thoughts on the matter? And why?

 

[chin_gal]

I've been feeding it to my chins for about a year now and they are all doing great on it. I'm not sure about all the technical stuff, but my gang is healthy on it.

 

[addictedtochins]

I didn't know anything about formulas, that's interesting. I feed it and my boys love it.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I have tried Mazuri and Tradition and I did not like either. The bags were different every shipment, Mazuri made my chins have runny poo very often and they did not eat much of it and threw out so much of it. Tradition came with random yellow or pink pellets in them most of the time and lots of time I just got tons of powder in the bag. Plus it was super expensive to ship, but I would use whatever food my herd thrives on. When I switched to PANR my chins changed for the better in many ways. Their fur looks better, they eat all the food, and do not toss any, and they do not have random bouts of diarrhea. I would go to the vet every month or so with a chin or two with runny poo and get fecals done and nothing was wrong. I even lost a just weaned kit. I switched to PANR and have been so happy I probably sound like a spokesmodel in some of my posts. I really am happy with it and save so much on vet visits!

 

[Essentia]

I have tried Mazuri, Oxbow, APD and I didn't like any of them. The Purina Advanced Nutrition Show hasn't done me wrong yet. The Mazuri gave my chins soft poo, and they wouldn't touch either the Oxbow or APD. With the PANR my chins (and the rescues I take in) all gained weight, and their coats look better. They also actually eat the food which is why they probably gained weight. I also don't have any more random soft poos.

I do understand your reasoning for not using it since it is a constant formula feed. Even though it says forage products it specifically says alfalfa, and then for the roughage products it specifically says oat or rice hulls. That means they at least have a standard they stick to when it comes to the feed. The others, grain products and plant protein products I can't say much for other than when fed to my chins, they do well no matter if the ingredients change or not....which I can't say the same for when it comes to other feeds I've tried with a fixed formula.

 

[Siylvat]

Mine are doing well on it. Though I will say, I was just as happy with Manna Pro Sho when they were on that. I just had some issues getting bags from the feed store, so we switched to PANR because we can be guarenteed a constant fresh supply of it.

 

[tunes]

If you look at the back of a back of Tradition, which a large amount of people use (including ranchers with thousands of chins) you'll find a lot of ambiguous ingredients. That doesn't mean they don't have a consistent formula. It means that they are hiding the ingredients exact amounts and types so that people can't copy their product.

I had no trouble with Tradition when I got it in Ohio, but their outlying mills are sorely lacking in quality control.

I would have fed PANR if I could have gotten it reasonably. Out here, unfortunately, it's $20+ a bag for 50 pounds as compared to my Nutrena at $12.00 a bag. There was just no real choice for me but to go with Nutrena.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I have used Mazuri (which is made by Purina) for over 10 years with no problems. Recently (about a year) I have been adding PANR to the Mazuri to reduce the cost of feeding. I have found that the chins do very well with this mixture. Some have actually gained more weight. I plan on sticking with this mixture because a lot of people have recomended and have done very well with the PANR. I feel I have the best of 'both worlds' with this mixture. I have no complaints about Purina

 

[Rickman]

Barb - just for the halibut, try straight PANR on a couple of your newly weaned kits - I think you'd be pleasantly surprised!! I was, when I switched!

 

[Riven]

I was on PANR for several years, but my chins didn't seem to be reaching their full potential, so I switched, but that is the beginning of another scary story.

I never had any problems with it, it just seemed that chins with the same genetics as other chins, even full siblings, were repeatedly not reaching the same potential as people feeding other feeds, that paired with chins that I sold growing better and gaining more weight in their new homes of different feeds prompted me to change.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Nicole, because The Snuggler was such a nice, fat chinnie when I got him from you, I switched to PANR and Mr. Whiskers improved as well. :dunno:

 

[Little Chinta]

Very interesting responses! And... Mazuri is made by Purina (which I just found out, thanks to Mt. Zion Chins!), and seems to have all the stated ingredients, but not sure if it is a constant formula? I shall have to ask!

I do agree that some fixed formulas have varying batches, which is rather disappointing, but at least they say that you are getting the same ingredients... I guess we will never know.

And there are millions of animals that do well on Purina, I just can't bring myself to embrace it.

 

[CerLynn]

As far as variability, as an owner of only two chins, it's actually less variable for us to use PANR. We buy a 50# bag that lasts 6 months or so, as opposed to buying a new 5# bag of Mazuri from Petsmart every month... not to mention, it's far cheaper! Kenai seemed to have issues on Mazuri anyway, as he has a very sensitive system, so we're quite happy with PANR.

 

[BellaBella]

I fed Bella Mazuri for years, but she would have poo and belly issues periodically - she's not a big pellet eater either. I then tried Tradition, and that went well for a while, until she was barely eating it. When I switched to the PANR she steadily gained weight (she stayed right about 550 or so on the Mazuri and Tradition) and is now up to 740 and holding pretty steady. It's been about 2 years now since I switched. She even seems to eat more pellets now, though she still doesn't clean her plate.

Kiwi has done well on the PANR, she is holding pretty steady at about 650 and will be 2 years old in December. She sucks her pellets down.

I'm happy with it so far!

 

[Randy-Chin]

I feed all my chins Nutrena NatureWise Rabbit Pellets 16%.

 

[Riven]

Nicole, because The Snuggler was such a nice, fat chinnie when I got him from you, I switched to PANR and Mr. Whiskers improved as well. :dunno:

I had some chins doing great on it, but not all. I think it's difficult to find that "perfect" chin food, animals are just like people, I know my aunt lost tons of weight on the south beach diet, I tried it for two months, didn't lose anything and just missed eating my carbs! Everyone's different, and with many chins, I think you just try to find the best you can for everyone. I also think that genetics plays a large part in it, as well as other things like hay and water.

 

[mishellyshel]

I agree about the difference in chins...........my one boy really wont touch the mazuri but will eat PANR. The other one, when given the choice of two, will only eat the Mazuri and my richie gets his ground up so doesnt really know the difference. none of them liked the oxbow, which surprised me.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I fed Mazuri for years, and switched to PANR when it became more cost effective for me to do so (in conjunction with it not needing to be special ordered). I was happy with both feeds, and found my chins did worse when I tried them on Tradition for a short time. But, there are so many variable, such as where it is milled, freshness, each individual animal, etc etc. I think finding and sticking with whatever works best for your chins is the way to go. I embrace the same policy with my allergy-ridden dog, who does awesome on the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula, even though it is not grain-free.

 

[Spoof]

I also will not feed Purina products to my horse because of the sky high sugar content. Except the L/S which is $46 a bag here, it's just bran/beet pulp and minerals in a pellet.

It means that they are hiding the ingredients exact amounts and types so that people can't copy their product.

I had a chat with the woman that ran the mill in WA and this isn't the case. In states like CA you're safe - they have to say exactly what is in that feed with exact, frequently tested percentages, and you'll notice that the tags actually change with the seasons/batches.

For the rest of us, it sucks. They keep it ambiguous because it's cheaper than printing new tags when they go from corn to bran as the filler. And that is exactly what they do - the cheapest grain by-products change from season to season.

There is a lot of field corn in the batch I picked up from Oct 1st. Not thrilled about that, but it smells o.k.

 

[Essentia]

Are you referring to the PANR you picked up, or the horse feed? How do you know it contains more corn (or is this one with the tag that actually shows what it contains?)?

I am just curious because I am picking up a new bag on Wednesday, so just wondering what to expect.