Holly F. THANK YOU for coming on and posting in this thread. I had to go out on the internet to find explainations for the difference and on several sites found exactly what you said. We feed purina to the horses, and Purine One to dogs and cat. ALL of them are thriving. Vet can’t believe the dogs are 12(almost 13) they are in such great shape (Lab and Lab mix) not over weight, good joint health, shiny soft coats and bright eyes. Old pony (30) actually has gained weight this winter, short teeth and all:) Everybody healthy all the way around. Sorry it doesn’t suit everyone, but we LOVE PURINA!
Yes, Holly F, thanks so much for clearing up all the misconceptions. I am so sick of hearing people bash Purina. I’ve had horses for years, and all of them have done so well on it. (and I’ve tried other brands, too–including TC, which I had problems with consistency and the product being dusty, etc.) My farrier cannot believe how nice my mares feet have gotten since being on Healthy Edge. (she was getting a different feed before I got her.) Thanks again, hopefully your post will educate some people who are interested in being informed by someone with the education and experience to do so. My vet toured Purina’s research facility, and she was SO impressed with it.
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So, if not having a fixed formula is so great, how come Purina’s higher-priced feeds are fixed formula?
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Honestly even though these are national brands, they are milled regionally and some regions have better mills than others. I know people who have had quality problems with Purina, but not TC, but then know other people where it is the other way around. I know that Purina has done a ton of research and do have some quality feeds, I think recently they ended up being a little behind the research curve with regards to having feeds that were lower in NSC and more forage based feeds.
I have heard good things about the Healthy Edge, but it is also one of their new feeds that is lower in NSC. I understand the constant nutrition, but there are times when knowing the ingredients is important. Some of Purina’s feeds are good, but they have some lesser feeds as well, just like most of the major brands. There are some Purina feeds I would feed, but there are a lot I wouldn’t as well, but that is true about a lot of the brands.
Can someone please tell me the NSC level of Ultium? Does it have corn in it?
I do not know the NSC of Ultuim, but I feel like it was in the 17-20% range maybe? I remember it was comparable to TC Complete. There is ground corn listed in the ingredients but it is fairly low on the list.
Yes, Holly, thanks you posting. The internet is a font of good information and misinformation, and it can be hard to sift through it. I’m still learning and keeping an open mind :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=Frizzle;6123432]
So, if not having a fixed formula is so great, how come Purina’s higher-priced feeds are fixed formula?[/QUOTE]
How do we find out which formulas are “fixed” and which aren’t? Thanks in advance for a reference to the sources!
I have always wondered why Purina is singled out in posts about non fixed formula feeds. It happens on many different forums. There are other feeds that are not fixed formulas why aren’t posts started about them? Is it somehow personal?
[QUOTE=Discobold;6123997]
Yes, Holly, thanks you posting. The internet is a font of good information and misinformation, and it can be hard to sift through it. I’m still learning and keeping an open mind :winkgrin:
How do we find out which formulas are “fixed” and which aren’t? Thanks in advance for a reference to the sources![/QUOTE]
Formulas that are fixed will often be able to be found on their website, I clicked around on the Purina website and found that Ultium and Wellsolve lines have ingredients posted (have to click on the printable brochure though) while most of the others didn’t (I did not click on every single one). Triple Crown has all of their feed ingredients listed on each product page. Also often on the actual bags of feed fixed formulas are sometimes printed right on the bag and not on the little tag at the bottom.
[QUOTE=CO;6124300]
I have always wondered why Purina is singled out in posts about non fixed formula feeds. It happens on many different forums. There are other feeds that are not fixed formulas why aren’t posts started about them? Is it somehow personal?[/QUOTE]
I don’t think it is personal at all, it is just a very large brand that many people use so it comes up quite often. Personally I would probably feed most of the Purina feeds over the Nutrena (also not a fixed formula) as I just really don’t like Nutrena although I have fed it to my horse in the past because it was really the only feed around. Purina just took a little while to update their formulas, when their Sr came out it was a very good feed for those needing something easy to digest and make into mush. Now there are other brands with Sr formulas out there for people to use, and many of them are of a better quality. I think it is nothing more than Purina took a while to update their formulas with what the demand is. So yes many of their formulas were less than ideal with todays research and needs for horses, but they have been working to update, first with Ultium, then they came out with the wellsolve line, and now the Strategy Healthy edge really isn’t a bad option. As well as they updated their traditional sweet feed line.
Purina’s pet food and Purina Mills are two different corporations.
Have been for eons.
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[QUOTE=Ghazzu;6124353]
Purina’s pet food and Purina Mills are two different corporations.
Have been for eons.[/QUOTE]
yeah some…15 years ? ago land o lakes bought the Purina mills…and my cats love ultium growth…they should at $1000/ton:lol:
Tamara
[QUOTE=Discobold;6123997]
How do we find out which formulas are “fixed” and which aren’t? Thanks in advance for a reference to the sources![/QUOTE]
whbar158 just answered this and s/he is correct – go to the Purina website and look at the info for each individual feed. The non-fixed-formulas will show the guaranteed analysis but not the actual ingredients, while the fixed formula feeds will show both. If you’re looking at the bag, fixed formulas usually have the ingredients printed directly on the bag, while the non-fixed-formulas have the ingredients printed on a tag.
If you’re not satisfied with that answer, I suggest contacting Purina, although I’m willing to bet they will give you a similar answer.
Still waiting for my question to be answered…
[QUOTE=Frizzle;6124856]
whbar158 just answered this and s/he is correct – go to the Purina website and look at the info for each individual feed.[/QUOTE]
Okay, thanks to both of you. Got it. The tip about the printable brochure was very helpful 
Frizzle, the Ultium doesn’t actually work out to be more expensive than the Strategy or Senior. It’s more dense so you feed less. Go to their feeding instructions and you’ll see. Example: For a 1000 pound horse in moderate work, they recommend 9 pounds of Strategy or 6 pounds of Ultium, so the Ultium would end up being cheaper.
[QUOTE=Discobold;6125141]
Frizzle, the Ultium doesn’t actually work out to be more expensive than the Strategy or Senior. It’s more dense so you feed less. Go to their feeding instructions and you’ll see. Example: For a 1000 pound horse in moderate work, they recommend 9 pounds of Strategy or 6 pounds of Ultium, so the Ultium would end up being cheaper.[/QUOTE]
Both Strategys do not suggest 9 pounds for maintenance or active pleasure horses, only those amounts for heavy work/breeding animals. The Performance Strategy suggests about 5 pounds for a 1000 lbs active pleasure horse, and the Healthy edge doesn’t suggest more than 5.25 pounds for maintenance for a 1000 pound horse. It is true you probably could feed less Ultium because it has a higher calorie per pound than Strategy, but it still suggests ~6 pounds to get all vits/mins.
I’m comparing horses in moderate work to horses in moderate work - that is, apples to apples:
http://horse.purinamills.com/products/strategy/ECMD2-0032677.aspx
http://horse.purinamills.com/products/ultium/ECMD2-0032693.aspx
I’m talking more expensive per bag, which would be the Ultium, etc.
It does say that for moderate work, I guess I just looked at the lowest amount for the Ultium. Most horses do not require the calories Ultium provides in 6 pounds of grain though and then you may need to supplement vits/mins at that point. Last I heard Ultium was about 1,900 calories per pound, while the old figure for strategy was about 1500 (I don’t know the values now that there are 2 strategy types). So at 6 pounds Ultium is providing 11400 calories, and at 6 pounds Strategy is providing 9000.
If I had a horse that needed 10,000 calories then the Ultium is a much better deal.
I just got a response from Purina:
We use constant nutrition formulation as opposed to a fixed formula. This allows for the natural variations in nutrient values in ingredients and provide a more constant nutrition to meet the guaranteed analysis on the tag. Not all fixed formulas are consistent because of these variations. See the attachment for more information.
If anyone wants to read the attachment, send me a PM with your e-mail address and I can forward it, but it pretty much says what Holly already explained. I’ve enjoyed this thread and learned from it. My barn manager wanted to put my younger mare on Ultium, and I can see why now, but I felt my mare did a tad better with Strategy Healthy Edge. If she goes into heavier work, I’ll definitely reconsider the Ultium.
