Burgess Excel Tasty Nuggets Changed?

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When I got my girls they came with a bag of food their previous owner had been feeding them. I've since bought another two 2kg bags and both of them have been the smaller nuggets. Not had any issues though and the girls are eating them just fine.
 
PiggySmitten said:
This is interesting (and sad for the piggies with broken teeth). I bought some blackcurrant &oregano recently from vets.co.uk where it was really cheap £3.90 per 2kg bag. I bought it as changeover food for our new piggies who were eating it in their previous home. When I opened it I was surprised how much smaller the nuggets were than the "plain" burgess excel our other piggies eat but I just assumed it was because it was a different flavour.

I did think that the smaller pellets looked less good for teeth (less to chew on) and had already resolved not to get any more of the blackcurrant ones because I preferred the bigger nuggets.

Did either of you notice something which led you to check teeth or was it just a lucky spot @lil @Squeaky_Ewok ? Facing the prospect now of checking teeth of 8 piggies!
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It was a complete fluke, or a matter of routine. I check my group over weekly, weigh, check nails, ear, bum bits etc. When I looked at Hornpipe, he seemed fine, I was carrying him to the garden table for his weekly weigh in and thought yes I had better check their teeth as normal. I did a double take...thought I was seeing things. Checked again, sure enough, broken tooth...secured Hornpipe and checked Edward. He's fine, but naturally looked around their hutch for anything that could have caused it...nothing. The rest of the crew are fine.
 
I just put my new piggies on to these as I had seen them in a you tube video and I thought the ones I got were smaller than the ones in the video. Mystery solved. :doh: They must have changed the way they make them. Now I am worried for my piggies teeth. ;(. Hope the piggies with sore teeth are feeling better soon. :soz:
 
PiggySmitten said:
This is interesting (and sad for the piggies with broken teeth). I bought some blackcurrant &oregano recently from vets.co.uk where it was really cheap £3.90 per 2kg bag. I bought it as changeover food for our new piggies who were eating it in their previous home. When I opened it I was surprised how much smaller the nuggets were than the "plain" burgess excel our other piggies eat but I just assumed it was because it was a different flavour.

I did think that the smaller pellets looked less good for teeth (less to chew on) and had already resolved not to get any more of the blackcurrant ones because I preferred the bigger nuggets.

Did either of you notice something which led you to check teeth or was it just a lucky spot @lil @Squeaky_Ewok ? Facing the prospect now of checking teeth of 8 piggies!
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I was cuddling him for a bit and the way I was holding I could just see his top teeth, and I thought something looked odd so I checked and almost one of top teeth has completely been broken so much so the gum is longer than the bit of the nub left :( And the blackcurrent and oregano ones are small anyways I think I had them before the plain nuggets a long time ago but the piggies never took to them. I'm so cross, as far as I can tell it was the food. I think maybe what didn't help with Tinsels teeth is that they may be a bit too long looking at the one. Hopefully tomorrow if he needs it clipped there wont be a need for sedation :| he seems to be eating the smaller pellets fine so that's good. Hope his teeth aren't too long though always chewing on some hay so I'm not sure :/ Will try to get a pic too now I can't believe how short it is :|
 
Thats just awful! My boys have these. Ive almost run out, now i dont know whether to get a different brand although ive never seen another brand round here except muesli :(
 
Has anyone got both types tried to bite both of them ... yes I'm mad but a quick test to see if ones harder than the other maybe? ..... piggy food is vile though so maybe not for the faint hearted!

Hope all the pigs are just fine with their little tooffies :-)
 
I was about to order a bag of this! Think I'll wait and see if they are changing it, don't want to put Derek at risk of breaking a tooth! Hope both your little piggies are ok x
 
Bekki said:
Has anyone got both types tried to bite both of them ... yes I'm mad but a quick test to see if ones harder than the other maybe? ..... piggy food is vile though so maybe not for the faint hearted!

Hope all the pigs are just fine with their little tooffies :-)
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Well, oddly enough I was actually thinking I would try and find one of each and take them to work and do a test on the density...we have the technology! I haven't found a big nugget yet, but I will find one no doubt. Will update as soon as I have something to report.
 
Sadly, didn't get to phone them today, it was past 5pm so there was no point phoning.
Will try tomorrow.
 
I bought a bag on Saturday, as well as the blackcurrant ones to see if the girls like them or not (still awaiting a verdict). I've not noticed any problems yet, but they haven't been on them long and still have some big ones left. I was shocked at the size of them, will keep updated if I discover any problems :)
 
Just had a google and found the below on another forum. It looks like the same has happened with the rabbit pellets, one person's rabbit choked on them and they subsequently wrote a letter of complaint. The response they got back was that the small pellets are considered the optimum size and the holes the pellets are pushed through during manufacture get larger as a result of wear and tear. They agreed to make the moulds bigger next time they need replacing, for the rabbit pellets at least. It's worth a read, and possibly a letter of complaint. I'm sure if enough people do it something will happen. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/archive/index.php/t-285750.html
 
PipandPop said:
Just had a google and found the below on another forum. It looks like the same has happened with the rabbit pellets, one person's rabbit choked on them and they subsequently wrote a letter of complaint. The response they got back was that the small pellets are considered the optimum size and the holes the pellets are pushed through during manufacture get larger as a result of wear and tear. They agreed to make the moulds bigger next time they need replacing, for the rabbit pellets at least. It's worth a read, and possibly a letter of complaint. I'm sure if enough people do it something will happen. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/archive/index.php/t-285750.html
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I'm really P- off here, not giving those death traps to my pigs. Will be getting my money back from P@H right away, and see if I can get an 'older' bag from my local garden centre.
 
lil said:
Well, oddly enough I was actually thinking I would try and find one of each and take them to work and do a test on the density...we have the technology! I haven't found a big nugget yet, but I will find one no doubt. Will update as soon as I have something to report.
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Id take them to do a crush strength test at work but I don't use burgess :) just the eat test is a less tecky one haha
 
This is absolutely frightening :( poor pigs and rabbits who have broken teeth / choked :( i am not buying anymore in case i land a bag of the new ones. At a loss as i cant get anything else round here except muesli and i dont drive :(
 
Scarey! Its a dramatic change its very noticeable. Luckily my pigs seem fine at the moment but I really do want to find another brand. I started a thread recently about best foods and it was brought to my attention burgess use molluses in their food :(
 
PipandPop said:
Just had a google and found the below on another forum. It looks like the same has happened with the rabbit pellets, one person's rabbit choked on them and they subsequently wrote a letter of complaint. The response they got back was that the small pellets are considered the optimum size and the holes the pellets are pushed through during manufacture get larger as a result of wear and tear. They agreed to make the moulds bigger next time they need replacing, for the rabbit pellets at least. It's worth a read, and possibly a letter of complaint. I'm sure if enough people do it something will happen. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/archive/index.php/t-285750.html
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Well that's scary :| I'm still giving my pigs the pellets as they love them still, but now I am reconsidering, however the only other thing I know they like is muesli and I don't like that for them :/ I think maybe the main problem with my pigs broken tooth was that it was too long in the first place despite having hay around 24/7 :/ the vet trip today confirmed that he would need his remaining top tooth trimmed or it could be left so another trip tomorrow for a trim :| Here is a pic and the difference. I only noticed how long it looked when taking this pic but the amount that has broken off is still bad :/ Not a very nice view luckily can still eat the pellets and veg! Anybody got another type of pellet food that would any good?
DSC_0414.webp
 
helen105281 said:
The Bunny that I feed is great for their teeth, the pellets are huge though but can easily be broken up. You don't need to feed as many either. They are probably 3 times the size of a normal pellet.
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Do you break the pellets up before you give them or did you mean the piggies are able to break them up? If I buy Bunny I don't want to get that wrong!
 
PiggySmitten said:
Do you break the pellets up before you give them or did you mean the piggies are able to break them up? If I buy Bunny I don't want to get that wrong!
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I use these too at the recommendation of @helen105281 and I also
I break them in half as so big but they could easily if they wanted too :) I give 5 pellets each but broken in half. :)
 
They can eat them whole if they want, I find some of mine prefer them like that, mainly Fuzzy who will come and grab a whole one and then run off to her pigloo with her head in the air so she doesn't drop it.
 
Once I have finished with huge vet costs I'm going to switch to bunny too, I only brought a small bag of p@home pellets to give them ago after knowing my friends boars love them.
@helen105281 I think you should get a year bonus from that company for getting so many of us onto their product :)
 
I do sound like I am on commission lol. If someone asks me what I recommend though then Bunny is what I say. Other members have noticed a difference in their pigs since feeding it and that's great to know. I also recommend the Vitakraft Emotion prebiotic but the Bunny is better for pigs with IC and I have 2 of those.
 
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