New Food Alert! - Piggies Not Sure?

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bumbling-bambi

bumbling-bambi

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So I was out picking up some bits and bobs to tide us all over untill the new year and what should i find? A new food!
I'm not sure if its new in general or just new to me but i thought id pick it up and try it out.
So what is it i hear you ask? Well it's the Rosewood Naturals Meadow Menu pellet food!
I've used a lot of rosewood products before - like the natural forage mixes, their hay cookies and all sorts of other yummies as they are better for them than the average treat so I can give them more often (within reason) so they don't get bored come dinner time!
Now this food comes in a 2kg box (i like the box - I've turned it into a toy for the pigs xD) and it says its totally grain free. It claims to be 100% natural and made up of 70% hay, grass and wild herbs.
if given a chance i would always go for the natural option so this sounded great!
I opened it up and it smelt fantastic, the pellets themselves are fairly soft compared to other foods I've encountered. It is hard enough to be crunchy but soft enough to be broken quite easily.

Now i did the usual method of starting out by replacing small amounts of the other food with this new food so i don't upset their tummies and they were eating it to begin with the bowl was totally clean to the point they even licked up the dust! but after fully transitioning to the new food they dont seem to be eating it...
They are eating the same amount of hay and its a very good quality meadow hay I source from a local farmer so its as fresh as i can get it!
They are drinking perfectly fine and having their usual range of veggies with a little bit of fruit or naughty veg on a Saturday night for a treat!
They get a little bit of forage mix ( the Rosewood summer field mix is their current favourite!)

Now this leads me to think maybe they are just really full? To my mind the fact that this new food is much heavier and seems to have a higher grass/hay content would maybe fill them up more?
They are eating it and they are eating everything else i put in there and they haven't lost any weight in the time they have been on this food so health wise I'm pretty sure they are ok!

Anyone have any thoughts or theories as to why this may be? They seem to like it just eat a lot less of it than their previous food!
 
I have tried these with my piggies and 2 of them wouldn't touch them just left in the bowl all the time. The other 3 would eat them most of the time but ate the science selective pellets first so sometimes left the naturals.
It might just be that they don't really like them as much as the old food.
It also could be that they are full as the pellets with no grains are better quality and have better ingredients in them. I would just play it by ear and see how it goes with them. If they are eating them then I wouldn't be too worried.
 
Hmm, yeah I'll certainly be keeping an eye on them! My two tend to be quite picky on food but the food they were on before caused them to gain weight very very quickly and the last thing i want is some super porky piggies! They are both at a good adult weight at the moment and my vet warned me that they shouldn't be gaining much more!
They have had science selective before as I've used it for years but these two don't seem to like it too much xD
It's so difficult to know how much and they are really eating and when sometimes! They are constantly eating hay and they get their daily veg so they seem to just pick at this new food. I feel like they may just be really full but as they have been picky with food in the past i don't want to just dismiss it as that and then realise they aren't eating what they should!
 
I'm really struggling to find Harringtons anymore so I picked up a box of this to see what my boys think.

It's a big Nope from them, even my boy who doesn't have pellets think they suck.
 
Is Harringtons any good? I've not tried that one yet and i was wondering if it would be any good :) as i said above I'm just worried about them gaining so much weight so quickly. When i first got them they were unbelievably thin so I'm trying to be very careful with how much weight they gain and how quickly they do it!
 
Harringtons is alright as far as pellets go. Not one of the best for them, but on par with most. My boys love them. I think they must be getting phased out though as Asda stopped stocking them about 6 months ago and now my local pet shop has stopped selling them. The only place I can find them at the moment is Wilkos
 
Jaycey said:
Harringtons is alright as far as pellets go. Not one of the best for them, but on par with most. My boys love them. I think they must be getting phased out though as Asda stopped stocking them about 6 months ago and now my local pet shop has stopped selling them. The only place I can find them at the moment is Wilkos
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Is there a specific brand that you would recommend? My boys have pretty much stopped growing and i dont want them putting on much more weight!
 
I just wanted to add that I find my lot eat less pellets when we have a particularly amazing batch of hay.
I find hay quality varies a bit, and sometimes they eat a lot more hay than others, and seem to eat less pellets as a result.
 
Swissgreys said:
I just wanted to add that I find my lot eat less pellets when we have a particularly amazing batch of hay.
I find hay quality varies a bit, and sometimes they eat a lot more hay than others, and seem to eat less pellets as a result.
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I hadn't thought of that! I get my hay from a local farmer as i always got my hay and haylege from him when i had my horses so naturally i want to get the best i can! I'm going in the morning to get some different food for them just incase they just don't like it and i'll certainly keep an eye on how much hay they are eating - they tend to eat more than my little shetland did and thats really saying something!
 
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