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Pellets What brand is best?

kananaka

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KMS honestly is the best quality and cheapest hay per pound I have found I am am on the other side of the country from them. I was using Oxbow and it is way better than Kaytee (which I did use b4 switching to oxbow); then I ordered KMS and what a difference! Here is the link to KMS (broken link removed) you can even get an estimate for shipping cost. 25# of hay for $19 and it is the best quality hay I have ever seen. Oxbow is good but much more expensive per pound then KMS even with shipping, well at least it is for me :D.
 

seida

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Not to hijack, but how about pellets for young pigs? Oxbow is 6 months and above, and I can't seem to get hold of any alfalfa plain-pellets-only here. The only alfalfa based food is the mix kind with seeds in etc. Would it be acceptable to give the Oxbow but provide alfalfa separately?
 

MissJean

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Not to hijack, but how about pellets for young pigs? Oxbow is 6 months and above, and I can't seem to get hold of any alfalfa plain-pellets-only here. The only alfalfa based food is the mix kind with seeds in etc. Would it be acceptable to give the Oxbow but provide alfalfa separately?

Yes, you can also just feed veggies higher in calcium more often. I have a three month old on timothy pellets, and then do the maximum recommended frequency of things according to the nutrition chart. So Parsley for example, can be fed 2-4 times a week. I'll feed it to him 4 times per week. He's gained 153 grams in 6 weeks. He's doing just fine! :p
 

kananaka

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Not to hijack, but how about pellets for young pigs? Oxbow is 6 months and above, and I can't seem to get hold of any alfalfa plain-pellets-only here. The only alfalfa based food is the mix kind with seeds in etc. Would it be acceptable to give the Oxbow but provide alfalfa separately?

Oxbow makes an alfalfa based pellet (broken link removed) ; but yes just as MissJean says you can just feed foods higher in calcium more frequently.
 

BlueButterfly

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Alright, I have a question. Why does everyone say KMS is such a better price then anything else? It only costs 11 dollars for 9 pounds of second cut hay, but then it costs 25 dollars to ship.
 

Wildcavy

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Alright, I have a question. Why does everyone say KMS is such a better price then anything else? It only costs 11 dollars for 9 pounds of second cut hay, but then it costs 25 dollars to ship.

At least for hay prices in my area, when you add the shipping and the hay price and divide it out by unit (weight) it is less per unit than oxbow. I was blown away by the shipping prices at first, but then did the division and realized it was better. Also my pigs like it better.
 

MissJean

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Alright, I have a question. Why does everyone say KMS is such a better price then anything else? It only costs 11 dollars for 9 pounds of second cut hay, but then it costs 25 dollars to ship.

I buy 15 pound bales at a time and shipping is only 12 dollars for me. It depends on where you live.

Another thing is they eat more of the KMS hay than Oxbow or Kaytee for me. Less waste is more savings.
 

BlueButterfly

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@MissJean & [MENTION=19254]Wildcavy[/MENTION]
Alright, that makes sense. Thank you! Maybe I'll switch, if shipping prices go down. I think they already came down a little, so there's hope.
 

seida

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Yes, you can also just feed veggies higher in calcium more often. I have a three month old on timothy pellets, and then do the maximum recommended frequency of things according to the nutrition chart. So Parsley for example, can be fed 2-4 times a week. I'll feed it to him 4 times per week. He's gained 153 grams in 6 weeks. He's doing just fine! :p

Thanks! I'll just do that then. Unfortunately mine won't eat parsley, I keep trying it with her but after a tiny nibble she just won't touch it! (or carrots...or spinach... or red pepper... picky pig!) but hay is her favourite thing in the world so I'm sure she'll eat plenty of alfalfa.

[MENTION=21769]kananaka[/MENTION] thanks, yes I saw on the Oxbow pellets it says they have one for younger pigs, but unfortunately I can't get that here. I've only found the adult Oxbow, and even that I have to get online!
 

CritterLuvva

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@seida Have you tried the piggy burrito yet? Take her favorite lettuce, stuff it with a couple of her favorite vegetables, and small bits of new things as well. I've heard it's worked wonders with finicky piggies before. Good luck!
 

mufasa

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I don't know if my piggies are just strange or what, but they really don't eat a lot of their pellets. I started with Kaytee, which I bought before I knew better, then bought Oxbow but they haven't even gone through all the Kaytee yet and I had that back when I had Mufasa. I'm just going to throw away the rest and switch. They get salad twice a day and unlimited hay, so hopefully they're getting their nutrition there.
 

kananaka

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I don't know if my piggies are just strange or what, but they really don't eat a lot of their pellets. I started with Kaytee, which I bought before I knew better, then bought Oxbow but they haven't even gone through all the Kaytee yet and I had that back when I had Mufasa. I'm just going to throw away the rest and switch. They get salad twice a day and unlimited hay, so hopefully they're getting their nutrition there.
Ours did not eat much at first until recently. When we first got them the previous owner was feeding rabbit food, we switched them to Oxbow and the did not eat much at first; then one day it was like they realized it was not rabbit food anymore and started to eat much more, now they are on KMS and they eat it like crazy! Very little is left most days. I swear better pellets=more gone for my pigs. ;)
 

kananaka

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Thanks! I'll just do that then. Unfortunately mine won't eat parsley, I keep trying it with her but after a tiny nibble she just won't touch it! (or carrots...or spinach... or red pepper... picky pig!) but hay is her favourite thing in the world so I'm sure she'll eat plenty of alfalfa.

@kananaka thanks, yes I saw on the Oxbow pellets it says they have one for younger pigs, but unfortunately I can't get that here. I've only found the adult Oxbow, and even that I have to get online!
Ahh ok. I did not know if you knew or not. So are you going to feed the adult and higher calcium foods?
 

seida

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Ahh ok. I did not know if you knew or not. So are you going to feed the adult and higher calcium foods?


I think so, the only only other option is a seedy mix-type food - which is high in alfalfa and vitamins etc, but there's not enough pellets compared to other stuff for my liking. I'll pick up some alfalfa today! But she's about 4 months old, so not too long before she can switch to normal Oxbow.
@%1; Kind of! I've tried hiding things in her lettuce, but she just pulls it around until anything else falls out of eats around it! I've never had such a picky pig before... especially one that won't eat carrots! The only veggies she'll eat are lettuce, celery leaves and occasionally a little cucumber or some long beans. She loves fruit, but that's not helpful on a day-to-day basis :(
 
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CritterLuvva

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@seida I'll assume that last comment was aimed towards me? You forgot to put the user name in... Some people say they have to feed the burrito to them as a treat in your hand so it doesn't fall apart. Apart from that, I wouldn't have any experience or further information I can share with you. Maybe someone else can. If not, good luck with your piggy eater! :p

Please explain what you mean by "seedy mix-type food". That statement confused me. I know that piggies are not allowed to have nuts and seeds, but I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about.
 

Mom_of 3

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KMS honestly is the best quality and cheapest hay per pound I have found I am am on the other side of the country from them. I was using Oxbow and it is way better than Kaytee (which I did use b4 switching to oxbow); then I ordered KMS and what a difference! Here is the link to KMS (broken link removed) you can even get an estimate for shipping cost. 25# of hay for $19 and it is the best quality hay I have ever seen. Oxbow is good but much more expensive per pound then KMS even with shipping, well at least it is for me :D.
whats the difference between alfalfa hay and timothy hay which is better? I have 2 piggies that are a little over 1 month
 

seida

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[MENTION=22842]seida[/MENTION] I'll assume that last comment was aimed towards me? You forgot to put the user name in... Some people say they have to feed the burrito to them as a treat in your hand so it doesn't fall apart. Apart from that, I wouldn't have any experience or further information I can share with you. Maybe someone else can. If not, good luck with your piggy eater! :p

Please explain what you mean by "seedy mix-type food". That statement confused me. I know that piggies are not allowed to have nuts and seeds, but I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about.

I didn't, but I made a typo and this forum doesn't allow you to edit past 10 minutes.

And yes, that is what I mean, I thought it would be fairly obvious because it's the most common type, and is all that's available in stores here. Since I was finally able to acquire Oxbow, of course I want to switch.
 

Mom_of 3

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The kms is the cheapest ive found i ordered some online and our local petstore only carries kaytee brnd so i got of thing of it until the kms comes in! Im giving the girls celery and carrots twice a day once in the morni ng and once in the evening, tomorrow morning after work im going to try some parsley as the previous owners said that is their favorite and get some lettace as well we all love feeding them their veggies, i did get them both their own individual bowl for veggies but the one lil girl likes to steal her sisters veggies! Oh they also love red and yellow pepper! I find im truely enjoying these little critters more than i anticipated!!
 
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