Flamestriker
Adult Guinea Pig
I purchased a 10kg bale of hay from a farm 20 mins drive from where I live. The barn had bales stacked from floor to ceiling, and I was told to pick one.
I went through a few of them, all tied and not looking too bad (not as green as the stuff I get from Timothy Hay.co.uk, but not bad.) I smelled every one, sweet scent, and wriggled my hand in to the middle. The hay might have been cold, but it seemed ever so slightly damp, I'm not sure. We have had a lot of rain lately, and the barn has openings for air circulation, so rain could have gotten in.
We purchased a bale (my partner picked it because he used to keep horses and knew what to look for), about three bales up from the floor, and paid £4. Brought it home, left it outside in a bag (the same white bags the Timothy hay comes in from Timothyhay.co.uk) to dry out, and popped out to pick up a bin to store it in. We hadn't had any rain all morning.
And it rained. The top part of the hay got soaked. The rest went in to the storage bin, and I threw out the wet stuff. Paid £20 for a plastic water butt, drilled holes in it, and filled it full of hay.
Can I make sure the rest of the hay is dry and feed it to the pigs? Will it harm them?
Should I feed it from a barn, knowing that rats and mice can live in barns and contaminate the hay with urine? What if it is slightly damp? It didn't smell mouldy.
I don't know what to do. The farm feeds the hay to their own livestock, but are piggies just as hardy?
I went through a few of them, all tied and not looking too bad (not as green as the stuff I get from Timothy Hay.co.uk, but not bad.) I smelled every one, sweet scent, and wriggled my hand in to the middle. The hay might have been cold, but it seemed ever so slightly damp, I'm not sure. We have had a lot of rain lately, and the barn has openings for air circulation, so rain could have gotten in.
We purchased a bale (my partner picked it because he used to keep horses and knew what to look for), about three bales up from the floor, and paid £4. Brought it home, left it outside in a bag (the same white bags the Timothy hay comes in from Timothyhay.co.uk) to dry out, and popped out to pick up a bin to store it in. We hadn't had any rain all morning.
And it rained. The top part of the hay got soaked. The rest went in to the storage bin, and I threw out the wet stuff. Paid £20 for a plastic water butt, drilled holes in it, and filled it full of hay.
Can I make sure the rest of the hay is dry and feed it to the pigs? Will it harm them?
Should I feed it from a barn, knowing that rats and mice can live in barns and contaminate the hay with urine? What if it is slightly damp? It didn't smell mouldy.
I don't know what to do. The farm feeds the hay to their own livestock, but are piggies just as hardy?
