Fat Piggle!

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hot fox

hot fox

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We have five Piggles, four girls and a neutered male. All are in fine fettle, but Daisy is rather overweight. I know this doesn't help her health, any ideas how we can slim down just one Piggle? Clearly can't separate them.
We put them down our alleyway yesterday, to try and get her to run around a bit more, since last year I don't think she can run so well, due to the excess weight. All the others are very sprightly and weigh around a 1Kg. Daisy is about 1250g!
Any ideas gratefully received.
Thanks
 
what dry food are you feeding them ? i think they all have different fat etc... I am not to sure though. don't let daisy see this thread, she wont be pleased if she sees her weight accross the internet !:)) :)) :))
 
My Sasha is about 1,200g and although she is a lot bigger than the others I don't think she's fat. She's older than the others though, other than Mabelle. They are approx 1yr old now, and Sasha is about 100g-200g more than Mabelle (but she was always bigger). My other four are 6.5 mths old and Henry is about 10 weeks so are a lot smaller.

I think maybe she looks big compared to the others because she is the biggest? Maybe she's just a big girlie :)

As for getting her to move about, you could put her favourite treats far apart to make her go get them, but if there are other piggies out at the same time, they'll probably munch it up first! :(|)

How old is Daisy?
 
Daisy May

I've just checked through our notes, Daisy May was less than 1Kg when we got her from the rescue in May 2009, she was then about 8 months old. During last year when they all lived outside her weight went up to and remained at a fairly stable 1110g ish. Once they came inside it crept up to the 1250g mark, which is where it stays.
It obviously does fluctuate, but that's pretty much it. I'm sure the weight gain would have been due to her having less room to move around in and a very attentive family during the winter! We do give them cucumber, broccoli stalk, baby sweetcorn, sliced and whole carrot, outside leaves of cabbage etc and handfuls of grass if it's raining or too cold for them to go out. But we do limit this. They have two bowls of dried food a day, a mixture of XL or Selective and Gerty, although they prefer the Gerty! We give them less dried food when they're outside.
So are we doing anything obviously wrong, and is Daisy just a beautiful Big Girl who likes her food?! She is very healthy and happy, as well as being beautiful, Flobble and Oscar have succumbed to UTRI in the past and she has remained clear. However, she does have rather a large tummy! :):)
I'm sure the others are not overweight, although Osc is rather round too! The Aby's are all about 1Kg and really healthy too :)
Any feedback is very gratefully received.
Thanks
Hot Fox x
 
Does she have like actual rolls of fat? I think I read on Guinea lynx that it's hard for a piggy to actually be overweight, and if they are overweight they actually have like rolls of fat that you can see just by looking at them.

Dave changes from around 1200 to 1250 and he just feels like hes chunky, he's not fat. He is greedy but he has a healthy diet. I give him 1 bowl of fresh fruit, veg and herbs everyday and half a bowl of dried pellets, i mix gerty with excel pellets and he loves it. He also has unlimited excel hay with dandilions and marigolds in.

I think it is the dried food that makes them fat, so if you are really worried i would just reduce that or even take it away. I read that as long as they have access to lots of hay then they will be fine.

The excel range is fab i think. Dave loves it. So i reckon what you're giving them is absolutely fine, and i think her weight shouldn't be a concern unless you really feel like she's mega greedy and has rolls of fat.

Love Amy and Dave (the piggy) x
 
The diet sounds ok, although the focus could shift more to hay and veggies - ensure they get fresh veg every day whether they graze outdoors or not. The two bowls of dried food may be a bit much for adult piggies, the Gerty alone can be a bit fattening so with two other dry foods as well, that could explain some of the weight gain.

It's good her weight is stable, not continually increasing. As explained in the link, reducing dry food and increasing exercise will help to tone her up.
 
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