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Pellets Wheat Middlings, Soy and Molasses

Guinea Pig Papa

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Sounds good!! Thankfully you have that new co-worker. I ordered the 4.5 pound bag just to try, but I intend to order the 19 pound box online too :)

Believe it or not Lisa, it's actually cheaper for me to buy the Sherwood this way, than to buy the Oxbow locally. Not by much, but even after the exchange it's still cheaper.

If I bought it in Canada, even with the shipping from Hop Online, it's much more expensive that way.
 

sallyvh

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I'm thinking of trying these in the future, but I just recieved my order of 50lbs of KMS pellets... can't justify wasting them, especially when I don't really have concerns about my pigs now. My 7.5 year old is prone to some gas issues, but I have her on a rountine and medication that keeps her happy and stable.

Plus it's going to be crazy expensive for me to get them here. I order pellets 50lbs at a time. KMS costs me about $3.55lb, Oxbow is $2.50lb but sherwood would be roughly $6.40lb if I buy from their suggested Canadian retailer.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I'm thinking of trying these in the future, but I just recieved my order of 50lbs of KMS pellets... can't justify wasting them, especially when I don't really have concerns about my pigs now. My 7.5 year old is prone to some gas issues, but I have her on a rountine and medication that keeps her happy and stable.

Plus it's going to be crazy expensive for me to get them here. I order pellets 50lbs at a time. KMS costs me about $3.55lb, Oxbow is $2.50lb but sherwood would be roughly $6.40lb if I buy from their suggested Canadian retailer.

IIRC, you don't live that far from me. If, in the future you'd like to try them, I can get a box for you :) It's the least I can do for the help you've given me in the past.
 

sallyvh

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IIRC, you don't live that far from me. If, in the future you'd like to try them, I can get a box for you :) It's the least I can do for the help you've given me in the past.

Thank you! I may have to take you up on that offer in the future. I don't think we're very far, I'm on the edge of Hamilton/Stoney Creek. About 45 minutes from the Niagara border. I would gladly drive down :)

I'll keep you posted though, like I said, I just had 50lbs of KMS delivered for the girls and would really like to use it up. It goes surprisingly quickly with 7 hungry pigs to feed!
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Thank you! I may have to take you up on that offer in the future. I don't think we're very far, I'm on the edge of Hamilton/Stoney Creek. About 45 minutes from the Niagara border. I would gladly drive down :)

I'll keep you posted though, like I said, I just had 50lbs of KMS delivered for the girls and would really like to use it up. It goes surprisingly quickly with 7 hungry pigs to feed!

Yes, you're barely 30 minutes down the road. Whenever you'd like to try them, let me know!

On another note, Sly was doing a LOT of dancing for treats yesterday. I'd seen him in his pellet bowl and his hay pile, but not in the pellet bowl anywhere near as much as he used to. And very little poop in his cage this morning.

Now, I'm not convinced that this is not due to his teeth, as he's scheduled to go for a checkup again Wednesday and I've seen signs of malocclusion again, but on a whim I weighed him this morning. 1222g. He was 1262g yesterday morning.

I gave him back the Oxbow hoping he'll eat more. He needs the weight more than anything right now.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Sly sat at his pellet bowl for at least an hour this morning, stuffing his face on Oxbow pellets. He was starving himself waiting for the "good stuff".
 

spy9doc

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He was starving himself waiting for the "good stuff".

In my limited experience with Sherwood pellets, you really need to make the switch gradually. Most cavies are simply resistant to change! I'm now largely feeding the new pellets with a few of the old mixed in. I'm using the old pellets as "treats" instead of carrots.....which they don't seem to like anymore. No change in weight, but they are eating hay like crazy.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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In my limited experience with Sherwood pellets, you really need to make the switch gradually. Most cavies are simply resistant to change! I'm now largely feeding the new pellets with a few of the old mixed in. I'm using the old pellets as "treats" instead of carrots.....which they don't seem to like anymore. No change in weight, but they are eating hay like crazy.

I gave him back his Oxbow, but it was mixed with the Sherwood. He's got a small bowl (which the little twerp LOVES to dump out) full of Sherwood, and he's been eating those too.

I thought, because he HAD been eating the Sherwood that a cold turkey swap would be ok. Nope. 40 grams in 24 hours made my breath catch in my chest. He does NOT have that kind of weight to trade off. The second I picked him up to weigh him this morning I just knew he'd dropped a bunch.

So, he still has the Sherwood to nibble. But he has his Oxbow, too. Every time I've come back home today I've found him standing at his pellet bowl grazing.
 

lisa325

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OMG!! I'm getting so much grief about trying these pellets ( not from this site btw ), but some people are acting like I'm poisoning my pigs. I have people saying these pellets are BS and alfalfa WILL cause bladder stones, and the pigs will lose muscle mass, and I'm starving them.
All of the pigs dropped a bit of weight, but I was expecting it as they were transitioning, and also going without the mollases, and other nasty fillers. Mario is our biggest pig, in fact he's very big, he was the most resistant to the pellet change, and he did drop 60 grams in 2 weeks which dId scare me, but he is a pig who could afford the loss, and he has now started eating the pellets.
I have a friend telling me Mazuri are the best pellets as it's what they use in zoo's, and the pigs love them. When I looked them up it's no wonder the pigs love them, they are loaded with filler crap.
I don't want to give up on this new diet yet, the doc says the adjustment, understandably, doesn't happen overnight. I just wish people would stop acting like I'm killing my pigs, I love them all dearly, and just want whats best for them. Ok, that's it.....rant over. I just hope I'm on the right path, and can one day tell the nay sayers......see!! It does work.
 

bpatters

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I do want to issue one word of caution in these pellet discussions I've seen in some places. Many of the ingredients listed in pellets are NOT fillers, but are vitamins and minerals listed by their chemical names. The main "fillers" I see in pellets are soy, wheat, corn and molasses. The molasses are used to help stick the ingredients together, and only have the unintended side effect of making the pellet a little bit sweet.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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OMG!! I'm getting so much grief about trying these pellets ( not from this site btw ), but some people are acting like I'm poisoning my pigs. I have people saying these pellets are BS and alfalfa WILL cause bladder stones, and the pigs will lose muscle mass, and I'm starving them.
All of the pigs dropped a bit of weight, but I was expecting it as they were transitioning, and also going without the mollases, and other nasty fillers. Mario is our biggest pig, in fact he's very big, he was the most resistant to the pellet change, and he did drop 60 grams in 2 weeks which dId scare me, but he is a pig who could afford the loss, and he has now started eating the pellets.
I have a friend telling me Mazuri are the best pellets as it's what they use in zoo's, and the pigs love them. When I looked them up it's no wonder the pigs love them, they are loaded with filler crap.
I don't want to give up on this new diet yet, the doc says the adjustment, understandably, doesn't happen overnight. I just wish people would stop acting like I'm killing my pigs, I love them all dearly, and just want whats best for them. Ok, that's it.....rant over. I just hope I'm on the right path, and can one day tell the nay sayers......see!! It does work.

I've had to transition Sly much slower. I tried cold turkey, and it just didn't work. He lost 40 grams THE FIRST DAY, and he doesn't have that kind of weight to trade off.

I'm going to persist, and since he's been back on Oxbow as well his poops have gotten messier, but I'm hopeful that one day things will go well for him.
 

lisa325

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I've had to transition Sly much slower. I tried cold turkey, and it just didn't work. He lost 40 grams THE FIRST DAY, and he doesn't have that kind of weight to trade off.

I'm going to persist, and since he's been back on Oxbow as well his poops have gotten messier, but I'm hopeful that one day things will go well for him.

I hear you, we just have to stick it out, and not give in to the little buggers. I do have to agree about the poops too, I never thought I would be so impressed by guinea pig poops, but they are amazing when they're on the Sherwood pellets lol.
I got scared about the weight loss too, but Mario can stand to lose some, he's like a butterball, lol.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Sly had done so damn well after a very rocky start after this last surgery. His weight had actually gotten up to where he was a year ago (even his vet was shocked, we'd managed to get over 100 grams back on him in a month.)

So a 40 gram loss in 24 hours for him was BIG. I couldn't risk any more, especially with another surgery likely coming up. He has another checkup tomorrow.
 

TrueColoursProd

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We sell pellets that are produced by a small feed mill up in Mennonite country that has been in operation for about 60+ years now, and so far - right across the board - the acceptance has been 100% with them compared to anything else our clients piggies have had in the past ... they actually refuse to touch the "old pellets" once they have tried ours ... :)

What we really liked about them is the volume they put through the mill each time - they make the piggy pellets in batches of 40 bags only at a time and then once those are gone, they make more so the freshness is incredible and the piggies know the difference! Many times when we deliver them to our customers they are less than a week old from production :) With the piggies having a sense of smell that is 200+ times greater than ours, they can really sniff out fresh versus stale and if given the choice, wont touch the "older" ones and I cant say that I blame them at all!

The other big thing to remember is that the recommended feeding of any pellet product is no more than 1/8 of a cup per day per piggy. We've come across customers that have been feeding 1/2 cup or more per day or feeding them pellets free choice which is really not recommended at all and can cause a huge array of GI upsets if they continue to do so ...

The pellets we have are a 20% alfalfa component and I think most customers rationalize that percentage logically, so that 20% based on 1/8 cup is not a lot of alfalfa so as long as they maintain a balanced overall diet with lots of veggies, it should be fine :)
 

TrueColoursProd

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I do want to issue one word of caution in these pellet discussions I've seen in some places. Many of the ingredients listed in pellets are NOT fillers, but are vitamins and minerals listed by their chemical names. The main "fillers" I see in pellets are soy, wheat, corn and molasses. The molasses are used to help stick the ingredients together, and only have the unintended side effect of making the pellet a little bit sweet.

Actual commercial grade molasses which I'm sure is what is being used in pet food production is actually not sweet at all

The local feed mills can get barrels of molasses for large animal production facilities and if you dip a finger in to taste that stuff, its actually quite bitter. Its night and day different from what you buy in the stores and use for human consumption :)
 

TrueColoursProd

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I'm thinking of trying these in the future, but I just recieved my order of 50lbs of KMS pellets... can't justify wasting them, especially when I don't really have concerns about my pigs now. My 7.5 year old is prone to some gas issues, but I have her on a rountine and medication that keeps her happy and stable.

Plus it's going to be crazy expensive for me to get them here. I order pellets 50lbs at a time. KMS costs me about $3.55lb, Oxbow is $2.50lb but sherwood would be roughly $6.40lb if I buy from their suggested Canadian retailer.

FWIW - the ones we have available are .78 per lb based on a 55 lb bulk bag ($42.95). Its one of the benefits of buying direct from the small mills with no distributors or middleman in between and not buying from larger operations
 
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