I think overall food quality has gone down. It's NOT just MannaPRO though I've heard the worst about it. It could be a mill issue? Specific mills are having issues or not doing things properly but I don't think it's all mills? Likewise, not sure if everyone is being consistent checking their dates on the bag either? I know the last bag of MannaPRO I tried to purchase from TSC (where turn over is fairly high) was OLD...I mean, really old. When I asked TSC about it they said they'd been receiving fairly dated food for a while :/ That all said, I had used MannaPro for many many years (around 8 I believe) and never had unexplained deaths on it or deaths from feed up to and including last month when I made the switch to Purina.
NOW, why did I switch from MannaPRO to Purina? Quality control. I kept finding loads of corn, weird pieces, poorly colored whole bags...etc...etc and it seemed the company wasn't willing to do a thing about it.
Why to Purina? ONLY because it was another comparable feed (ingredient wise etc) and was easy to obtain locally. If I had just pets, I'd use something else. If I lived closer to other mills, I'd use something else. AND in just my second bag of Purina (opened this week) I found a HUGE pellet...I assume it's a horse pellet though don't have equine experience. This thing is about as round as my thumb and maybe an inch long? Huge. Something that should NOT have made it into the bag...but did. Likewise, around the net, I've heard of others having issues on other feeds as well.
I guess my biggest suggestion would be...if your chinchillas are doing good on it, not losing weight or having any issues whatsoever...if the feed looks great, smells great and is milled recently...I wouldn't personally switch. Just me
