According to the Burgess website, the ingredients for the mint/oregano nuggets are:
MINT
Grass Meal • Wheat • Soya Bean Hulls* • Oat Feed • Wheat Feed • Yeast • Lucerne • Mint (1.25%) • Soya Oil* • Limestone • MonoCalcium Phosphate • Dicalcium Phosphate • Minerals • Salt • Short Chain Fructo-oligosaccharides (0.25%) • Ligno-Cellulose. *May Contain GM Materials
OREGANO
Grass Meal • Wheat • Oat Feed • Soya Bean Hulls* • Wheat Feed • Lucerne • Peas • Yeast • Thyme (1.25%) • Soya Oil* • Monocalcium Phosphate • Dicalcium Phosphate • Salt • Limestone • Short Chain Fructo-oligosachharides (0.25%) • Ligno-cellulose • Oregano (0.06%). *May Contain GM Materials
The ingredients for the Oxbow adult rabbit food are:
Timothy Grass Meal, Soybean Hulls, Soybean Meal, Cane Molasses, Wheat Middlings, Sodium Bentonite, Soybean Oil, Salt, Lignin Sulfonate, Hydrolyzed Yeast, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Yeast Culture, Zinc Proteinate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate
I went through and deleted all the ingredients that appeared in all three foods, and we are left with:
MINT
Oat Feed • Lucerne • Mint (1.25%) •
OREGANO
• Oat Feed • Lucerne • Peas • Thyme (1.25%) •
OXBOW
• Cane Molasses
Both Burgess feeds contain oat feed and Lucerne. Neither of these ingredients are necessarily bad for your bunny, however, they may not provide the best nutrition. Oat feed is a filler, and while oats can be given to your bunny it isn’t generally recommended as their low nutrition and higher fat can cause weight gain. Lucerne, or Alfalfa, is generally only recommended for young bunnies as it is very rich, especially in calcium, which is hard on your bunny’s excretory system. The Oregano food also contains peas, which are also a filler that provide little nutrition to your bunny. While the Oxbow food doesn’t contain these fillers (it does contain soybean hulls-filler!) it does contain molasses, which is unnecessary sugar in the food.
The nutritional statistics of the foods are as follows:
OREGANO
Beneficial Fibre 39% • Crude Protein 12.7% • Crude Oils & Fats 4% • Crude Fibre 19% • Crude Ash 6.5% • Sodium 0.17% • Calcium 0.75% • Phosphorous 0.5%
MINT
Beneficial Fibre 39% • Crude Protein 13% • Crude Oils and Fats 4% • Crude Fibre 19% • Crude Ash 6.5% • Sodium 0.18% • Calcium 0.75% • Phosphorous 0.5%. *May Contain GM Materials
OXBOW
Crude Protein min 14.00%
Crude Fat min 2.00%
Crude Fiber min 25.00%
Crude Fiber max 29.00%
Moisture max 10.00%
Calcium min 0.35%
Calcium max 0.75%
Phosphorus min 0.25%
Vitamin A (min) 10,000 IU/kg
Vitamin D (min) 900 IU/kg
Vitamin E (min) 190 IU/kg
Rabbit Pellets are recommended to have 18%+ (more is better) grams of fiber, and 15% or less protein. Looking at the Burgess food, it may be hard to tell which stats to use. “Beneficial fiber” is a term that’s new to me, and after a bit of research it appears the beneficial fiber is not a measure of the actual fiber content as much as a comparison between digestible and indigestible fibers. You really should compare the crude fiber and protein. The Burgess has 18 percent fiber while the Oxbow has somewhere between 25-29, so oxbow is the clear winner there. Oxbow does, however, have a small amount more protein, though it stays below 15%. The fat on the Oxbow is also lower (good!)
So here we have our list of pros-cons.
Burgess
CONS:
-Fillers (Oats, Lucerne, Peas)
-Lower Fiber
-Higher Fat
PROS:
-Lower protein
Oxbow
CONS:
-Molasses
-Higher protein
PROS:
-Higher fiber
-Lower fat
Overall, my choice would be Oxbow, though it’s up to you to continue to do research and make an informed decision.
If you do decide to go with the Burgess, the Mint would probably best simply due to the fact that it does not contain peas. If you continue with Oxbow, you may consider looking into the other adult rabbit foods as they are all slightly different.
I hope this helps you out a little, sorry it is such a mumbo jumbo mess. Looking forward to seeing what others who have personally tried Burgess (I have not!) have to say.