Kaytee, Zupreem, or Sherwood Forest pellets?

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I just recently bought the Sherwood Forest rabbit pellets for my bunny Lila and her kits. She used to eat Kaytee Forti-Diet and ever since the first taste of Sherwood Forest she won't eat the Kaytee!!

I really love the pellets, they smell great, are natural, and Lila loves them! My only problem is they are a little expensive.. It costs a lot of money for me to ship the pellets. She ate half of a 5lb bag in a week and it's going to cost me over $25 to buy another bag. The only brands I have in my area are Kaytee, Zupreem, and maybe some other brands I can let you know about. Charlie is still eating Kaytee Timothy Complete and he loves it. He is at a healthy weight and seems to be doing just fine.

What do you think I should do? Is Kaytee or Zupreem an alright brand? If they are I will try to start feeding her one of those brands. If not I can continue buying the pellets, im just looking for a cheaper way to feed my 4 bunnies but their health is very important to me so whatever is best i'll do

Thanks everyone!!

 

[MagPie]

Wait one rabbit ate half of a 5lb bag in a week?! I got thru 5 lbs in about a month and a half (probably longer). How much are you feeding her? Or am I misunderstanding....

Anyway I used to feed Kaytee before. For me it's about the same price as feeding Sherwood.

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I'm feeding her free choice because she is nursing two kits. Is this correct to feed her free choice?? It's probably over 1 cup a day

For me it costs $12.32 for a 5lb bag of Sherwood and $5 for a 5lb bag of Kaytee so Sherwood is more expensive for me.

 

[MagPie]

Ooooh hmmm I dunno about that then. Maybe nursing rabbits need free feed. Someone can answer that better then me.

 

[mdith4him]

You get a better deal if you order the larger bags/boxes of Sherwood. We get the 19lb box and pay (I believe) around $7 in shipping. So, total, it's about $30. That's about $1.50 per pound, which is still more than the Kaytee, but I think it's worth it. Also, she won't be nursing kits forever, so she'll only be getting free fed for a couple weeks, right? If that's the case, then you won't go through it as fast!

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, the two larger sizes of sherwood are a MUCH better deal than the small one!

you can keep the pellets fresh for quite a while with proper storage. I bought the big box of sherwood and I keep some in a cereal tupperware thing for daily feeding, then divided up the rest into gallon ziplock bags, pressed as much air as possible out and put them in the fridge, which is the best way to store them. (source: http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#pellets )

once she's no longer nursing, she shouldn't be eating more than like 1/8-1/2 cup per day depending on her size and whether she's over, under or normal weight. I have two bunnies and they get 1/3-1/2 cup twice a day (they're babies, so they get more than adults, but Gaz has weight issues so they don't get unlimited pellets) and I haven't even gone through half of the sherwood pellets that I ordered at the end of august.

 

[ldoerr]

Nursing does DO need to be free fed. The babies also need to be free fed. I have 2 adult rabbits. I bought a 20lb bag of Mana Pro feed in August and still have over 1/3 of it left. I plan on trying Zupreem next. (I actually have already bought a bag of it thinking that I had less food than I actually do).

 

[Thumperina]

the bigger amount you buy, the less it costs you per pound. Just calculate price per pound and see - it may not be that bad when you buy sherwood in bulk.
Knowing you have 3 and they will be eating it till 12 weeks old... I would buy the largest bag of sherwood

 

[Blue eyes]

Don't know if you like Oxbow Essentials, but they have it on sale at petfood direct.com

If you buy the 50 lb bag, it's free shipping.
They have the adult bunny version and the baby/juvenile version.

The adult is on sale for $62, the baby for $55 (50lb bags). [That breaks down to paying either $6.20 or $5.50 for a 5 lb bag.]

I just received my 50lb adult bag today.

 

[ldoerr]

Blue eyes wrote:

The adult is on sale for $62, the baby for $55 (50lb bags).  [That breaks down to paying either $6.20 or $5.50 for a 5 lb bag.]

That is CRAZY expensive for rabbit food. When I have to spend more than $14 for a 50lb bag I think that price is too much.

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I just ordered a 19lb bag of Sherwood Forest and it cost me $36...

Hopefully it's worth it..

 

[missyscove]

That's a pretty good price for Oxbow. With my vet student discount I pay a little less than a dollar per pound, but the price per pound is the same no matter what size bag I get so I get the smallest bag. I only have one rabbit so I can't go through a big bag quickly enough for me to be confident that the pellets are still good.

 

[Blue eyes]

iLuvMyLilBuns wrote:

I just ordered a 19lb bag of Sherwood Forest and it cost me $36...

Hopefully it's worth it..

So that works out to about $9.50 for 5 lbs.

That's a little more than the Oxbow on sale, but if that's the food you prefer and your bunnies like, then it's certainly worth it. Still, you got it waay cheaper than the $25 you would have had to pay buying just 5 lb bag.

 

[Blue eyes]

ldoerr wrote:

Blue eyes wrote:

The adult is on sale for $62, the baby for $55 (50lb bags). [That breaks down to paying either $6.20 or $5.50 for a 5 lb bag.]

That is CRAZY expensive for rabbit food. When I have to spend more than $14 for a 50lb bag I think that price is too much.

Well the zupreem you want to switch to is $8 for a 5 lb bag and on sale for $23 for a 20lb bag.