Pelletless pellet??

Post Reply
User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:24 pm


I'd also be very interested to know more about which pigs of ours have been on which pellets, and which have or have not developed stones.
I tried starting a GL Stone Pig discussion group on Yahoo (with a very informal database of stats for each affected pig), but nobody really took an interest. Of the few who did respond, all but one were fed Oxbow. Not conclusive by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.

I know I sound like a broken record, but there has to be a way for us to all come together and look for some commonalities to all of this stone stuff. I'm tired of sitting on my hands, waiting for somebody else to do it.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:26 pm


Bug's Mom, yes it's a compressed pellet (as I understand it), but it's not a DIET. It's a supplement for those going pellet-less.

Hopefully she'll check in and clarify this.

User avatar
Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:29 pm


For what it may be worth Sef-in relation to Oxbow, the last time Lady Bug was x-ray'd and ultrasounded (?) her bladder was clear with no stones or sludge. She has never had Oxbow pellets at all as she didn't like them. Would be interesting if you could find a correlation.

She will be 6 years old in June.

User avatar
WEAVER
one pig at a time.

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:31 pm


I also thought KM was talking about a supplimental pellet. I think it would be great to be able to give them a one a day kind of thing. Almost like a multi-vitamin for pigs. Like if we could feed a "Critter Berry" in addition to their regular well balanced veggies and hay.


In response to your last comment Bugs Mom, Natasha is seven years old, was feed Hartz food for four years before I took her in. Since I have had her she has been fed Oxbow in a herd environment (no telling who is eatting how much) and when she had her x-ray she also had no stone formation.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:45 pm


I think the horse people could give us some insight into diet.

There are links in the guide to the USDA requirements (I wonder if they've been updated? not the best source but one of the few)

https://www.guinealynx.info/nutrition_links.html

See the Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals.
Feeds are based on these numbers.

User avatar
Bugs Mom

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:11 pm


I was just throwing out info Weaver. I don't know how relevant any of it is at this point.

kleenmama
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:26 pm


I am still very open to the idea of developing some sort of supplementation for people wanting to go pelletless.

It could be a pellet, or powder, or a treat/snack of some kind that had the recommended daily amounts of nutrients.

Here is my problem: Most mills that are willing to make me whatever I want are requiring a 1 ton minimum purchase.

Now, I go through 1 ton of Timothy Choice every 3 weeks or so and about the same of the Alfalfa Complete. But there is NO WAY I can go through a ton of supplemental pellets in a year, and the vitamins and minerals would degrade. I have about 200 days (maybe a bit longer) before the vitamins and things start to degrade.

So I would be tossing out a huge amount of past date product. This is where my problem lies.

I think perhaps we would be on a better road if we could find some kind of snack or treat (think Critter Berries) that would contain all the necessary ingredients. I would like it to be something that could also be ground up, perhaps, for those pigs that are sick and not eating well, but I could leave that to Critical Care and just focus on a nutrient supplement that would be for pelletless pigs. It would need to be a once a day thing, as alot of vitamins are water soluble and therefore needed on a daily basis.

I'm open for suggestions and feedback. This initial thread just seemed to go no where and there didn't seem to be a reason to pursue a possibly spendy undertaking for a handful of pigs. Not that it is not necessary, but just not feasible for me to do.

User avatar
WEAVER
one pig at a time.

Post   » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:32 pm


I think it would be great to be able to give them a one a day kind of thing. Almost like a multi-vitamin for pigs. Like if we could feed a "Critter Berry" in addition to their regular well balanced veggies and hay.

That is exactly what I was wanting KM :P

NancyO

Post   » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:48 am


Bug's Mom - just out of curiosity what pellets have you been feeding Lady Bug? Or was she never fed pellets? I have a stone pig twice over and feel like I am walking on thin ice. I have cut the Oxbow pellets in half, but then when I do that their water consumption goes down - sheesh.

Thanks,
Nancy

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:19 am


Daily "treat" supplement would be awesome. What would be the next step?

User avatar
somechick

Post   » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:22 am


All three of my current pigs are on Oxbow and none, as of this writing, have stones.

However, Sanford isn't a big pellet eater. I fill his bowl on Saturday morning and I bet I could leave it there all week and it would never be completely empty. She's stable in weight and eats mostly hay and veggies.

Henry and Dudley share a cage so I don't know who's doing most of the scarfing, but I fill their bowl in the mornings before work and when I get home from the office, it's nearly wiped clean. Dudley doesn't seem to have any issues. Henry doesn't have stones, but she does have constant bladder (crying, bleeding) problems.

But like others have said. My pigs would kill me in my sleep if I didn't give them their pellets. They might let me live if I swapped the pellets out with critterberries though. :)

User avatar
Bugs Mom

Post   » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:59 am


NancyO. Lady Bug was about 1 1/2 months old when I got her and has always had pellets. She is a funny little girl who never, ever, liked timothy ANYTHING! I kept her on a brand of plain alfalfa pellets (don't remember which one now) as well as hay. Believe me, we fought many a battle over what kind of food she'd get. She would boycott any timothy product and just eat her lettuce. Not great so I'd go back to alfalfa.

When she was almost 4 years old I switched her to Oxbow orchard hay but she would not touch their tim pellets. Turns out she does not like licorice.

I took a chance on KM's tim pellets and she loves them. She only gets 1/8 to 1/4 cup per day and there's usually a little left in the bowl, but not much.

My own unscientific opinion on why she does not have stones is something in her genetic make-up. I wish I knew what it was and could bottle it for all the stone pigs out there. Heart problems are bad enough, but stones are really terrible.

Post Reply