hazeyg
Adult Guinea Pig
Hi All
Ive been quietly lurking about just reading posts as have been really busy with fungal issues. I believe it stemmed from a bad batch of hay so I thought I would hare some Hay information as Ive found a hay that’s reasonably priced that’s better than the previous suppliers I’ve used before (hay for pets, dust free hay, willow warren....I’ve tried them all)
A good quality hay is important for so many reasons, it provides roughage, keeps teeth the correct length, provides natural stimulation as piggies in the wild scurry about long grass, it contains many nutrients that they need and should make up 80% of a piggies diet, unprocessed and is completely natural. Also the right kind of hay is balanced and not too rich in any minerals like calcium which can lead to urinary problems (crystals and stones etc).
What to look for in good quality hay.
- it smells sweet and fresh (imagine lying out on the grass in a garden in summer, that’s the smell your looking for.
-the strand length is long, which will wear the teeth
-strand length is not extremely fine again encouraging good dental health
- evidence of some green-ness should be present , the greener the fresher, but as hay keeps its nutrients for so long as long as its stored properly a good quality, sweet smelling hay is better than a stale ,green low quality hay.
- Ideally not treated with pesticides
-Expect some amount of natural debris, thorns, sticks, leaves etc. Although annoying these are all perfectly OK to find in hay after all it is a natural product.
See below for Hay comparisons.
Not a bad meadow hay, strands a little thin, lacking in greenery. However still smells very sweet and therefore has been stored correctly and retained nutrients.
Some light green strands, very course and stalky Scottish Timothy hay, OK quality but not sweet smelling. Nor musty smelling either.
Long strands some thin, some thicker strands of meadow hay, very green in colour, smells like walking through a meadow on a hot summers day.
Its obvious which one is our favourite....
Ive been quietly lurking about just reading posts as have been really busy with fungal issues. I believe it stemmed from a bad batch of hay so I thought I would hare some Hay information as Ive found a hay that’s reasonably priced that’s better than the previous suppliers I’ve used before (hay for pets, dust free hay, willow warren....I’ve tried them all)
A good quality hay is important for so many reasons, it provides roughage, keeps teeth the correct length, provides natural stimulation as piggies in the wild scurry about long grass, it contains many nutrients that they need and should make up 80% of a piggies diet, unprocessed and is completely natural. Also the right kind of hay is balanced and not too rich in any minerals like calcium which can lead to urinary problems (crystals and stones etc).
What to look for in good quality hay.
- it smells sweet and fresh (imagine lying out on the grass in a garden in summer, that’s the smell your looking for.
-the strand length is long, which will wear the teeth
-strand length is not extremely fine again encouraging good dental health
- evidence of some green-ness should be present , the greener the fresher, but as hay keeps its nutrients for so long as long as its stored properly a good quality, sweet smelling hay is better than a stale ,green low quality hay.
- Ideally not treated with pesticides
-Expect some amount of natural debris, thorns, sticks, leaves etc. Although annoying these are all perfectly OK to find in hay after all it is a natural product.
See below for Hay comparisons.
Not a bad meadow hay, strands a little thin, lacking in greenery. However still smells very sweet and therefore has been stored correctly and retained nutrients.
Some light green strands, very course and stalky Scottish Timothy hay, OK quality but not sweet smelling. Nor musty smelling either.
Long strands some thin, some thicker strands of meadow hay, very green in colour, smells like walking through a meadow on a hot summers day.
Its obvious which one is our favourite....
