best food to "beef up" a underwight pig?!

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amylouise

amylouise

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hey!
i went to the vet yesterday with my 3 yeard old chick and shes lost some weight, no problems have been found with teeth or anything else healthwise and ive been told to seprate her fro a month and to feed her up!
I'm just wondering whats best to give her? shes on guineapig mix food,hay and daily veggies and fruit.. is there anything else i can give her?!
:D
 
You need to watch her eating habits and weigh her daily on your kitchen scales to see whether her weight loss is still continuing. I have already posted on you other thread.

She won't be able to put on weight unless you can find the cause of such a massive weight loss.

PS: Has she lost weight suddenly or slowly?

PS: Here are tips for handfeeding.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
 
Sweetcorn is high in calories but also Critical Care/Science recovery is a ground up food which people syringe feed to poorly pigs but most pigs will eat it off a spoon/bowl too. it;s a powder you mix with some water it might help with fattening up too. I think alfalfa hay is quite calorie dense too it is mainly given to babies, pregenant and nursing piggies, only in small quantities to grown up piggies i think because it is fattening but there may be another reason so I will have a little look.
 
Wiebke said:
You need to watch her eating habits and weigh her daily on your kitchen scales to see whether her weight loss is still continuing. I have already posted on you other thread.

She won't be able to put on weight unless you can find the cause of such a massive weight loss.

PS: Has she lost weight suddenly or slowly?

PS: Here are tips for handfeeding.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
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sorry i havent noticed! eeks! I'm a bit blond! the weight had dropped off slowly over the year..its been so gradual i didnt really notice..her cagemate its HUGE! so yumyum was always the little one..ill check out the tips!
thanks
xx
 
Cgilchrist said:
Sweetcorn is high in calories but also Critical Care/Science recovery is a ground up food which people syringe feed to poorly pigs but most pigs will eat it off a spoon/bowl too. it;s a powder you mix with some water it might help with fattening up too. I think alfalfa hay is quite calorie dense too it is mainly given to babies, pregenant and nursing piggies, only in small quantities to grown up piggies i think because it is fattening but there may be another reason so I will have a little look.
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oooh! ive never heard of either of those! I'm very new to this forum! ill reserch the critical care and get some sweetcorn in!
thank you!
xx
 
Cgilchrist said:
I was trying to find those anywhere online that does them?
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Animal Magic sell them. You can also find them in pet shops that sell loose food. I got some in a pet shop in Ditton. They're very cheap- 75p a kilo- but if you buy them online the cost of postage really bumps it up (unless you're already getting other stuff).

:)
 
Have you ever watched your two girls - is the bigger girl eating most of the food?

Make sure that your girl gets PLENTY of good quality timothy hay, high vitamin C veg like parsley, peppers of any colour or broccoli with every meal - giving a good diet of mixed veg is still important! You can up the amount of pellets and keep her bowl topped up; that is another source for gaining weight. If necessary, switch slowly to a good quality brand of pellets or treat her to some Burgess Excel blackcurrant and oregano; most piggies do like them!

You can sprinkle porridge oats into her food for extra starch.

Here is a link about a good, balanced diet:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37030
 
baby corn and rolle oats are my saviours when m piggies weigts get a little low, the rolled oats are the best and pack weight on very quick, these are only short term solutions though
 
flips said:
Animal Magic sell them. You can also find them in pet shops that sell loose food. They're very cheap- 75p a kilo- but if you buy them online the cost of postage really bumps it up (unless you're already getting other stuff).
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Jollyes sell dried flaked peas either loose or in absolutely humungous bags for around £18 which I can't imagine anyone other than a rescue could ever get through!

As Flips said, they're very cheap - I bought about 70p's worth 6 weeks ago and still have some left! (Admittedly I only have 2 pigs and only usually give peas as occasional treats but they still go a really long way.) I've never heard of a pig not liking them either and in a museli style feed they're always the first thing to be eaten! :)
 
flips said:
Animal Magic sell them. You can also find them in pet shops that sell loose food. I got some in a pet shop in Ditton. They're very cheap- 75p a kilo- but if you buy them online the cost of postage really bumps it up (unless you're already getting other stuff).

:)
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They do barley rings too cause I bought some and they arrived today x
 
I wouldn't seperate her completely, but would seperate her for dinner and breakfast time to make sure she's eating lots :) They wouldn't like to be completely seperated, but I'm not vet, that's just what I'd do.

After my rabbit nursed her babies and was skinny, a rabbit breeder recommended black sunflower seeds and oats to fatten her up. I'm not sure if that'd be good for piggies too, but I assume it would be.
 
i wouldn't seperate her, I think it would make her unhappy and maybe eat less!

i feed my pigs Bran mash some times, you can buy a bag of bran flakes from health food shops it's really cheap, and mix with warm water =] my piggies in the past loved it havent tried it with my new piggy though :) i'm not sure the nutrition of it though!

i went to the vet yesteday and i have the opposite problem, my new pig is on the tubby side! my vet said not to feed too many carrots, apples and root vegetables because they don't find them in the wild. Maybe in your case you could be bad and feed him more of those things :)
hope your piggy gets fat soon :))
 
Velvet Smoke said:
i wouldn't seperate her, I think it would make her unhappy and maybe eat less!

i feed my pigs Bran mash some times, you can buy a bag of bran flakes from health food shops it's really cheap, and mix with warm water =] my piggies in the past loved it havent tried it with my new piggy though :) i'm not sure the nutrition of it though!

i went to the vet yesteday and i have the opposite problem, my new pig is on the tubby side! my vet said not to feed too many carrots, apples and root vegetables because they don't find them in the wild. Maybe in your case you could be bad and feed him more of those things :)
hope your piggy gets fat soon :))
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You might find this thread useful!
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38805
 
justgot back from work! thanks SOOO much for all your helpfull comments, i really appreciate it!
I'm totally new to asking for help and forums in genral but everyones been so great!
i went to pets at home and spent loadss of money of bits from the burges excel range and before i left, i put in some bits of broccoli,coluiflour,carrot and sweetcorn as well as hay and the usual. SHES ATE ALL THE VEG! :D :D :D that makes me so happy! the vet said to compleatly seprate them but i just cant.. thier little sad faces..it kills me! so now they are back in fatsos cage grooming each other and i feel happier! -c -c -c
thank so so much again, ive wrote all the info down for future refrence!
i always thought guinea pigs were indestructable but no...!
x
 
Hi Amy, I used to work in the same office as you last year (recognise you from your pic - I used to get big pangs of jealousy whenever I saw your scooter!). Don't know if you still work there, I work up at the other office as am on the Business side of the business. I have flaked peas if you are struggling to find stuff to give?

Hope your piggies weight picks up :)
 
KimberleysWheekers said:
Hi Amy, I used to work in the same office as you last year (recognise you from your pic - I used to get big pangs of jealousy whenever I saw your scooter!). Don't know if you still work there, I work up at the other office as am on the Business side of the business. I have flaked peas if you are struggling to find stuff to give?

Hope your piggies weight picks up :)
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kimberly!
at british gas?!! wowowowowow! :)p i left in january..couldnt take anymore! mallethead I'm now at HSBC on regent road near the train station! my scooters now more hello kittyfied than ever! i now have stickers and pom poms on the handlebars! yeah i would love a little handfull of flaked peas if youve got some! ill pay! thanks x
 
amylouise said:
kimberly!
at british gas?!! wowowowowow! :)p i left in january..couldnt take anymore! mallethead I'm now at HSBC on regent road near the train station! my scooters now more hello kittyfied than ever! i now have stickers and pom poms on the handlebars! yeah i would love a little handfull of flaked peas if youve got some! ill pay! thanks x
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Haha, Love it :)) I love retro looking things and just used to gawp at it when I was leaving the building! I've sent you a rqst on FB about the peas :)p
 
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