pellet protest

[JuteCat]

My two guineas used to love their pellet food. I have been feeding them browns jr.piggy since I got them as little piggie babies.
they are about 6 months old now and just recently they seem to be not eating their pellets anymore. I don't understand it since they used to love the stuff.

I have tried opening a new bag, and putting a different brand in their cage. they just won't eat the pellets and squeak at me any time they know I'm around for food.
they have a very varied diet with lots and lots of hay and veggies.

are they just being picky little monsters and only want fresh veggies now or is there something more to it?

[Fay]

this_lil_piggy stopped feeding her pigs pellets (They didn't want them either I believe) and now she only feeds hay and good amount and variety of vegetables. Perhaps she could give some tips on this.

Another reason for pigs to stop eating could indicate illness. Are you weighing them weekly? I would advice to weigh them all daily for about a week and see if they are losing weight. If they loose more then 2 ounces in a week there could be a big problem.

I'd also advice to switch pellets to Oxbow or Kleenmama's what are the ingredients of your current pellet?

[pignewton]

Ly, can you confirm that it is okay to get rid of the pellets? I believe that its okay as long as they are eating a lot of hay and get enough vitamin C to make up for the amount your pigs would get from the pellets.

[Fay]

I believe it's do-able although it's recommended to keep some good quality pellet in the cage to make sure they get all they need. Leaving out pellets is not easy. You'd have to know a lot about their nutrition to make sure they don't lack anything.

[Mummy]

I would be very wary of cutting out pellets for 6-month old pigs.

It's best to find a pellet they will eat - have you tried Kleenmama's from Kleenmama's Hayloft :: Home My pigs love these pellets!

[Ly&Pigs]

I have to agree with Mummy on this one. At 6 months they are still growing and need the extra nutrition the pellets provide. At this age, they need to start receiving pellets in limited amounts vs. unlimited.

Try switching to a good quality pellet like KM's pellets or Oxbow and ditch this Browns Jr. stuff.

Do you think you could post me an ingredients list for this pellet so I can have it for our pellet thread VJ and I are working on?

[this_lil_piggy]

I agree, the first thing I would do is rule out any medical reason that they may be refusing them...such as tooth complications.
Weigh them daily to get an idea and make sure they aren't dropping weight.

My pigs did in fact begin to pick at their pellets and then eventually refuse them altogether, but this happened when I switched from a junkier sweeter brand, to a more nutritionally sound brand that wasn't as sweet. They didn't go off of pellets that they were used to eating.
I would suggest for now that you continue to offer the pellets and see if they will take back to them. Perhaps try removing them from the cage one day, and replacing them the next day and alternating with this for a while. On the days that they get pellets, count out how many you put in so you can recount and see if any are disappearing.
When my pigs began refusing them, I continued to offer them a few times a week for a good while to see if they would go back on them. They wouldn't, but part of me wishes they would have...

My group has done well on a hay and veggie diet, but it is definitely more work and cost involved. Providing 2-3 cups per pig a day in fresh veggies...and providing a larger variety ...I don't have the cost of pellets, but my veggie bill runs double what it used to, and takes up much more room in my fridge.
My pigs have been off the pellets for a few months, and will continue to be off them for another couple of months yet. When I place my next hay order from KM (about mid summer) I plan to order a new small bag of pellets to retry them now that it has been some time without.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

What brand of pellets are you feeding them? It may have been a bad bag. Oxbow or KM are higher quality pellets. Few pigs turn their nose up at that.

[this_lil_piggy]

Ly, Here is what I found:

F.M. Brown's Jr Piggy Growth Formula Daily Diet - Zoo Vital

Ingredients: Alfalfa Leaf Meal, Timothy Hay Meal, Ground Corn, Ground Whole Oats, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten, Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Brewer's Yeast Fermentation Product, Salt, Papain (an enzyme), Yucca Schidigera Extract (a flavoring agent), Vitamin A Supplement, Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3), Alpha Tocopherol (source of Vitamin E), Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K), Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Chloride, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Iron Menthionine, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Magnesium Chelate, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Product, Dried Lactobacillus bulgaricus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus lactis Fermentation Product, Sodium Selenite, and Artificial Flavors.
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 20.0% min
Crude Fat 4.0% min
Crude Fiber 12.5% max
Crude Fiber 11.5% min
Moisture 12.0 max
Ascorbic Acid 100 mg/Lb
Folic Acid 1.36 mg/Lb

I don't see much of anything good in the ingredients, and I am alarmed by some of them--the website I got the ingredients from boasts that this contains "beneficial bacteria's"... :-/

Here is the page I got the info from: FM Brown's Zoo Vital Jr. Piggy Diet at Drs. Foster and Smith
You have to click on the "more information" button for the ingred. list to pop up.

[JuteCat]

So it's really bad? How horrifying.
My only problem about oxbow is where I live. I only have petsmart which carries a lousy nothing.
they get oxbow hay because when I come home from college I stock up on hay (and they adore orchard grass).

Guess I'll have to order some online. Is cavy performance alright for 6 months? Or should they start eating adult food?

Btw this is really helpful. thank you guys. I was REALLY worried about my little guinea monsters.

[fairysari]

Actually, 'beneficial bacterias' is basically the same thing as 'probiotic' so that is not necessarily the worst part. The thing in those pellets that stuck out to me as BAD first was the animal sterol source of D3. As we all know cavies are strict vegetarians and they shouldn't have any animal products, even hidden in their pellets. I'm not sure about other ingrdients off the top of my head, but the animal sterol is enough for me to never feed these pellets to my pigs.

[Ly&Pigs]

Actually, 'beneficial bacterias' is basically the same thing as 'probiotic' so that is not necessarily the worst part.

The only problem is that not all of those dried bacterias are probiotics. Only one or two of them are. The rest are actually dried fungi's that have been added. I've been doing research on them.

[this_lil_piggy]

I knew the Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus was a probiotic and ok, but the others I was clueless about and not comfortable with. The Animal Sterol jumped out at me too as a no no.

I am sorry Jute, but I definitely would toss this stuff and not offer any more of it. :-/ If you can order online, I would consider ordering both hay and pellets. The items plus shipping averaged out by the total lbs would probably not cost you much more, if any, than what you are spending now...and your babies would be getting a much better pellet.

[JuteCat]

My mom is going to the pet store today. it will be faster for her to find it and mail it to me (2 days tops) than to get it online. So hopefully soon the situation will be rectified and they will be much healthier for it.

this was a big help. I had no idea the food i was giving them was so spooky.

[Jenah]

I haven't yet tried Kleenmama's pellets- but I can highly recommend the Oxbow Cavy Cuisine. My girls - even with their huge amounts of veggies and unlimited hay [which I get at Kleenmama's] - they still love their pellets too. They just gobble it all up!