Hayandstraw hay

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hayethusiasts

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Hi guys. For those who have tried hayandstraw meadow hay, is it soft as in no stalky bits? I have just order the ings hay. I LOVE IT SO MUCH but there are more stalks there than I'd like :( i am so paranoid about haypokes.

Thank you so much.
 
Also does anyone want free bag of the ings hay? You guys just have to pay the shipping fee. I dont want it to go to waste. I have tried taking out the stalky bits but it takes up too much of my time doing it.
 
eileen said:
I use the ings hay as feeding hay,and meadow hay for bedding playing and eating hay.
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I do that, i put a layer of meadow hay then ings hay on top. They like to burrow shallow at times that's why i still worry about hay pokes :(
 
It's difficult.i hope you find a solution for you and your piggies.maybe if you have any rabbit or guinea pig rescues near you,maybe donate the hay to them.April lodge guinea pig rescue is very good.
 
Do you live in kent too? :)

Thank you so much. I am literally on the verge of crying 🤣🤣🤣 i have not settled at all with hay since I have adopted my piggies. I'm sure the stalks should be fine but i just dont want to risk it.

I will give it another go, thank you
eileen said:
It's difficult.i hope you find a solution for you and your piggies.maybe if you have any rabbit or guinea pig rescues near you,maybe donate the hay to them.April lodge guinea pig rescue is very good.
Click to expand...
 
I really wouldn’t worry too much about stalks, particularly in what is softer hay anyway. It’s different with first cut Timothy (as that is all about the stalks) but in things like meadow the stalks are fine and actually some piggies quite like them.
I would also say that even if you find a nice soft batch of hay this time, it doesn’t mean it will be next time - hay varies batch to batch, year to year.

I will also add by way of hopefully reassuring you that of the four piggies in my life for the past seven years - only two of them have had haypoke (once each). Their hay pokes came from soft meadow hay, so my point is that you can drive yourself mad trying to find the perfect box of hay but it doesn’t mean they won’t get haypoke
(The other two have never poked themselves (touch wood I haven’t jinxed it!) and they are about to turn 3 years old).
 
Piggies&buns said:
I really wouldn’t worry too much about stalks, particularly in what is softer hay anyway. It’s different with first cut Timothy (as that is all about the stalks) but in things like meadow the stalks are fine and actually some piggies quite like them.
I would also say that even if you find a nice soft batch of hay this time, it doesn’t mean it will be next time - hay varies batch to batch, year to year.

I will also add by way of hopefully reassuring you that of the four piggies in my life for the past seven years - only two of them have had haypoke (once each). Their hay pokes came from soft meadow hay, so my point is that you can drive yourself mad trying to find the perfect box of hay but it doesn’t mean they won’t get haypoke
(The other two have never poked themselves (touch wood I haven’t jinxed it!) and they are about to turn 3 years old).
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. That is reassuring. I will give it a go. To be fair it's the best hay I've had :)
 
Minx has been having a lovely time burrowing under the ings hay. And I also wouldn’t wanna jinx it, but in 12 or so years of piggies we’ve never had a hay poke 🤞
 
HollysKingdom said:
Minx has been having a lovely time burrowing under the ings hay. And I also wouldn’t wanna jinx it, but in 12 or so years of piggies we’ve never had a hay poke 🤞
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Thank you

I may be being a bit too cautious lol. I have given it a go but if i am being honest I feel like they prefer the pillow wad meadow hay. O well. It is what it is 🤣🤣
 
My two have ings from hay and straw and timothy hay (very soft) from haybox. I have kept guinea pigs for many years and never had any with haypoke!
 
In my experience, 9 times out of 10 hay poke is actually from grass seeds. I've very rarely ever pulled an actual piece of hay stalk or anything out of eyes, it's all been seeds or pieces of seed (I've even had to remove seed pieces from nostrils and ears over the years!) So I wouldn't worry about stalky hay, it tends to be bales of hay from farms that come with the seeds, they tend to drop out during the process of packaging into smaller bags and boxes and I must admit when I exclusively used ings hay I never had an issue. The only reason I went with bales was cost, having 20+ piggies to feed.
 
I only buy timothy hay because I know that's what they'll eat and I don't have the space for multiple boxes. Mourne loves to be in the middle of a pile of hay, whether to play or to sleep. No haypoke for him yet.

Bann did get haypoke, but it took several years of using the same hay before he ever had an issue and he wouldn't eat any hay except timothy (I did try!).

No hay is danger free. I understand the anxiety around it, but haypokes aren't a guaranteed injury and hay they'll eat is worth far more than the hay the human likes, heh.
 
Thank you so much @Eriathwen and @Lorcan. Glad I always get opinion from this forum. 🥰🥰🥰 in the end I have continued trying the ings hay but they seem to like the pillow wad more so why I keep buying hay for them to try when they already have a hay they love is beyond me 🤣🤣🤣😝😝😝
 
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