# Why?!



## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Why is it that when you have formulated a diet that you and your mice are happy with, the manufacturers have to bloomin' change the ingredients? First, I was feeding BOCM Farmgate Sow and Weaner nuts. My mice loved that food so much and have never looked so shiny as they did on that. It went from having a really good range of ingredients to having, and I quote, "40 to 100% barley". I stopped feeding that because I couldn't risk feeding the mice 20kg of 100% barley. After trying a few different things I discovered Mixed Poultry Grain, which contains wheat, barley and a bit of maize. We were all happy with that (myself and the mice, that is), but now the manufacturers have changed it! It's now barley, maize and 'golden biscuit', whatever _that _is.

So, my mice have moved on to simple straights, once and for all. Their diet is now 40% rolled oats, 40% flaked barley, and 20% parakeet mix (contains linseed, millet, sunflower seed, red dari among others). I'm trying 20% bird seed rather than 20% dog kibble and 10% bird seed to see if I can get their coats shinier. Here's a photo of the new diet anyway:










Sarah xxx


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

The good thing about straights is it is what it is. I'm going to change my balance of grains and seeds again when I go to the feed mill next weekend. I'll add barley, if their barley isn't rancid smelling, and more millet if they sell it cheaper in bigger bags. My meecces have been doing fine on whole oats and wheat with a small amount of safflower seed mixed in, along with the kibble and assorted other things like dried bread, etc. I think meeces like a bit of variety, so I'd alternate adding barley or millet every other day.

You'd think they'd consult you before changing your feed up like this!


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## laoshu (Sep 16, 2009)

I still cant even settle on one food! I am always looking to try something else for my mice and my purse!
at the moment they get a scoop of this every clean out day
fruity rabbit mix with a few added cerials, nuts, pasta...









then a scoop of this every other day ( or every day if there is a quite a few mice in the cage)
brused oats with wild bird and a bit of canary









then on top of that they get the odd spay of millit, bead soaked in goats milk then tuna mayonase, egg mayo, (these are fillings from the bagettes my other half fetches home from work) the odd carrot and I think thats about it.

It doesnt sound very healthy ( well the mayos dont :lol: ) but they seem to be thiving on it and its all given in proportion


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Mine get straights, always have.

People in the UK should buy from Street End Feeds, decent prices and very good at communication and delivery! I buy 40kg of rolled oats and 20kg of everything else of what I use and it lasts me for months and months.

The linseed should help get a shinyer coat Sarah... especially if you don't feed it regularly, but introduce it to the mix about 7 to 10 days before a show.
Thats what i do... usually my mix has brown rice in it, but about an week and a half before a show, i replace the rice with linseed, you can really see a difference, and i always get comments about the condition of the fur being excellent. My mice may not win big, but they always have salon fresh-like hair! LOL

K xx


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