Food for young piggies!

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Graham452

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Hi Everyone!

I'm looking for some advice about feeding young piggies! At the end of the month we'll be getting two 6 week old boars. I think I'm pretty sorted with most things (after going back and forth between different cages, different beddings, for weeks!), but feeding is still confusing me!

I've read lots about feeding generally, including the guides on here. What i'm confused about is how this applies to young piggies! My plan was to use Science Selective or Burgess Excel pellets along with the suggesting proportions of veggies and hay. Would this be ok, or do I need something specific while they are still young?

Thanks!

Graham
 
That's fine, some veg makes them gassy & maybe bloat, so have a look at the food chart in the forum. I used science selective but make sure you give the amount on the packet. Hay is the main ingredient of there diet, at there age use Alfalfa hay, it's got all the nutrients they need. You must keep them on it for 4 to 6 months, then you can give them Timothy hay. Enjoy the little ones, if you put a lot into them, they will give you ten fold back.
Hi & welcome to our friendly forum.
 
Thank you for the advice, whatever I give them I'll do it slowly so they adjust to the new diet. I've had a look at the veg chart, thanks!
 
I'm pretty sure that alfalfa is not essential to young guinea pigs at all but grass hay is. Alfalfa is not grass hay, it’s legume. It’s a misconception that they need alfalfa.
 
This is the post from wiebke which I have gone by (with my own pigs included as they were under six months when I got them).
 

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Hiya I think Wiebke was having a senior moment when she said it, or maybe the babies she was talking about, were dangerously under weight.
 
Graham452 said:
Hi Everyone!

I'm looking for some advice about feeding young piggies! At the end of the month we'll be getting two 6 week old boars. I think I'm pretty sorted with most things (after going back and forth between different cages, different beddings, for weeks!), but feeding is still confusing me!

I've read lots about feeding generally, including the guides on here. What i'm confused about is how this applies to young piggies! My plan was to use Science Selective or Burgess Excel pellets along with the suggesting proportions of veggies and hay. Would this be ok, or do I need something specific while they are still young?

Thanks!

Graham
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Young guinea pigs are perfectly fine with a good normal adult grass hay based diet with veg and fresh herbs in moderation and the same going for pellets (the adult recommendation is 1 tablespoon per piggy per day; youngsters can have double of that). The more grass hay they eat, the better their health and their chances for a long life.
Our diet guide is covering all ages.

You can use alfalfa based pellets if you really wish, but it is not necessary. A good balanced diet already covers most of the nutrients. Key is and remains grass hay (timothy, meadow or orchard hay). Alfalfa/lucerne is not a grass but a legume and too rich for regular long term feed. It is only recommended in small quantities for highly pregnant and nursing sows (unless they are very neglected and in urgent need of some very quick feeding up). It is the general balanced diet that carries the day even in a prengnancy!
If you feel strongly about wanting do something extra, you can feed a little until the youngsters are about 4 months old and turn into teenagers. 'Junior' pellets is a reaction for a demand for special baby pellets in all pet species, not because there is a real cavy need. The amounts we are talking here are very small indeed.

My own surprise babies and adopted youngsters have grown up in a large group on an adult diet and have been as healthy and long-lived as you could wish. In fact, I have been getting regularly compliments from the vets for the good shape they were in!
Just as an example, my Tegan, who was born here, is going to celebrate her 7th birthday next month. Her playmate Hedydd, who I adopted at seven weeks old, is doing the same this month and Hedydd's sister Heulwen, who is from the litter before her, has turned 7 in July - and that despite a very bad start into their lives! That is at the upper end of the average life expectancy; they haven't been ill throughout their lives.
 
Lucerne is just another name for alfalfa. In the UK we say Lucerne while in the states it’s usually alfalfa.
 
Excellent advice from Wiebke as always :) Enjoy your little ones!
 
Thank you for the advice Weibke! Things are now much clearer for me!
 
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