Trying to find a new pellet!

[whitelop]

I've stopped shopping at Walmart, which means that I'll no longer be able to buy the Small World rabbit food.
I buy chicken feed and now cat food from Tractor Supply, so I was thinking of just making it one clean sweep of animal food from TSC. But I do buy dog food from Petsmart so rabbit food from there wouldn't be an issue either, but its probably more expensive.

So what are good brands from TSC. I know they sell Manna Pro, which is a brand that I like for chickens. How do rabbits do on Manny Pro?
They also have different types of Purina. Which one would be better for a house rabbit?

Or from Petsmart? I really prefer to not feed Oxbow, not because its not a great food, but I don't want to pay their prices.

Ultimitely I would like to get more bang for my buck. Like, a decent food without having to sign bits of my soul over every time I buy food for her.

Any and all suggestions welcome and feedback from feeding different food is great! I greatly appreciate it! Also, how did the different foods effect the fur and body type of the rabbit? Sherwood Forest made Ellie dull, but she has her shine back with Small World.

Thanks! Wow, sorry thats long!

 

[JBun]

Boycotting Walmart? Well, if you go with Petsmart, Oxbow seems to be the best, but also most expensive. Tractor supply feed can depend a lot on the mill for the quality that comes out. Some parts of the country have had problems with certain feeds killing off their rabbits. I would avoid Nutrena, as I've heard a lot of bad stories with their feed. I've heard varying things on Purina. I've heard of some problems with almost all of them, in certain states. Manna Pro might be alright since the small world brand is made by them, and basically the same thing. Just avoid anything with corn in the ingredient list, as well as ingredients that aren't specific, like 'forage products', 'grain products'. You want the specific ingredients listed(ex. alfalfa, oats, wheat, etc) Check the mill date too, to make sure it's not too old.

 

[whitelop]

Thanks Jenny! I think I might go with the Manna Pro, but I'll have to look at the ingredients. I like Manna Pro for my chickens, but thats totally different, since chickens can eat just about anything and everything. haha.

I might see how expensive Oxbow is. I've just seen smaller bags for more money that I want to spend. And I vaguely remember buying it for Foo years ago, like 3-4lb bags for like $14. (ridiculous) But I'll just have to check.

I feed my cats Purina, I'm not super thrilled about it but its pretty much the only thing they'll eat.
I could just go to Petsmart to get all my animal needs. Except the chicken feed. Why doesn't Petsmart sell chicken feed? Then I could switch cat food and rabbit food.

And yes, I'm boycotting Walmart. They're a really crooked corporation. My husbands company has had some difficulties with Walmart recently, so we've both decided to forgo the Walmart trips.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Are there any locally owner pet supply stores near you? Petsmart is expensive. I pay about $15 for the 10 pound bag of oxbow, at Petsmart that same size is at least $20. It doens't hurt to shop around, you might even find your dogs food cheaper.

I guess I am more picky about what I feed. The cost doens't matter so much as the quality and the results.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I would probably try Manna Pro since that's the company that makes the Small World pellets, if I remember right. I have used Purina before without issues too, but if a particular brand is working for you, it's best to stick with it.

 

[whitelop]

I agree with you Julie. I would assume that the Manna Pro and the Small Worlds would be pretty much the same right? I'll check ingredients.

There is a small animal supply store near me, that I used to get food from. I stopped feeding my dog the super expensive stuff, so I haven't been back. That place sells Vitakraft and Kaytee pellets. I haven't seen Vitakraft anywhere else, but its got all the extra colorful bits in it, so I don't want to feed it.

Price isn't a huge thing, but I'm trying to scale us back on everything. Including our food. I have a large quantity of animals to feed different foods at different prices. The price of chicken feed rises quarterly it seems. Not to take away from anyone elses animal numbers or feed costs, but we all could stand to save a few bucks right?! haha. I'm trying to find a happy medium for price vs quality. Make sense?

 

[majorv]

You might ask Tractor Supply how often they get shipments of Manna Pro, just to see what their turnover is. The one by us sells the Pro and Sho formulas in 50# bags.

 

[warminwisco]

We get Pen Pal bags of 50 lbs for 18 bucks. I have heard it get old but we have 2. Breeder felt it was a good pellet.

 

[Flick]

I'm not familiar with Pen Pals so I looked it up. All but one of their pellets are Alfalfa based. The first ingredient in "Professional Show" is alfalfa meal. The second ingredient is wheat middlings (aka floor sweepings). Same with Professional 18%, and Professional 16%. Rabbit Pellets 15% is dehydrated alfalfa meal, then dehulled soybean meal, then wheat middlings. Showboost doesn't have any hay or alfalfa in it at all. It's rice based. I don't want to start a war, here, but this stuff is not healthy at all. It's used to fatten up rabbits who are not expected to live long, anyway.

Adult rabbits should be fed a Timothy based pellet that has low protein (14% or less) and high fiber (20% or more). Read the ingredients on the pellet package. Ingredients are listed depending on the amount of that ingredient in the food product, going from most to least. Ergo, Timothy hay should be the first ingredient listed. It should not be Timothy middlings or dehydrated Timothy meal. Nor should wheat middlings be a second or third listing. "Middlings" is filler. Also, all of the protein amounts listed are too high and the fiber too low.

I order KMS Hayloft pellets with crude protein at 14%, and the fiber at 20 - 25%. The first 4 ingredients listed are Timothy grass hay, oats, wheat, barley. No Timothy or wheat middlings. Oxbow Hay has similar ingredients. Unfortunately, none of my rabbits like Oxbow, at all. But, all 3 like KMS pellets.

 

[Blue eyes]

Hey, Morgan,

I know you may go with Manna Pro, but I just wanted to let you know that I got the Oxbow from pet food direct online. They had free shipping and I bought a 50lb bag of the Oxbow. I put it in smaller bags and refrigerate what I'm not currently using to make it last. I paid around $60, so about $1.20 per lb. (Way less than what you saw: $14 for 3 or 4 lbs)
It looks like they have a 15% off sale in July right now....