I Need Information On Hay

[sophiawantsapig]

I cant find the answer to this question ANYWHERE. If I have 2 guinea pigs and I buy a 10 pound bag/box of hay... how often will I need to buy a new supply of hay?

 

[Jesse's pigs]

Well to put it in perspective i buy the medium bag of Timothy hay from pets at home that expands ×3 and it lasts me a month and a bit. Mo gets a hearty handful each time he runs out which is like 3 times a day.

 

[Swissgreys]

There isn't really a specific answer to this.
It depends a lot on how you feed your hay.
I put my hay into large plastic boxes so my piggies can play in it, and they also use this as their toilet.
It means their cage is easy to clean, but I clean out the hay trays daily.
This means I probably throw away a lot more hay than if I just put it in a hay rack where they couldn't get to it.

For example I have 4 guinea pigs and 10 pounds of hay would last me about 2 weeks, so should last you at least a month.

 

[Beans&Toast]

It really just depends on how many pigs/size of cage etc.

I go through about 12lbs of hay a week for my two.

They get unlimited piles of Timothy hay in hay bowls refilled several times a day.

They get a massive pile of it to burrow in/eat that gets changed twice a day and I put it in their hideys too, a small amount during the day then more at night to keep them warm. (I do go a bit OTT)

As long as they have constant access to a nice pile for munching then they're fine.

 

[Wiebke]

It very much depends on whether you use hay for bedding, in a tray underneath a hay rack or in a hay loft where they can sit and snuggle in it, not just for eating, the quality of it (bedding hay can be lower quality than hay you feed for consumption and it should be preferably soft orchard or meadow hay to minimise the risk of eye pokes) and the individual daily intake, which can vary.
Piggies will eat more hay if they get less pellets (which should be fed only in small and limited amounts, for instance); they will eat less when they are regularly out on the lawn in summer, but even there hay consumption varies with the grass quality...

Ideally, you try a few things at first to get a feel for what your piggies like/what is the best value for money for you and then work out how long it takes your piggies to go through the hay you buy.

 

[Dorothy&Coco]

Like the others have said it depends how you use it. We have two hay trays which get changed daily so quite a lot of wastage. If you're using it as bedding you would get through even more.

 

[sophiawantsapig]

Thanks for the replies. I would be putting hay into a hay rack for them. They would only be eating it, not playing in it or sleeping on it.

 

[Swissgreys]

Thanks for the replies. I would be putting hay into a hay rack for them. They would only be eating it, not playing in it or sleeping on it.

You might want to consider offering them a tray or box of hay - at least every now and then.
They love playing, sleeping and burrowing in it, and it is a lovely enrichment activity for them.
Sort of the equivalent of letting your kids play with their food - so much fun.

 

[Lorcan]

You might want to consider offering them a tray or box of hay - at least every now and then.
They love playing, sleeping and burrowing in it, and it is a lovely enrichment activity for them.
Sort of the equivalent of letting your kids play with their food - so much fun.

Ditto this. I give mine hay on the floor of the cage (it's where it'll end up anyway) and I lost Comet about four times yesterday because he decided to sleep in it. He always does get a little overexcited where hay's concerned, I'm convinced he thinks it's really just an edible toy. He has so much fun though, it would be mean not to let him enjoy it.

My two are fairly good at not pooping or peeing in it, though. They prefer to toilet in the corners, so as long as the hay stays out of the corners I just need to add to it, rather than changing it out. Means less wastage thankfully. It can take 2-4 weeks for them to go through a 1kg bale.

 

[sophiawantsapig]

Ditto this. I give mine hay on the floor of the cage (it's where it'll end up anyway) and I lost Comet about four times yesterday because he decided to sleep in it. He always does get a little overexcited where hay's concerned, I'm convinced he thinks it's really just an edible toy. He has so much fun though, it would be mean not to let him enjoy it.

My two are fairly good at not pooping or peeing in it, though. They prefer to toilet in the corners, so as long as the hay stays out of the corners I just need to add to it, rather than changing it out. Means less wastage thankfully. It can take 2-4 weeks for them to go through a 1kg bale.

Thanks! I've been trying to figure out how often i'm going to be purchasing hay since i'm paying for everything and not my parents and if it's going to cost me too much every couple of months or whatever i'm not going to be able to afford to adopt guinea pigs.

 

[Mhairi]

Have to agree with Swissgreys. My girls absolutely LOVE their pile of meadow hay on the floor in their cage! Popcorning all over the place in anticipation when we're about to put it in. It's one of the funniest things they do - we put a pile in at one end of the cage, Pip runs over to it, pauses for a couple of seconds, then barrels straight into the middle of it head first as if to say WOOOO HOOOO! She then stays there for ages hidden under it for AGES and has a good old munch! So funny!

 

[Elisabeth]

I use it for bedding and to eat I have 5 piggies abd we get through a bale every 6 weeks x x

 

[Guineapigfeet]

I use meadow hay as bedding, food and burrowing piles and my three girls get through a 3.5kg bag every 2 weeks or so. Yes, there is a lot of 'waste' but they've enjoyed it and I wouldn't ever not have big piles of hay for them to sleep and play in

 

[Mother Hubbard]

So if you are looking at costs, yes it does depend. Mine have bedding hay and feeding hay.
To give you an overall idea of a cost of one pig per week:-

Based on:
Aubiose Bedding (10kg)
Norfolk Pastures Dust Free Hay (currently trying some other hay too) (5kg)
Readigrass (small bag)
Burgess Pellets (10kg)
Fresh Veggies & Fruit (Aldi), feed once a day
Heygates Pellets (20kg)

£2.48-£2.55 a week a piggy
Naturally you wouldn't have one so the below costs are for a pair of piggies are;
£5.77 a week
£25 a month
£300 a year.

I hope it helps. Everyone is different based on what they use, how the hay is placed in their environment.