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burgess supa food

AmberUK

Alpha Buck
have they chnaged it? The values on the lite food and also the info on the web site seems different, something about a profeed for the bacteria. Also I noticed that the mix says an average rabbit should have 100-150g but the pellets is now 2.5-3% body weight and before I am sure it was 3-3.5% (they give examples of bunnies upto 3.6Kg needing 90g which seems alot less than the mix one says to use)
 
Hiya

From what you have said it sounds like they have changed the amount you should give your bun. Maybe buns were becoming overweight and they had complaints? It was def 3 - 3.5% before cos my bun who weighs 3.5kgs (should weigh bit more) I give bout 110 grams per night. I think that as long as your bun looks healthy and is correct weight then you can prob guess for yourself how much they need. I have a little scoop which is approx 30 grams so I give bout 3 and half of those! I have found tho that if I give even slightly too much she gets excess caecal pellets so I have to be bit careful bout that.

How are your buns doing?

Nicola
 
They are ok but I have still got problems with occasaional sticky poos. I think its either the burgess pellets or the friendly grass, but its a real pain to work out.
 
AmberUK said:
They are ok but I have still got problems with occasaional sticky poos. I think its either the burgess pellets or the friendly grass, but its a real pain to work out.

Mine have 2 bowls a day of friendly grass no sticky pooes here
 
AmberUK said:
They are ok but I have still got problems with occasaional sticky poos. I think its either the burgess pellets or the friendly grass, but its a real pain to work out.

Mine have 2 bowls a day of friendly grass no sticky pooes here
 
Perhaps it is the Excel? I have found that Princess gets sticky poos if she even has slightly too much Excel. Now I'm quite strict and poos are all good :) Amy my youngest has just been switched over and found a few more sticky poos with her so cutting her food down. Mayb it is just sumthin they put in it? Does make their coats lovely and shiny tho :)
 
LurcherGirl said:
A couple of mine had sticky bum on Excel. Since changed to Science Selective, no more problems.

Same here, both mine had sticky bums on Excel no matter what quantity I gave them, and now they're are on Science Selective, no sticky bums whatsoever! :)
 
:roll: Doh why didn't I think of that !!! my Dwarf Lop Lucy has had a sticky smelly bum :oops: ever since we got her ! The rescue centre had her on Excel lite because she's over weight.

However, my other rabbit Ben is on museli mix as he doesn't eat pellets :!: and his bum is clean.

I catch Lucy eating from Ben's bowl most evenings (as I have their food bowls in the kitchen whilst the two of them run riot round the kitchen and garden). Maybe I'll start mixing the two foods up for her and slowly ween her of the Excel and see if that makes a difference. :lol:

BTW, Lucy has lost weight since we've had her as she now gets plenty of exercise every day :D - poor love was stuck in a hutch 24/7 before we got her :cry:

Claire
 
Extra weight doesn't help with sticky bums as its harder for the bun to clean. Well done for trimming her down. Feeding less pellets and encouraging eating more hay helps too. :D

Tam
 
Well since coming to my house Mrs P has lost some weight but not much and I think looks better for it. I just find you think you have worked out what the problem is and something else comes up, its like bunnies digestive systems work on a two day delay ;-(
 
Claire said:
However, my other rabbit Ben is on museli mix as he doesn't eat pellets :!: and his bum is clean.

I catch Lucy eating from Ben's bowl most evenings (as I have their food bowls in the kitchen whilst the two of them run riot round the kitchen and garden). Maybe I'll start mixing the two foods up for her and slowly ween her of the Excel and see if that makes a difference. :lol:

The muesli mixes aren't good for bunnies, as it doesn't contain the nutrients they need. Most of them won't eat the pellets in the muesli and miss out on a whole lot. A concentrated pellet diet, like Supa Excel (or another brand if you don't like that) is best for them as they're guaranteed to get all their nutrients in, with no selective feeding.

This came straight from exotics vet Ian Sayers from my lectures at Uni...this guy is awesome and really knows what he's on about. I really recommend AGAINST muesli mixes for rabbits...(we've been told to tell that to all rabbit owners we see in practice).
 
I do agree with the mix thing but some buns just won't eat pellets so it isn't that easy!! Tried to switch my girl over but no joy, loves her mix too much. She has been on it for 5 years - never had teeth problems or digestive problems with her, always got a clean bum.

As long as you only give a small amount buns tend to eat it all and I don't see that there is any harm, specially if you have tried the switch with no joy and they eat all the mix up. Must contain most nutrients as buns do well on it, and they are really just designed to eat grass and plants anyway!! Always thought that dry food was only a very tiny part of the diet anyway, hay being most of it, so I can't really see it matters what they get, long as eat it all? What do others think?

I think as long as your bun is fit and healthy and enjoys their munchies, it's all good. What works well for one bun won't necessarily do the same for others! I've found that Excel does give sticky bums too if you aren't careful, even with my girly who eats lots of hay. Not tried SS so don't know if this has same problem?

Excel must be a pretty good extra income for vets too as all I know try to sell it to you!! :D
 
After eating the same thing for five years, I wouldn't want to come off it, either! lol

When you look at the nutritional content of the muesli mixes, you lack from of the crucial nutrients, and the ever important protein and fibre, in the correct amounts.

I have heard from other rabbit owners that their buns HATED Supa Excel, but that other brands worked well.

I really do recommend a pellet feed, it's just the most balanced for their nutritional needs.

Also, if anyone here is switching to pellets, remember that rabbits' digestive systems are very sensitive. All switching should be done gradually. To go onto Excel, for example, you should be mixing it in, in greater and greater amounts, over 10 days. 10-14 days is a good guideline to introduce new staple feeds, my notes say here...

Not trying to get on anyone's nerves, especially as the newbie, just regurgitating my lecture notes! :D
 
lol I couldn't help you here as Toby hates pellets and I never go by the food measurements on rabbit packs. I just feed Toby the amount his comfortable with :?
 
No I know, I've given up with her!! She is a healthy girl and loves her munchies. Long as bunnies on mixes eat loadsa hay then fibre shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm gonna leave her on the mix as she ain't happy eating anything else!

I've never really gone by the packet either, I'm actually not that keen on the Excel as it does seem to produce more ceacal pellets for my youngest even with not a lot being given. Will see how it goes but might switch back when packet runs out - mix seemed to agree with her more!

As I said before I think that as long as bun is happy and healthy the dry food isn't that important as it isn't the main part of the diet, 80% should be hay anyway. What's the point in forcing our buns to eat something they obviously don't like.

I know vets push pelleted food for bunnies, I'm sure part of it is the money side of things, but this Excel isn't worth all the hype in my opinion, now that I have had my bunny on it for couple of weeks! Sorry Maaike! But on the positive side of things, my foster bunny gulps hers down and does well on it - all depends on the individual concerned I think.

Just out of interest what is your stance on neutering Maaike?
Nicola
 
I only give a tiny amount of the food anyhow - way less than they should have so they are mostly eating hay. I am trying to work out where the sticky poos are coming from and atm it looks like the pellet food, which is a pain but its an addition to the diet and not an important one or my guys, they are hay and veggie bunnies!
 
Maaike_Butter said:
, my notes say here...

Not trying to get on anyone's nerves, especially as the newbie, just regurgitating my lecture notes! :D

Regurgitate away m'dear!!! Saves us having to attend the lectures - we'll just glean the info from you! And p.s. welcome to the forum
 
I would certainly recommend pellets over mixes too, thats not to say all pellets are automatically good its still important to read the label and check the nutritional contents.

If you look at the burgess range: excel (pellets) contains 14% fibre and 12% protein and the mix supa rabbit deluxe contains 13.4% protein but only 9% fibre! Now they can't both be the right nutrition for bunnies!

Excel's 14% fibre is still on the low end, the lite version is better as that has 18% fibre. Or SS has 19%.

Saying all that, if your only feeding very small quantities of dry food and mostly hay then unless your bun is particularly sensitive you'll probably not have a problem.

I don't think it really works out that expensive. An average size bun (e.g. a dwarf lop) will eat about 50g per day. That means a the standard size bags which are 1.5kg is going to last 30 days and costs about £2.50. Burgess costs £3.50 for a 40 day supply.

Tam
 
My vets has started recommending Excel lite for all rabbits as it has the highest fibre content of the Excel range - only problem is I haven't found anywhere that does it in super value 15kg bags (like I can get the Normal Excel and used to be able to get the Dwarf Excel) also it is more expensive than the normal Excel.

My two seem to have no problem on the normal though and Athena is actually looking much better since being on it. They only get sticky poos when they eat some of the plants from my flower borders, I put them in a run usually though so it only happens when they get out through the back door - like something out of the great escape ;)!

One point to note - I was at P@H to buy the guinea pig and rabbit food the other day and I usually buy both in the 15kg bags as they are best value but the Guinea Super Excel was only available in the small bags. I asked when they would be getting some more of the larger bags in and they said they were slowly phasing the Excel range out for guineas because they do their own brand complete pellet food now (forcing customers to buy their own brand basically). I wonder how soon they will be doing this for rabbits too! They are the only place I know where I can get the larger bags!!

Caz
 
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