Sherwood Forest?

[mjpeter]

Bella is currently eating Oxbow Essentials with very good results. Out of curiosity I ordered I ordered the Sherwood Forest sample of the food you feed with Timothy Hay.

Anyway, she really likes the Sherwood Forest. (There's not much she doesn't like ) It seems like it is very nutritious, buy a lot of people swear by Oxbow as well, and I just want to do the best for Bella.

Opinions? She also gets unlimited Timothy Hay, a variety of greens, and some veggies/fruits.

 

[Bville]

I have looked at the Sherwood Forest pellets, but never tried them. For me, the cost was the factor. They are about three times as expensive as the pellets I am currently using. If you can afford them and your rabbit seems to digest them fine, them I'd say go for it. They look so fresh and green it seems like they would be really good. I think I read on some old post that someone's rabbit had problems with diarrhea on the Sherwood Forest pellets, so just watch to see how yours does on the sample.

 

[mjpeter]

I have looked at the Sherwood Forest pellets, but never tried them. For me, the cost was the factor. They are about three times as expensive as the pellets I am currently using. If you can afford them and your rabbit seems to digest them fine, them I'd say go for it. They look so fresh and green it seems like they would be really good. I think I read on some old post that someone's rabbit had problems with diarrhea on the Sherwood Forest pellets, so just watch to see how yours does on the sample.

So far I've just tossed a few in with the Oxbow, so she hasn't had any problems, but I'll keep an eye on her...thanks!!

 

[Azerane]

It's really personal opinion. I feed oxbow because it's the only decent rabbit food available in this country. I pay an arm and a leg for it, but having one rabbit means it takes a while to go through a bag so I'm not overly fussed about price. I've heard people rave about the benefits of both brands, but I'm honestly not sure if one is superior to the other.

Really the main thing you can do is compare fibre levels etc and the ingredients list. Sherwood forest has far fewer ingredients, but the pellets seem to be alfalfa based, whereas oxbow are timothy based.

Sherwood Forest Adult:
Crude Protein min: 19%
Crude Fat min: 6.5%
Crude Fibre min (max): 18% (23%)
Moisture max: 10%
Calcium min (max): 1.7% (2.2%)
Phosphorus min: 0.6%
Salt min (max): 0/85% (1.35%)
Copper (min): --

Oxbow Essentials Adult:
Crude Protein min: 14%
Crude Fat min: 2%
Crude Fibre min (max): 25% (29%)
Moisture max: 10%
Calcium min (max): 0.35% (0.85%)
Phosphorus min: 0.25%
Salt min (max): --
Copper (min): 30ppm (parts per million)

Sherwood Forest Ingredients:
Sun-cured alfalfa pellets, proprietary whole oil-seed blend, monodicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, essential amino acids, chelated minerals, B-vitamins, cobalt carbonate

Oxbow Adult Ingredients:
Timothy Grass Meal, Soybean Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Soybean Meal, Cane Molasses, Sodium Bentonite, Soybean Oil, Salt, Lignin Sulfonate, Limestone, Yeast Culture (dehydrated), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate

 

[mjpeter]

Is alfalfa bad for an 9 month old rabbit, if she's getting unlimited timothy hay also?

 

[Blue eyes]

As Azarene said, it's personal opinion to a degree. I also feed Oxbow but am not opposed to Sherwood Forest. In fact I plan to look into it more when I have the time and mindset

Here is a helpful chart that compares not just fiber and fat amounts, but the ratios of the different nutrients:
[FONT=&quot]http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp


Generally, the thought has always been to avoid alfalfa-based pellets for rabbits over 6 months of age. It seems that many of the cheap brands use alfalfa and don't have good ratios. However Sherwood Forest apparently balances things well.[/FONT]

 

[mjpeter]

As Azarene said, it's personal opinion to a degree. I also feed Oxbow but am not opposed to Sherwood Forest. In fact I plan to look into it more when I have the time and mindset

Here is a helpful chart that compares not just fiber and fat amounts, but the ratios of the different nutrients:
[FONT=&quot]http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp


Generally, the thought has always been to avoid alfalfa-based pellets for rabbits over 6 months of age. It seems that many of the cheap brands use alfalfa and don't have good ratios. However Sherwood Forest apparently balances things well.[/FONT]

Thanks so much! That's incredibly helpful, I just wish they had the newer type of Sherwood Forest that I use. (Fortifying Essentials) It is a lot more informative than a lot of charts I've seen.

Anyone else think they research rabbit food more than their own? Lol...I'm writing this as I eat cold pizza.

 

[Azerane]

Here is a helpful chart that compares not just fiber and fat amounts, but the ratios of the different nutrients:
[FONT=&quot]http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp


Generally, the thought has always been to avoid alfalfa-based pellets for rabbits over 6 months of age. It seems that many of the cheap brands use alfalfa and don't have good ratios. However Sherwood Forest apparently balances things well.[/FONT]

That table makes oxbow look terrible You are right though, every other brand of pellet in this country (that I've found at least) is alfalfa/lucerne based. And on the off chance that they're not (one that I've found) they're a mixed bag of pellets and grain etc. That and the fiber content usually maxes out around 17% which is the reason I buy oxbow. The problem here is, pet stores sell bags of feed that they pack themselves (from much larger bags of feed) so you don't know exactly what you're buying anything, so people don't think to look for nutritional content, and nobody bothers to tell them.

When I bought my last bale of hay, the guy actually said to me that I could have a bale of lucerne for my rabbit, which I said no to, he replied that rabbit pellets were lucerne based so I could feed it. I told him that the pellets I fed weren't