Going on a Pellet Free Diet

[Kindness]

Is anyone currently using a pellet free diet? I've read an awful lot and it seems it provides only health benifits. I have looked at so many pellet formulas and they are just full of wheat, soya, molasses and God knows what. The only reason I ever started feeding pellets was due to the vitamin C but the amount of vitamin C obviously deteriates very quickly.

Currently my piggies get fresh grass, graze on graze, Timothy hay although they barely touch the hay, a mix of high vitamin C vegtables daily and plenty of water. I also have liquid vitamin C which I can feed daily or every other day at about 12mg per piggy, although I'm wondering if this is overkill with the grass and veg.

Can anyone share their experiences. In the past I found pellets made my piggies so lazy they would just eat pellets and sleep, now I only give 14g pellets per pig and they are a lot more active and are regularly eating their hay and finishing their vegtables.
Once my bag of pellets is up I am considering going pellet free and weaning them off onto a natural diet. I know a lot of people do this but I would appreciates any tips or suggestions thank you in advance.

 

[Hetja]

My piggies were on a pellet free diet during the summers quite a long time. They lived outside so the got pellets during winter.
As long as you provide a healthy diet with various veggies they will be fine without pellets. They may need a bit more veggies than before.

 

[Besspigever]

I was totally pellet free for a couple of months, because of the horrid things in pellets. my pig did wonderfully with a just veg diet.
I recently found Exotic nutrition timothy hay pellets. there is nothing bad in them, just 100% timothy hay in pellet form. My pig LOVES them! I really feel she has a good, balanced diet. but she also did great without any pellets at all. I hope this helps!

 

[Eriathwen]

I went pellet free for a while and to be honest I will probably go back to it for most of the pigs. Expect a little weight loss during the first couple of weeks but it should balance itself out quickly. Going pelletless made me look for more unusual veggies to feed which was fun. The pigs seemed to enjoy the increased variety too.

 

[DMS260820]

I was totally pellet free for a couple of months, because of the horrid things in pellets. my pig did wonderfully with a just veg diet.
I recently found Exotic nutrition timothy hay pellets. there is nothing bad in them, just 100% timothy hay in pellet form. My pig LOVES them! I really feel she has a good, balanced diet. but she also did great without any pellets at all. I hope this helps!

If they are 100% timothy pellets. You may aswell just feed timothy hay. As hay wears down the molars and pellets wont

 

[Besspigever]

If they are 100% timothy pellets. You may aswell just feed timothy hay. As hay wears down the molars and pellets wont

@Skypipdot, she still LOVES her hay. she gets hay all the time. and I don't feed her pellets all the time as suggested on the bag. just when I feel she needs something extra to eat. sometimes she gets tired of eating her lettuce and she needs something else to eat. also the timothy hay pellets are for all small animals (such as rabbits), so they are larger in size than regular pellets. she has to grind at them with her front teeth. not just chew them with her back. so they wear down the front and back teeth.

 

[DMS260820]

@Skypipdot, she still LOVES her hay. she gets hay all the time. and I don't feed her pellets all the time as suggested on the bag. just when I feel she needs something extra to eat. sometimes she gets tired of eating her lettuce and she needs something else to eat. also the timothy hay pellets are for all small animals (such as rabbits), so they are larger in size than regular pellets. she has to grind at them with her front teeth. not just chew them with her back. so they wear down the front and back teeth.

Cool i see your point ☺. I wasnt saying you dont feed hay. Sorry lol

 

[Besspigever]

I totally understand! No worries.

 

[G&C]

Is anyone currently using a pellet free diet? I've read an awful lot and it seems it provides only health benifits. I have looked at so many pellet formulas and they are just full of wheat, soya, molasses and God knows what. The only reason I ever started feeding pellets was due to the vitamin C but the amount of vitamin C obviously deteriates very quickly.

Currently my piggies get fresh grass, graze on graze, Timothy hay although they barely touch the hay, a mix of high vitamin C vegtables daily and plenty of water. I also have liquid vitamin C which I can feed daily or every other day at about 12mg per piggy, although I'm wondering if this is overkill with the grass and veg.

Can anyone share their experiences. In the past I found pellets made my piggies so lazy they would just eat pellets and sleep, now I only give 14g pellets per pig and they are a lot more active and are regularly eating their hay and finishing their vegtables.
Once my bag of pellets is up I am considering going pellet free and weaning them off onto a natural diet. I know a lot of people do this but I would appreciates any tips or suggestions thank you in advance.

Just a quick question, how do you ensure each pig gets 14g of pellets? And the liquid vit c, how do you ensure 12mg for each pig? Unless all your piggies eat separately? I’m no expert but I don’t think the liquid stuff is needed, if you add to the water they might not like it and might not drink enough as a result?
I have never stopped giving pellets, but it’s interesting you say yours slept more as mine have started doing that when they are in their hutch. When they’re out on the grass they run about and eat grass constantly so I’m looking at ways to keep them active especially coming up to winter when they will be indoors.

 

[Kindness]

Just a quick question, how do you ensure each pig gets 14g of pellets? And the liquid vit c, how do you ensure 12mg for each pig? Unless all your piggies eat separately? I’m no expert but I don’t think the liquid stuff is needed, if you add to the water they might not like it and might not drink enough as a result?
I have never stopped giving pellets, but it’s interesting you say yours slept more as mine have started doing that when they are in their hutch. When they’re out on the grass they run about and eat grass constantly so I’m looking at ways to keep them active especially coming up to winter when they will be indoors.

Yes I read liquid vitamin C is not needed, I think that is OTT. My piggies will be on grass, dried grass and a cup of high vitamin C veggies daily so no need for pellets or liquid tablets.
I used to weigh their pellets on a gram scale.

 

[Posyrose]

My very guinea savvy vet is very against pellets as he considers it junk food. I don't know whether this is true, but he said that rabbit pellets are now considered poor food for rabbits. There is sugar in the burgess pellets I buy. Anyway, I now feed huge amounts of good quality hay and the right amount of varied veg and only feed pellets as a treat. They get a handful maybe twice a week.