Pellet to hay ratio..

[ChocolatPocky]

Since January I've been feeding Mr. B Sherwood, which he will eat but never finishes the 2tbsp. Before that I fed him Oxbow, he would eat almost all the pellets (~2tbsp). Recently I decided to switch him back to Oxbow because Sherwood pellets are expensive ($18 a bag!), and he super loves Oxbow pellets. What I've discovered though is he eats much less hay when he's eating Oxbow, so his diet is more pellets than hay. On Sherwood, he ate A LOT of his hay, and maybe 1/2 - 3/4 of his pellets. He maintains his weight either way.

When I first adopted him he had molar spurs that had to be removed, so I was happy that he started gobbling up hay when he had Sherwood pellets.. I wonder if I should switch him back? He hasn't had problems switching between Sherwood to Oxbow and vice versa, but I know its not good to switch their food suddenly. (altho he does pick Oxbow pellets out to eat if they are mixed, so I did a hard switch and his poops still looked good.)

 

[Amethyst]

Hay should be the majority of their diet, about 70-75%, the rest pellets. Each chin is different so I think anywhere from 1-3tbs a day is fine so long as they maintain their weight. Ideally you want them to eat at least a small handful worth (a pile the size of the chin) of hay a day, to give you an idea of amount they should be eating. He likely prefers the Oxbow because it has a small amount of sugars, so it's tastier then the Sherwood food. Personally I would prefer my chins to eat more hay then pellets, but it also depends on what you can afford, I don't see an issue with Oxbow Essentials, that is what I feed my chins, and it's still considered to be one of the best foods.

 

[ChocolatPocky]

Hay should be the majority of their diet, about 70-75%, the rest pellets. Each chin is different so I think anywhere from 1-3tbs a day is fine so long as they maintain their weight. Ideally you want them to eat at least a small handful worth (a pile the size of the chin) of hay a day, to give you an idea of amount they should be eating. He likely prefers the Oxbow because it has a small amount of sugars, so it's tastier then the Sherwood food. Personally I would prefer my chins to eat more hay then pellets, but it also depends on what you can afford, I don't see an issue with Oxbow Essentials, that is what I feed my chins, and it's still considered to be one of the best foods.

Yeah I decided to switch him back to Oxbow bc it is a good pellet, but wasn't expecting there to be a big decrease in hay consumption. Hmm, maybe I will just stick with Sherwood. Poor Mr. B will be sad to not have his sweet Oxbow pellets again! Should I wait a bit before switching him back or do it soon? I switched his food about 2 days ago.

 

[ChocolatPocky]

I kept Mr. B on Oxbow just to see if things would change. I think he's starting to eat more hay again! Maybe he got too excited about the Oxbow and was gorging himself on pellets earlier on haha

 

[Shooper]

Some of my chins eat more hay than pellets and one of them hardly touches his hay (teeth are fine). I think each chin is different and I try to make sure they have plenty of both available.