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just grass

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I went to my dentist the other day and the secretary there happens to have a guinea pig. This pig only eats grass. She practically lives in her back yard during summer months and eats the yard grass and in the winter she grows grass in a tray and feeds it to her. She never buys hay at all . This pig is apparently doing just fine and is healthy and happy also eats pellets and vegetables

.I am very allergic to all the hays you buy in the store but not to regular grass. Just wondering what others think of just feeding grass.
Thanks
 
I do actually give mine a lot of grass, well they go in their runs pretty much every day when it's decent outside, even in the winter when they can't go out often, I'll pick a load of grass for them, although a lot of people would warn not to feed a lot of grass because it can give some upset stomachs.

If for health reasons you can't get hay, have you tried Dodson & Horrell Just Grass or Readigrass? It's dried grass, rather than a hay. Smells strange but it's enjoyed by pigs. I think the Just Grass comes in bulk only... I'm not overly sure but the Readigrass comes in small bags I think.

Grass on its own could be a problem to their teeth more than anything else, but obviously if they have their mixed/pellet food too, they shouldn't get too out of control as hay helps to keep them warn down. It's something you'll have to look into :)
 
If I'm right in saying readigrass is very high in calcium so i end to feed it as a treat. I think grass is ok, but personally i cant see the piggie getting enough of it, mine certainly wouldnt. So i feed mainly hay. Just an opinion, but I'm not sure of the proper answer.

x.
 
Oh forgot to ask, is your allergy a physical one (makes your hands itchy or something?) or a hay fever type allergy?

Just a thought but have you tried rubber gloves if its physical so you're not touching the hay itself? Or tablets if its hay fever? Possibly put a cloth or something over your mouth and nose when you go to give them some?

Yea I think Readigrass has got a lot of calcium in it, if I also remember rightly from when I've used it before.

Just Grass is something specially made for horses but my girlfriend uses it for her 5 rabbits and 6 guinea-pigs and recommended it to me but I get a really good hay that's grown locally for a pet store in the next village, but my girlfriend doesn't have grass in her garden so it's the only grass they can get so I thought maybe it'd be ideal for you? :)
 
I am interested....how can redigrass be high in calcium. It is just freeze dried grass so surely it doesn't contain anymore calcium that grass in your back garden?
 
Ye I have heard it before too but wondered why :)

Also I think it is important piggies still get hay as the long strands of hay are good for their teeth :)
 
Readigrass/justgrass is not any higher in calcium then any other type of grass. It is Alfalfa that is high in calcium.

Guinea's can live on a grass only diet, however! you have to be very careful and really know what you're doing. I have a feeling that the people I know who do feed grass only do it only during the summer and they also feed ad lib hay, during the winter months they reintroduce the feed mix.

I would try different types of hay if you can, and see if you can find one that doesn't set you off as much as the others. But hay is an essential part of their diet.
 
I think grass is fine from a dietry point of view ... but dont guinea's need hay to help grind down their teeth and stop them overgrowing...? @)
 
I'm allergic to hay as well, I take an anti - histamine every morning, use gloves and shake the hay in a closed bag so that the little bits and dust drop to the bottom so less irritants in the air when you put it in. Ours are indoors and we use the hoover about 2 or 3 times a day to make sure there is no hay left around.
 
Thanks for all the replys and advice. I have not heard of Readgrass or just grass here. I am in Canada.I have seen Oxford grass and meadow grass but they cause me bad allergies. Someone asked about my allergies.They affect my lungs and my eyes badly.Just sitting in her hay ball it bothers me a lot and we have a very small house so near her a lot of the time.

I can handle the plain grass though. I dont take an antihistamine every day as they are not good for overall health to take all the time and I do get very nervous and agitated if taking them ongoing It appears that grass is ok so I will continue with it. She does not seem to have an ill affects from it. I have special blocks for her teeth always in her cage and also the pellets and veggies etc.

I forgot to mention that the ladies pig I was speaking of is four years old .
 
A friend of mine who had guinea pigs for years and years always put hers out out on the grass every day, unless it was snowing so it was covered - yes really!

She fed them carrots every single day and hay and the cheapest dry food she could buy. Oh yes, she has an allotment so fed from that also.

She had a big herd and lost the last one at 11 years old - all the others, bar one who died of cancer at 3, lasted at least 9 years, no problems, no fungals, no mites, no nothing - just happy piggies on the best you could ever feed them :)

She's had a bit of a break from them - 1 year rolleyes - and is now looking to start up a new herd :)

I asked her what was her secret - she said fresh grass all year ;)
 
my guinea pigs tends to eat more grass and readigrass than hay. In fact they tend to just sit and poo on the hay all the time. I think fresh grass will still grind their teeth down as it's the continuous chewing action that wears them down rather than anything in the hay.
Fresh grass will have much more right nutrients than any hay, pellets, veggies that we give them.
 
But you mustn't ever give them grass clippings as they ferment. This is what I read somewhere. This is right isn't it?
 
yeah, no grass clippings from lawn mowers. I hand cut the grass in my garden and feed them to my piggies, my neighbours must be wondering why i don't use my lawn mower.
 
I'd be very worried about my pigs not getting enough fibre in their diet if they didn't have hay. Fibre is a crucial part of their diet and aids digestion.

Fresh grass contains vitamin C so it definitely has fantastic health benefits but I'm not sure how easy it would be to give a suitably high fibre diet without unlimited hay.
 
Stupid question alert - isn't all hay dried grass? Just different types of grass? Sorry, I feel really silly for even asking this...
 
grass will contain loads of fibre as well.
I give mine loads of grass, hay and readigrass and they just ignore the hay but they still poo loads.
 
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