Oxbow Organic Pellets.

[Kelsie]

My pigs have been eating the Oxbow Essentials Adult Guinea Pig Food. They were getting low on their supply so yesterday I went to the store and on an impulse I purchased the Oxbow Organic Adult Pellets. I was reading the list of ingredients and saw that the organic version contained no soy and no molasses. I know that Sherwood Pellets also have no soy or molasses in them but I tried them once and it was a no go for my pigs. They just hated them.

Now that I have the bag at home I am second guessing my decision. Since the bag has not been opened, I am thinking of returning it and getting the regular pellets. My biggest concern is that I noticed the organic ones contain "calcium carbonate" whereas the essentials line does not.

Has anyone tried the organic pellets and if so how did they work out? Are they any better, or did Oxbow just jump on the organic bandwagon?

I'm thrilled that all of the information on pellets is now coming to light but with so many differing opinions I am having difficulty making the correct decision. For years my pigs just loved KMS pellets but then for some reason they started to dislike them. That was when I switched to Oxbow.

[Sef]

Oxbow Organic has been around for quite some time. I'm not a huge fan of the calcium content, which has a min/max of .60%-.90% compared to Essentials which is .35%-.75%. Between the two, I'd stick with Essentials.

[bpatters]

Me too. And I'm not convinced that the amount of molasses in pellets is anything to worry about. The ones I tasted over the years were never sweet, so there couldn't be too much sugar content.

[Lynx]

For what it's worth, I am going to copy a comment made by a veterinarian at Oxbow, forwarded to me by email recently by a guinea pig owner who is interested in pellets. I don't think the veterinarian would mind my reprinting it here:

Cane molasses is a complex carbohydrate which, unlike simple carbohydrates such as sucrose, is absorbed much slower over time. In addition to providing stability and aiding in the binding of naturally high-fiber ingredients (like timothy hay), cane molasses also contains bioactive antioxidant compounds called phenolic acids and melanoidins which have been shown to express anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.

[Sef]

Interesting! I emailed Oxbow just this morning with a question about the carbs in their adult pellet formulas. I haven't heard back yet, and not sure the numbers will tell me/us much, but it's janother piece of the pellet puzzle that warrants better understanding.

[Lynx]

By the way, doing a search using a phrase in my quote, I ran across a 04/26/2019 post about a third of the way down on this page that addresses some issues regarding Oxbow's pellets (refutes some claims).
https://www.voofla.com/US/Omaha/97998526517/Oxbow-Animal-Health

One question/claim was actually not fully addressed by the answer but it does address a few other issues concerning their pellets.

Edit: a page I found on the anti-oxidant claims of cane molasses.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6675299_Antioxidant ... arum_L_Juice
Plant Foods for Human Nutritionc2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.DOI: 10.1007/s11130-006-0032-6
Antioxidant Activity of Phenolics Compounds From Sugar Cane (Saccharum officinarum L.)Juice

[SkittleandTwix]

All I can add is that my three don’t like the Oxbow organic pellets. (Unfortunately, I bought 2 bags on-line.). I offered to donate them to my local rescue. They said the six piggies there don’t care for them either.

My guys used to like the KMS pellets but don’t like them now either. Plus, my last batch crumbled very easily. They like the Oxbow essentials or Small Pet Select.

BTW, had anyone feeding Oxbow noticed their piggies’ urine being more brownish recently? I’m fostering a male whose urine was brownish when he was eating Oxbow. He’s on Small Pet Select now and it’s much more normal. The vet thought it might be a dye from the essentials. Has anyone else noticed this?

[Sef]

I have not. Does the foster get fresh veggies and/or he is drinking a normal amount of water? Darker urine can be a sign of insufficient fluids. Younger pigs can have a darker, brown/orange-tinted urine as well.

[Kelsie]

I really would like to thank everyone who took the time to reply. I did end up taking the organic pellets back to the store and exchanged them for the Essentials. I feel less anxious about the molasses concern in the pellets after reading a few of the links that were provided.

I knew I made the right decision after reading the above post from SkittleandTwix on how their pigs didn't care for the organic ones at all. My pigs are quite picky and most likely wouldn't have liked the new pellets and it would have been money wasted.