Feeding Young and Older Pigs Together

Status
Not open for further replies.
sarah0712

sarah0712

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
385
Reaction score
27
Points
275
Location
Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
I now have Charlie (2 years) and Theo (3 weeks) bonded together. But I am wondering how to feed them both together as I know that young pigs have different needs. Does Theo still need a cup full of veggies a day? And should I still give him unlimited pellets? I don't want Charlie to be troughing them all!

Also Theo has been on Science Selective pellets and Charlie is on Burgess Excel. I don't want to upset Theo's little tummy, but I'm also worried that if I mix them that Charlie will eat all the Science Selective (he doesn't eat much of the Burgess) and leave Theo with just the Burgess.

Thanks for your help in advance :)
 
Young piggies need a bit more calcium and protein than older piggies, that is why they get unlimited pellets. I would serve a bit more science selective and top up with Burgess. The youngster should shift over fairly easy - young piggies learn what is good and safe to eat from their elders and he will just copy Uncle pig.

Feed the same amount of veg (make sure that you include one high vitamin C veg daily - pepper, broccoli; fresh coriander, parsley, dill, mint or basil).

I would top up the hay with one handful of alfalfa hay daily for a few weeks, but then let it peter out.
 
I have had to buy muesli piggie food! Both the baby girls love it but I am mixing 3/4 muesli and 1/4 burgess. They are little tiggies though and are eating a wide variety of veg. When I got Bertie he wouldnt look at any veg took me 3 weeks to get him to eat any!rolleyes
 
I make sure to hand-feed high calcium bits like parsley where possible. Machu (the elder) eats much faster than Yoshi (the baby), and comes straight up to the food bowl as he's more tame around me, whereas Yoshi hangs back. If I just put parsley in the bowl, it's gone before Yoshi ventures up. Too much calcium for Machu and not enough for Yoshi! So I hand-feed those bits when I can.
 
SpinningNickel said:
I make sure to hand-feed high calcium bits like parsley where possible. Machu (the elder) eats much faster than Yoshi (the baby), and comes straight up to the food bowl as he's more tame around me, whereas Yoshi hangs back. If I just put parsley in the bowl, it's gone before Yoshi ventures up. Too much calcium for Machu and not enough for Yoshi! So I hand-feed those bits when I can.
Click to expand...

I had this problem with the Alfalfa hay today. Charlie sat and stuffed his face and Theo hardly got a look in!
 
Try to feed them apart a bit - Charlie is exhibiting perfectly normal dominance behaviour (plus he likes new food, too!); you have to factor in that he'll probably end up with the lion share... mallethead
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top