Alfalfa review

[Engel]

Not sure if this has been done before or if there's a thread for this already but I thought I'd review 2 types of alfalfa hay that I've been using.

(Note alfalfa should only really be used for malnourished, pregnant/nursing mums and babies which don't have alfalfa in their pellets).

As many of you know by now my one 'boar' turned out to be a sow. Fast forward a few weeks and out come 2 babies.

After much guidance from other members on here I was advised to feed some alfalfa as I use Timothy based pellets. I found it difficult to get hold of some but thankfully in the end I did.

I've heard that alfalfa king hay is incredibly dusty so I avoided that.

I initially got some small bags of oxbow alfalfa (I couldn't find any big bags). It was £5.99 per 425g bag on Amazon. As oxbow is a trusted brand I thought why not give it a go?!

I was shocked how dusty it was. It was all chopped up into small bits which probably didn't help. It didn't appear as fresh as I'd have liked and wasn't as green as I expected. Every bag was like this. I couldn't find any other brands available until a few days ago.

I ordered a box from small pet select after watching a video by Saskia from the LA guinea pig rescue. It's a bit more expensive than oxbow but totally worth it. It smells super fresh, is more vibrant and is long stem with hardly any dust! I am very pleased with the quality and so are my piggies. They've dived straight into this one and are now refusing the oxbow one!

I ordered a 910g (2lb) box for £15.24 off Amazon.

I'd recommend the alfalfa from small pet select over oxbow as the difference is incredible. As I said, my piggies won't touch the oxbow one now because it's that good.

Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice. The oxbow is definitely more yellow though.

 

[forager]

Thanks for writing this Engel, I am searching for an alfalfa hay supplier because my two boars adopted from the RSPCA now turn out to be a boar and a pregnant sow! So many reviews say that the alfalfa hay was so dusty, it's good to know there's one that isn't.

 

[Engel]

Thanks for writing this Engel, I am searching for an alfalfa hay supplier because my two boars adopted from the RSPCA now turn out to be a boar and a pregnant sow! So many reviews say that the alfalfa hay was so dusty, it's good to know there's one that isn't.

Every brand can be hit and miss so please bare that in mind. Also check your pellets. If they contain alfalfa you (probably) won't need any alfalfa hay. (Tagging @Wiebke and @VickiA to confirm that though).

That's unlike the RSPCA. Normally they're quite good, or so I hear.

Glad this review has been helpful

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for writing this Engel, I am searching for an alfalfa hay supplier because my two boars adopted from the RSPCA now turn out to be a boar and a pregnant sow! So many reviews say that the alfalfa hay was so dusty, it's good to know there's one that isn't.

Please keep in mind that the actual amount of alfalfa hay is VERY small. Switching to a small pack of alfalfa based pellets for the time being may be frankly more practical.
Personally we do not see any difference in babies born from a known pregnancy to surprise babies - the level of general normal good care the pregnant sows have been on is crucial. Keep in mind that Saskia is very often dealing with malnourished and neglected piggies, which the piggies on this forum aren't, so her experiences and recommendations in that area differ from ours.
You can find our own comprehensive step-by-step pregnancy, birth, mother & baby care advice (which includes our diet advice) via this link here: Pregnancy, Mother & Baby Care Guides

Please contact the RSPCA branch over the mis-sexing. It should not happen but the number of pets in care that they are dealing with as a result of the pandemic is eye-watering and the volunteers are all very stretched.

It would be best if you please opened your own personalised ongoing support thread in our specialy monitored pregnancy section. The monitors are apart from me all experienced rescue fosterers. The section is only visible once you have registered with the forum and have consented to our strict no intentional breeding rules during the process.