WOW!!! Sherwood Forest Natural Rabbit Food

[Imbrium]

well, I went out to feed 'em their nightly veggies and all of the sherwood pellets they had left in there were gone from the bowl, so I guess mine are done being stubborn about it (took 'em a day to try veggies and they love those now).

personally, I think the sherwood pellets taste a little better (well, less bad)... yes, I really did taste the bunny food pellets, lol - I was curious about what I'm feeding my bunns and what sort of tastes they like . neither one tastes very good to me, but sherwood tastes more like their alfalfa and the other one tastes... I dunno, less natural I guess, and kinda chalky.

 

[MagPie]

I'm going to keep trying with Harvey. If he still won't eat it I'll just have to go back to his old food. The stinker. You'd think the fresher food would taste better.

 

[Imbrium]

my bunns are still being picky about this stuff... woke up today and they were both sitting in front of the pellet bowl giving me an expectant "where's breakfast" look even though there was still sherwood forest food in the bowl. when I told them to eat it 'cause they weren't getting anything else, though, they did start munching so hopefully they'll resign themselves to it soon enough.

I was taking my bunnies to the vet today anyway, so I made sure to bring the ingredient/nutrition info page and brochure that come with the free sample so that Dr. McGehee could look them over and give me his opinion on the food.

he said it looks like a *really* good food and encouraged me to stick with the sherwood forest brand for my two bunns. (I got the sample of the adult food 'cause they're 12 1/2-13 1/2 weeks)

 

[Thumperina]

Can I freeze this food?
What is the best way to store it when you buy a large bag?

 

[Thumperina]

Imbrium wrote:

sherwood tastes more like their alfalfa

so, have you tried their alfalfa too? :coolness:

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, lol, and the timothy. timothy tastes practically like nothing but is really tough, the alfalfa's much softer/breaks apart easily and has a sort of sweetish taste to it

if you buy a large bag, split it into smaller ziplock bags and get as much air as possible out, then store them in the fridge (not freezer) (source - http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#pellets )

 

[Imbrium]

in the battle of wills between picky bunnies and sherwood forest food, it seems the food has triumphed. the mix they're getting at this point is only like 10% old food and they dove right in when I gave them pellets tonight

 

[Imbrium]

I've had them fully swapped over to the sherwood pellets for about two weeks now. they come running when they hear the pellet container and eagerly munch away at the sherwood forest food throughout the day.

I had been limiting pellets quite a bit at the vet's recommendation due to Gaz having weight issues. I'd try to go back to unlimited after she slimmed down and she'd get a bit of a chubby tummy again. with the sherwood food, I've been offering unlimited pellets (because they're still babies) for the last couple weeks and Gaz has been maintaining a healthy weight

 

[Thumperina]

My rabbits won the battle with Sherwood forest.
First I bought them a sample of M-S, they didn't eat it.
Then, I discovered we got babies so I got a large bag of L-G. This food goes a little better but I still can't say that they love it.
Then, I thought I would keep offering M--S to my older male rabbit as I wanted to switch them to healthy food (they used to eat Bonanza). I bought a large bag of M-s. No love happened. INstead of noticing "a lot of improvement in energy level, playfullness and fur quality" I had rabbits with no energy (as they were not eating this food when I ran out of Bonanza). It lasted about a week when all they got was M--S sherwood forest food. Older rabbits would rather eat L--G if nothing else, as we can't absolutely separate their bowls.
Then, after a week, I gave up. I bought Bonanza again. I got back my happy energetic rabbits.

What to do now? I know, Bonanza must be bad. But even little ones would crunch on it with great pleasure when they rarely get access to it.

 

[whitelop]

I tried to order the sample to try out, and it wouldn't let me order.

 

[mdith4him]

Thumperina--Maybe it will just take them awhile to get used to a new healthier food. This is the ingredient list for Bonanza that I found on PetSmart's website:

Wheat middlings, soybean hulls, dehydrated alfalfa meal, cane molasses, dehulled soybean meal, flaxseed meal, salt, lignin sulfonate, timothy hay, ground limestone, clipped oats, choline chloride, DL-methionine, oat groats, dried carrots, soybean oil, dried papaya, dried pineapple, orange peel, roasted green peas, vitamin E supplement, sodium selenite, pumpkin seeds, raisins, roasted soybeans, dried cranberries, dried bananas, ferrous sulfate, magnesium oxide, rose hips, niacin supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, flaxseed, manganese sulfate, sugar, calcium pantothenate, zinc oxide, dried peppermint, thiamine mononitrate, pyrioxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, rolle oats, biotin, vitmain a acetate, cobalt carbonate, corn syrup, zinc sulfate, riboflavin supplement, palm oil, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, mineral oil, ground corn, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, dried parsley, ground blueberries, natural flavoring, sunflower oil, rosemary extract, canola oil, mixed tocopherols.

It looks to be full of fruit and seeds (and ground limestone???) which is like candy. I guess it would be like a person who is used to eating fast food all the time. Switching to healthy, home cooked meals would be an adjustment, too. I would keep trying with the Sherwood or at least start buying a better brand of food.

Whitelop--I'm sure if you email customer service you will get a quick response. I've always had excellent customer care from David!

 

[Mariah]

Is this food available in Canada? I have looked at pet stores and cannot find it.

 

[Thumperina]

mdith4him wrote:

Thumperina--Maybe it will just take them awhile to get used to a new healthier food. This is the ingredient list for Bonanza that I found on PetSmart's website:

Wheat middlings, soybean hulls, dehydrated alfalfa meal, cane molasses, dehulled soybean meal, flaxseed meal, salt, lignin sulfonate, timothy hay, ground limestone, clipped oats, choline chloride, DL-methionine, oat groats, dried carrots, soybean oil, dried papaya, dried pineapple, orange peel, roasted green peas, vitamin E supplement, sodium selenite, pumpkin seeds, raisins, roasted soybeans, dried cranberries, dried bananas, ferrous sulfate, magnesium oxide, rose hips, niacin supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, flaxseed, manganese sulfate, sugar, calcium pantothenate, zinc oxide, dried peppermint, thiamine mononitrate, pyrioxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, rolle oats, biotin, vitmain a acetate, cobalt carbonate, corn syrup, zinc sulfate, riboflavin supplement, palm oil, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, mineral oil, ground corn, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, dried parsley, ground blueberries, natural flavoring, sunflower oil, rosemary extract, canola oil, mixed tocopherols.

It looks to be full of fruit and seeds (and ground limestone???) which is like candy. I guess it would be like a person who is used to eating fast food all the time. Switching to healthy, home cooked meals would be an adjustment, too. I would keep trying with the Sherwood or at least start buying a better brand of food.

Whitelop--I'm sure if you email customer service you will get a quick response. I've always had excellent customer care from David!

Meredith, thank you! I am mixing Sherwood Forest with a little bit of Bonanza, hopefully they eatsome Sherwood food.

What other "betterfood" can you recommend?

 

[Imbrium]

Thumperina wrote:

My rabbits won the battle with Sherwood forest.
First I bought them a sample of M-S, they didn't eat it.
Then, I discovered we got babies so I got a large bag of L-G. This food goes a little better but I still can't say that they love it.
Then, I thought I would keep offering M--S to my older male rabbit as I wanted to switch them to healthy food (they used to eat Bonanza). I bought a large bag of M-s. No love happened. INstead of noticing "a lot of improvement in energy level, playfullness and fur quality" I had rabbits with no energy (as they were not eating this food when I ran out of Bonanza). It lasted about a week when all they got was M--S sherwood forest food. Older rabbits would rather eat L--G if nothing else, as we can't absolutely separate their bowls.
Then, after a week, I gave up. I bought Bonanza again. I got back my happy energetic rabbits.

What to do now? I know, Bonanza must be bad. But even little ones would crunch on it with great pleasure when they rarely get access to it.

if they won't eat the sherwood forest food, I'd recommend trying oxbow essentials. it's got 14% protein/25-29% fiber which is much better than most rabbit foods (you want low protein/high fiber)

~~~

the sherwood food is only available online, I believe - not sold in any pet stores.

 

[Thumperina]

Imbrium wrote:

if they won't eat the sherwood forest food, I'd recommend trying oxbow essentials. it's got 14% protein/25-29% fiber which is much better than most rabbit foods (you want low protein/high fiber)

I just checked Bonanza

Crude protein (minimum) 13.5% (I wonder, what is the maximum?)
Crude fiber: min 16% - max 18%

yeah, thats not much for fiber

 

[MagPie]

Thumperina, definitely keep trying. Harvey finally started eating Sherwood and not just nibbling at it. Took little over a month but he finally eats it haha. He loves sweets too.

 

[Thumperina]

Thanks everyone.
I ran out of SHerwood forest for my little bunnies (acvtually they are 10 weeks old, not that little
I ordered more, it should be here in 2 days.
What to feed them till it arrives? I have Sherwood forest for grownup rabbits, should I give it to my bunnies? Won't have food for them for 2 more days

 

[Imbrium]

I would think that feeding the adult formula would be better than going out to buy cheap pellets to tide you over or something, since the ingredients for the two formulas will be similar enough to hopefully not cause any digestive upset from the sudden switch in foods.

 

[Thumperina]

I fed all of themM-S sherwood food, but kidsdidn't touch it (my older rabbitshaven't started to likeit anyway) so we had hardtime for couple of days (they ate a lot of hay, I guess).

I already received our L-Gfood. It sayson the package (I bought 4.5 lbs so I finally could read the package info) to feed till at least 10-12 weeks of age. Till what age as maximum can they eat it? I honestly think that if I switch them to MS at age 12 weeks, they just won''t eat M-S, like they didn't eat now.

Maybe Bob and Dave (names correct?) could tell how to better switch bunnies from one type to another, and what to do if they dont eat M-S? Thanks!

 

[Imbrium]

I got the adult formula to begin with, as my bunns were already 12 weeks. it took almost a month for them to really like it. I tried gradually switching them over (took 1-2 weeks) and they'd eat all the old pellets and leave the sherwood pellets in the bowl unless they got really hungry and gave up on getting more of the "good" pellets. however, they've been on sherwood food for 4-5 weeks now and are diving into it like I've been starving them to death whenever I fill the bowl, lol.

the nice thing about the 12 week mark is that it's also when you can introduce veggies, so if they're being really picky about the pellets at first, they can still get extra nutrition from the veggies to supplement their hay.