Prices?

[Bo B Bunny]

Peg, doesn't dumor have a high level of alfalfa in it? I checked it out and saw that and decided against it.

Funny that we were ALL paying less and suddenly ALL got raised about 30% here in the states....

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Honestly guys, I'm wondering how much it has to do with the economics of the situation.

Could be that some suppliers are enduring a drought, maybe others have been nailed by frost.
Still other farmers may be bankrupted by the current economic climate. The cost of fuel and packaging may have risen. Perhaps there's been a corporate take over...

If you can pinpoint the growers' location, you can figure out how the crops are doing.

 

[TinysMom]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Peg, doesn't dumor have a high level of alfalfa in it? I checked it out and saw that and decided against it.

Funny that we were ALL paying less and suddenly ALL got raised about 30% here in the states....

Bo - I honestly couldn't tell you - as I've only recently been able to get Dumor (TSC opened up here in town on 5/9 - I'd only used it once before that).

You have to remember though that I'm talking about a four way mixture of brands...and the reason I do it is because we've had feed issues before when we went with the two brands that were available to us at the time.

I think there are a few different DuMor brands too from what I remember...I'll have to look at it and see.

The thing is- since I go through about 6 or 7 bags every 2 weeks - I can't afford $50 per bag....so I have to do what I can.

I don't believe there is any one perfect brand.....so I'm happy with what I'm doing - especially now that TSC is here in town and I can get more than just Purina and Wendlands (a brand made here in Texas).

 

[slavetoabunny]

BethM wrote:

slavetoabunny wrote:

Sorry I can't make a suggestion. My pellet cost with APD is around $2 a pound with shipping.

Patti, how is the quality on the APD pellets?
I have been considering switching to APD for awhile. I haven't had room to store larger amounts, so it wasn't cost effective for me. I'm still considering switching, I'll soon be able to store a larger bag. And if the Oxbow price is going up anyway, it might be time for me to make the jump.

I have been feeding APD for over 5 years now and have always been happy with the quality. The bunnies are very healthy and happy with their pellets. I've considered a less expensive pellet, but APD has worked so well for me that I can't bring myself to change.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

BethM wrote:

As far as "thriving" on supplements alone... It has recently been shown that isolated vitamins and minerals react very differently in the body than vitamins and minerals that occur in whole foods. The human body does not recognize one isolated vitamin the same way it recognizes a group of vitamins put together a certain way in a food. Which is why, for example, enriched flour is not asgood for you as a food that naturally contains the things that are put into flour to "enrich" it. It's also why drinking that "Coke Plus" stuff is NOT a good way to get b vitamins, or whatever it is they put in there. Taking a beta carotene supplement is not as good as eating a carrot.



As far as the difference between Oxbow and Dodson and Horrell feed.... You do not list the items that compose the last item on the list, "Rabbit Vitamin Supplement."Many of the things you list out on theOxbow ARE vitamin supplements,butthey're listed individually, instead of just lumped together. You can't really compare the those, unless you can say exactly what vitamins are included in the "Rabbit Vitamin Supplement."

Yes, it was shown that isolated vits/minerals wern't as good as natural vitamins, but humans CAN thrive on them if they have sufficient calories/energy/fat. Thats what I was getting at.

Rabbit Vitamin Supplement (B7, B2, B12, B4, E and A)
I do think its funny how times have changed. How pellets used to be for putting weight on a rabbit, not for primary nutrition. Casper gets "sufficient" nutrition from his diet without pellets, pellets are purely for his weight (he does alot of rabbit hopping and as he is still very young [about 1 year and 3 months] he is constantly darting around) and because he enjoys them, not nutrition.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Peg, I've used Dumor sheep feed, and horse feeds and they are actually really good. Senior horse feed is SO good it surprised me. We used it for the old mare Lexi first rode. She's still alive and 31 years old!!!

Dumor does have 2 kinds that I know of. One is for young rabbits. I don't know, I will look more at them. I have a TSC about 5 min. from me!

What is this APD?

 

[mouse_chalk]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

What is this APD?

Patti will answer this one without even moving her fingers!

It's American Pet Diner I believe:

http://www.americanpetdiner.com/

I think that's the site.... Their stuff looks good! Shame it's so far away from me...

 

[BethM]

mouse_chalk wrote:

Bo B Bunny wrote:

What is this APD?

Patti will answer this one without even moving her fingers!

It's American Pet Diner I believe:

http://www.americanpetdiner.com/

I think that's the site.... Their stuff looks good! Shame it's so far away from me...

That's it!

I like that it has probiotics in it.

I just checked their prices, and it looks like a 50lb bag, with shipping, will cost me about $1.46/lb, compared to $1.67/lb I'm paying for Oxbow. Will probably be switching as soon as I have a place to store it.

I already use their hay.

 

[slavetoabunny]

I used to use APD hay until I discovered Kleenmama's. KM is less expensive and the quality is awesome. The have stellar customer service too.

 

[PepnFluff]

Man I'm totally jealous of you all! I have 3 diffrent sorts of pellets available to me a rabbit mix, NRM and reliance. NRM the best onehas the highest fibre with max 17% If you think thats bad I won't even tell you the reliance one:cry1:And after the customer service of Reliance trying to find out the ingrediants and finally finding out, I'm bout ready to leave them.

 

[BethM]

slavetoabunny wrote:

I used to use APD hay until I discovered Kleenmama's. KM is less expensive and the quality is awesome. The have stellar customer service too.

The rescue I work with sells the APD hay. It is more expensive, but it helps us raise money.

I was in the pet store yesterday to get Bene-Bac, and I re-checked the price we've been paying for Oxbow. $12.99 for 5 lbs!!!!! After tax, that's $2.80/lb. :shock: That's twice what I could get APD pellets for, including shipping!

I will be ordering from them next week.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

That's so bad isn't it? I was paying $8.99 I think for 5 lbs and now it's like $12.99....

I looked into APD and it was going to be about the same with shipping for me to get that.

 

[Nonamebunni]

i think were still paying 8 something here for the probly 5Lb bag, and we also get a ticket with every 5 bought you get a free one

 

[undergunfire]

APD looks pretty good, but with shipping for me for 50lbs it will be about $63 ($1.26 per lbs...still not bad). I forgot how much it costs to get a 50lbs bag sent to me through Oxbow...I'll have to find that out today.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I would definitely be interested in hearing what the issue is with alfalfa pellets that everyone wants to avoid them like the plague.

I have been raising rabbits on alfalfa pellets, fresh timothy hay, and a pinch of oats daily for years. I haven't had one rabbit go off feed or have any digestive complications. Not one. So I would never change the diet. As they say, don't fix what isn't broken!

On the other hand, many pet owners seem to be into the timothy pellets and green diets, and their rabbits consistently experience digestive problems.

Coincidence? Maybe. But I'm not convinced.

JMPO!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

undergunfire wrote:

APD looks pretty good, but with shipping for me for 50lbs it will be about $63 ($1.26 per lbs...still not bad). I forgot how much it costs to get a 50lbs bag sent to me through Oxbow...I'll have to find that out today.

Oxbow quit selling directly to the public awhile back.

See, I can get it from PSP for $63 or less. HOWEVER, the bag they were going to sell me was dated for August.... if I am going to pay that much - I want a fresh bag.

 

[wooly_queen]

Wowza! I use Manna Pro - Sho Formula. When I first moved to MI (5 years ago) it was about $9.50 and now it is about $20. It has more than doubled in 5 years, but that increase for Oxbow is insane!

 

[Baby Juliet]

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

I would definitely be interested in hearing what the issue is with alfalfa pellets that everyone wants to avoid them like the plague.

I have been raising rabbits on alfalfa pellets, fresh timothy hay, and a pinch of oats daily for years. I haven't had one rabbit go off feed or have any digestive complications. Not one. So I would never change the diet. As they say, don't fix what isn't broken!

On the other hand, many pet owners seem to be into the timothy pellets and green diets, and their rabbits consistently experience digestive problems.

Coincidence? Maybe. But I'm not convinced.

JMPO!

Some pet owners have old rabbits that don't get much exercise, hay nor veges. They got to use timothy base pellets because they have sickly rabbits. Healthy young rabbits don't have those problems specially if they are fed more hay and greensthan pellets and have room enough to run around all day. Couch potato rabbits get sickly just like couch potato people.

 

[tonyshuman]

I'd look into Purina (I know, Pennie, you don't like them) Hi-Fiber Lab diet. It is alfalfa-based, but it is very high in fiber. They feed it at the shelter (with TONS of good timmy hay) and the bunnies do very well, it seems. Stasis is very rare, and even the suspected megacolon bunny constantly poos (strangely shaped, but poos nonetheless). It seems to be a good pellet.

 

[BethM]

Baby Juliet wrote:

Some pet owners have old rabbits that don't get much exercise, hay nor veges. They got to use timothy base pellets because they have sickly rabbits. Healthy young rabbits don't have those problems specially if they are fed more hay and greensthan pellets and have room enough to run around all day. Couch potato rabbits get sickly just like couch potato people.

My rabbits all get a large salad, a small amount of timothy-based pellets, and a lot of hay. None of them are "old." None of them are inactive or overweight. One has digestive issues from time to time, but the other two do not, on the same diet and exercise regimen.