Is Small World and Manna Pro basically the same?

[a7736100]

One is available at WalMart.
http://www.mannapro.com/smallworld/products/rabbit

and the other from Tractor Supply.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... mIEALw_wcB

WalMart is closer to me.

 

[alforddm]

Unless walmart carries it in 50lb bags. It's going to be much more expensive. At least that has been my experience. 10lbs was $7 whereas I can get 50lbs for $12.25 at the feed store. Fresher feed as well.

 

[Homer]

Wally World has it for $8.98 for 25#. When mt local feed mill had issues with the supplement they used when making pellets I switch to it for a few months to keep my rabbits healthy. 50 pounds at my mill is $14.50 so not much difference.

Had a pregnant doe at the time and the kits raised fine on it but it was a pain going to Wally for it. You never knew if they would have the amount I buy at a time on the shelf. (the people of Walmart ya know)

 

[guardianoasis]

It wouldn't surprise me if it is close to the same product. As an ex-longterm Walmart employee I can tell you that a lot of the products that they put their name on and say "compare to...." are actually just cheaper made versions of whatever they are comparing them to. For example, their diapers are cheaper made knock offs of pampers. It was in a news article they sent out to associates at the time when I worked there, or else I'd find it online and show you myself.

Does that mean that it's exactly the same? No..... not exactly. The ingredients are the same, but the first two ingredients on the product are switched. In Manna Pro pro formula the alfalfa comes first where as in the small world wheat middlings come first. So while it's the same ingredients the order of which they show is the same as with any food. Wheat middlings is more prominent in the Small World where as alfalfa is more prominent in the Manna Pro. Due to keeping industry secrets there's no way to know how much of the formula is wheat middlings, but I'd say there's quite a bit.

I've tried a lot of feeds over the years and settled on Manna Pro. My suggestion would be to try it on the rabbits and see how they do. Do they hold condition? Does their coat stay dense or does it thin out? Depending on how many rabbits you have may make a difference on what you decide. If you only have a couple rabbits, a couple extra bucks buying it at Walmart may not matter to you.

My final answer, no they are not the same. Similar and by the same company, but no

 

[akane]

Nope. Did you read the ingredients? Do they read the same and in the same order? Nope. Close but altered to be a cheaper version for selling to people who want to pay less without realizing feed stores have better quality for cheaper when bought in bulk and for stores that want a lower starting price they can make more marking it up equal to the other pet foods. Ingredient labels in the US are required to be listed by the highest to lowest content added. Not by dry weight though so fresh or whole of a still moist vegetable or meat is often less than the powdered form as meal even if it comes before the meal ingredient. The flax or linseed is often a selling point to pet owners and not a bad thing but that's about the only thing it has going for it. The biggest thing is it starts out with a partial grain product instead of a grass or legume. It's cheaper to use waste products from milling flour but less complete nutritionally and debatable how stable wheat middlings are with the source making a huge difference in nutrition. That means it has to be made up for later in the ingredients by including the dried whey and altering the other ingredients a little to get the same level of protein and balance the calcium to phosphorous back out. It also doesn't follow as strict of no corn as properly milled manna pro select will with "Corn Dried Grains with Solubles" included. Another cheap byproduct that can make up for the lack of complete protein and useful calories in wheat middlings compared to alfalfa. While in my research corn is a poorly balanced protein and calorie source that is better for adding blobs of fat than healthy muscle tissue, even if you don't care about corn being included the fact it starts with a cheaper ingredient and then has to use several cheap ingredients to counter itself is a sign of the low quality and the amount of overall leftover partial grain products from processing into more useful foods that you are feeding. For a low end pellet it's better than many but it's not really sold any cheaper to reflect that fact. Especially if you can't get it in bulk bags so it's really pointless unless you can't get to a feed store. Personally I'd use horse feed pellets and balance the higher fat and lower fiber they tend to contain with hay just like it's designed to be done with large livestock rather than buy junk with a high price tag. Occasionally I do run into people who simply don't want to buy the higher quality feed for a lower price because they will never use the amounts from feed stores and I really don't understand it. If you don't need 50lbs but get a higher quality product for the same price then I would think yay.... split it with someone, donate it, turn it into wildlife feed, whatever you want but you just got free food and fed your animals better.

 

[Shea]

Not to go off topic but I have seen you mention using horse feed before, I assume you mean trotter? Certainley not sweet feed right?

 

[akane]

Pelleted feed. There are lots of brands for various age groups now in a pellet. It does tend to be more heavily grain based with less alfalfa or grass and therefore a higher fat and lower fiber but horses are generally fed constant hay, beet pulp, or on pasture so you have to balance it how it's intended to avoid fat rabbits. There might be some more complete ration feeds out now as more people are interested in paying extra for a convenient solution to specialty needs and situations. I started feeding the horse feed to our guinea pigs when I couldn't get anything but walmart pellets and they had plenty of fresh food for vit c. Then I did it with rabbits for probably more than a year when the feed store kept failing to hold bags for me until Theisen's opened stores around here. Now I can get manna pro usually without fail when previously my only consistent option was a pellet that simply said "plant byproducts", "grain byproducts", and then a list of vitamins and minerals.