The feed thread

[Spoof]

What are you feeding now?

What else have you tried? Why did you switch?

Do you get your feed locally?



We all know Purina changed their formula at the beginning of 2010, which caused issues for some, but not for others.

I noticed a difference, most of my herd started feeder dumping on the Show so I tried the Fibre3. It was like putting everyone on a diet, they all became quite a bit leaner. I had smaller babies born and smaller weight gains. Everyone was "healthy" but had no excess fat reserves.

So I ordered the Purina Rabbit Chow Professional (brown bag). It was delayed for three weeks, during that time they gave me a free bag of Purina Rabbit Chow Complete (green bag). I mixed that with the Fiber3 and it seemed to help. Everyone was eating it, only had a few dumpers. When the Chow Pro finally showed up I was mixing all three equally. It wasn't until I started mixing the complete and professional only that I lost all dumpers. When I finally got them all onto the Professional, I picked up a few more.

Think I will just have to mix it for now, going to pick up one of each today. The good news is everyone is back up to weight and the two babies I born last week were a normal size for my herd. I figured I would need to split for growers/moms regardless as the Professional is not the best for growers. Not to mention the higher the protein the more ammonia they put out.

The quality control for Purina is better than most feeds but I still find strange pellets and artifacts in every bag I buy. I suspect it is whatever mill they use down here.

Ah, the feed saga continues. )

 

[ticklechin]

When I first got chins I fed mazuri, after loose poo I switched to APD, fed that for years until the formulation change a couple of years ago which mine did not like. I tried PANR, they still did not like it so finally Oxbow is what we settled on, everyone eats it.

 

[Riven]

I tried PANR and I didn't really have "problems" on it, but I didn't feel like my chins were reaching their full potential. I tried Pen Pals and had feed issues with that and was losing animals ( bad batch or distribution issues ), went to Manna Pro, and was doing okay again but I still just didn't feel like my animals were reaching their full potential. I'd get weight loss when I got some animals, and younger animals from other ranchers we're growing as well as their siblings who weren't here. So I finally switched to a custom milled feed and I love it, the chins all love it, birth weights and weight gains are great.

 

[Stackie]

What are you feeding now?
Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe

What else have you tried? Why did you switch?
Mazuri- caused diarrhea in my chins. Manna Pro Sho- chins wouldn't touch it. Had too much waste.

Do you get your feed locally?
No.

 

[Sandi]

My boys were on Nutrena with the breeder. With my first two, I switched them to Mazuri because I wanted something I could get locally. They had soft poo on and off for 5 months as well as some feed dumping, so I switched them over to Oxbow. That fixed everything and thrived. All my 5 boys are on Oxbow and doing great.

ETA: I order the pellets through Oxbow and sell to forum members here as well. )

 

[Peep_erz]

I feed Mazuri. My boys have done pretty well on it so far. I do get some loose poo but it is normally when something in the house changes and they get stressed. I would like to see if Oxbow might eliminate or lessen the stress poos but I can't find anyone locally to order it for me.

 

[threewingedfury]

I was using straight PANR up until August when I picked up some animals from Shoots and he gave me a bag of feed to carry home to switch those over with. I ended up doing half and half with the PANR and Shoots feed and my chins really liked it. Back in January after it was announced that the PANR would no longer be available, I completely switched to Shoots feed since the bags were costing me the same as PANR, I just had to pick it up at shows and meetings and stock up ahead of time. I have some chins that don't like it as much as they liked the PANR, but I do not want to switch again at this time. If I could get it milled locally, that would be great as Ralph and I had discussed getting some people together to get on the feed down here, but it would be costly and I couldn't afford to buy an entire batch at a time nor could I use it before it went bad.

 

[tunes]

I started with Mazuri - same story here, loose poop, plus they were ridiculously expensive and I think still are.

Switched to Tradition after a trip to Ryerson's, and if I could get it again without having to sacrifice quality, I'd be back on it in a heart beat. My chins did the best ever on it.

Went to Pen Pals, because Tradition's quality was just crap from the mill in Minnesota - had animals dying right and left, severe weight loss, less kit production.

Switched to Nutrena because I can get it locally, at several places, which is a first for me. They do well on it. Not as well as on Tradition, but they are back up to where their weights should be, the babies are larger again, etc.

I would choose Tradition hands down over any of the feed I've tried, if I could get it milled in Ohio and brought out here.

 

[ticklechin]

Anyone use Shoots feed? Just curious.

 

[threewingedfury]

I had forgotten about Tradition, Peggy. I used Tradition for a few years before the PANR, but the our mill in NC had really crappy feed and my chins were not reaching their potential on the feed. Most of my chins averaged around 600g on it, and I'd find about 2 lbs of powder in the bottom of each bag. The Selma mill then closed down and I could no longer get it, so that's when I switched to PANR and saw major weight gains in all of my animals.

Anyone use Shoots feed? Just curious.

Look up - I do

 

[ABBY W.]

What are you feeding now?

PANR show

What else have you tried? Why did you switch?

I started with Mazuri, and switched because it was too hard to get freshly milled, and my animals started ignoring it.

I fed Manna Pro Sho for a while. I had to have it special ordered, which was a major pain.

Do you get your feed locally?

Yes.

 

[Essentia]

What are you feeding now?
Purina Rabbit Chow Show


What else have you tried?
Why did you switch? I used to feed Mazuri and I ended up having a chin with soft poo, so I made the switch to PANR. Once the PANR ended I switched to the PRCS. I ended up being one of the people with the chins who didn't want to eat it, but after awhile they got used to it and everyone is eating really well. They hold their weight well, and they all seem to like the taste (as do the rescues I switch to it when they come here). I had also tried Oxbow in the past but none of my chins would touch it. Maybe they just liked the taste of the PANR better. Who knows.

Do you get your feed locally?
Yes

 

[tunes]

Dawn - Three Winged Fury does.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I've used Pen Pals 18% for seven years and never had a problem.

 

[aznmexaggie]

When I got my first chins, I used Mazuri. Most did okay on it but one had soft poo that would clear up when I pulled pellets and fed only hay, and come back when she was offered the pellets again. Later in the year, I switched to Manna Pro Sho which I still currently use. I can get the feed fresh and the only problem I've had is with a couple batches with a lot of fines/dust. I also fed Oxbow on and off to certain chins but due to distributor issues, I didn't stick with solely Oxbow. I now use it in a Manna Pro Sho blend for my pet and rescue chins. If Oxbow wasn't so expensive, I would feed just Oxbow... but with 30+ chins, it's a little pricey.

I wish I was near a rancher who mills his own feed though. I would opt for that over a pet chin or rabbit feed.

 

[CritterLover86]

What are you feeding now?
One of my chins is on Oxbow, the other 2 are on Mazuri.

What else have you tried? Why did you switch?
Raider came home eating Tradition, which I switched to Mazuri because I know I can get it locally in a pinch. I had heard that Oxbow was better than Mazuri at one point and decided to switch Raider and Pola over to it. (this was before I had Rigel) Pola was thriving on it and was much more keen on it, and Raider was barely eating. So Raider got switched back to it, and Pola stayed on Oxbow. Everyone is doing well on what they're eating, I suppose they just have different taste preferences.

Do you get your feed locally?
Yes, I get Mazuri in at a nearby feed store, and I have just recently started picking up Oxbow from Sandi here, since she doesn't live too far away

 

[eroomlorac]

When I got my first chin she came with a bag of pellets. The backyard breeder I got her from didn't know what the pellets were but he got them from the person he got his pair from. So I switched my little girl over to Mazuri so I could be consistent in feeding her the same brand. After just a month or so, I started reading here that some were having trouble with soft poops with their chins and Mazuri. So I switched her over to Oxbow and have been feeding Oxbow ever since. Yes, it is expensive but I buy a 50# bag directly from Oxbow and because I only have 6 chins, I can afford it. If I had many chins, I would not be able to afford feeding Oxbow. My guinea pigs get Oxbow brand piggie pellets, too.

 

[minrex]

I feed Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe, which I am able to get locally.

When I first got my chins, they were on Mazuri, which seemed like a reasonably good feed, but I wanted to use Oxbow because it's easier to get here, and it's also a somewhat local product, so I wanted to support the company. My chins do extremely well on it and don't really waste any of it.

 

[Stackie]

Oh, I forgot I had my chins on Tradition for sometime as well but stopped using it...I had been buying the bags from Ryerson & some from a chin supply store but they were all coming with loads of dust and clumps of corn/unknown materials. The quality was just lacking so I decided to switch.

 

[Bam.Bam]

I think i'm the only one that feeds Manna Pro Sho so far in this thread.

I started on Mazuri because BamBam and Domo's breeder fed it but it was to expensive to get locally so decided to go with Manna Pro and everyone is doing very well on it.

Yoshi is the only one on a different food and he's getting Shoots but he also is doing well on that food.