Looking for advice given recent government warnings

[autumnalsummer]

Hi all, I hope this is okay to ask, I have been a long time reader here but not sure how to post properly!
We have two lovely boys who are indoor piggies as we are a 1st floor flat. Given the recent government recommendations I’ve been thinking about what I would do if for some reason supermarkets were shut and I couldn’t get any fresh veggies for them. I stock up every few days anyway so in a worst case scenario our have 5/6 days of greens before having to stock up, possibly a couple longer as we grow herbs and grass in pots on most of the window sills.
Does anyone else have the same concerns or am I being over the top? I sprout greens for myself and my son, would they be able to have the trimmings off those, so they weren’t getting the seeds? I can’t find anything definitively online and after a while you get stuck in a doomsday prep loop…

 

[Truffolo]

I think it is a very realistic concern as a power cut of a few days or a cyber attack could mean relying on supplies for a few days, hopefully not longer than that. Dry food such as hay and pellets is OK in a store, but the salad and veg piggies need every day might be difficult to get, especially if the fridge is affected. Pellets have some vitamins in them. You can get vitamin C supplements and biscuits such as Oxbow and Nibblots and Small Animal Select which would help tide things over for a short while. Hopefully it won't come to that, but it is worth thinking about what would happen in a loss of electricity

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, I hope this is okay to ask, I have been a long time reader here but not sure how to post properly!
We have two lovely boys who are indoor piggies as we are a 1st floor flat. Given the recent government recommendations I’ve been thinking about what I would do if for some reason supermarkets were shut and I couldn’t get any fresh veggies for them. I stock up every few days anyway so in a worst case scenario our have 5/6 days of greens before having to stock up, possibly a couple longer as we grow herbs and grass in pots on most of the window sills.
Does anyone else have the same concerns or am I being over the top? I sprout greens for myself and my son, would they be able to have the trimmings off those, so they weren’t getting the seeds? I can’t find anything definitively online and after a while you get stuck in a doomsday prep loop…

Hi

I found that one out during Lockdown with 27 piggies and the need to shield my hub, so I could go shopping only once a week. Shopping help wouldn't know what was suitable for piggies and what not. Most low calcium greens were missing and once I ended up with 5 sorry looking peppers to feed my piggies for a week.

As long as you have access to an untreated lawn or the countryside, you can forage for grass and wild forage; just wash thoroughly before feeding. Our lawn was what has saved my piggies during the first Lockdown because especially fresh growing grass is high in vitamin C; older grass not quite so and brown grass/hay has rather little vitamin C.
Grow your own herbs in windowsill boxes or pots.

Make sure that you have hay for a week, pellets and some dry commercial forage in reserve. As well as not so much recommended cheap veg like carrots in the fridge that can keep for a few weeks and that you can use in your own cooking. You can feed more pellets in the short term.

Please be aware that there are basically only three food groups:
- water
- hay and grass (ca. 75-80%)
- supplementary forage replacement: fresh veg, herbs, fresh and dry forage, pellets and any treats. You can shift within this group as long as you roughly keep the balance. your piggies will survive without fresh food for a week or so without problems as long as you have dry forage and pellets and can ideally supplement with some fresh grass for added vitamin C.

We have got this guide from the Pandemic, which you may find helpful.
Ill / Self-isolating and Running Out Of Piggy Food?

How to Introduce New or Reintroduce Regular Fresh and Dry Food Safely - The Rules (includes grass; please feed a little more with each passing day for the first 3-5 days).

 

[autumnalsummer]

I think it is a very realistic concern as a power cut of a few days or a cyber attack could mean relying on supplies for a few days, hopefully not longer than that. Dry food such as hay and pellets is OK in a store, but the salad and veg piggies need every day might be difficult to get, especially if the fridge is affected. Pellets have some vitamins in them. You can get vitamin C supplements and biscuits such as Oxbow and Nibblots and Small Animal Select which would help tide things over for a short while. Hopefully it won't come to that, but it is worth thinking about what would happen in a loss of electricity

This is fab, so I keep a few months worth of dried food and hay in stock just because of subscriptions and if I need to leave then I am happy that someone looking after them has everything they might need for a couple of days, and I have a variety of vit c ‘treats’ and different forage and some with dried veg in so might focus on that a bit more. Thank you for replying!

 

[autumnalsummer]

Hi

I found that one out during Lockdown with 27 piggies and the need to shield my hub, so I could go shopping only once a week. Shopping help wouldn't know what was suitable for piggies and what not. Most low calcium greens were missing and once I ended up with 5 sorry looking peppers to feed my piggies for a week.

As long as you have access to an untreated lawn or the countryside, you can forage for grass and wild forage; just wash thoroughly before feeding. Our lawn was what has saved my piggies during the first Lockdown because especially fresh growing grass is high in vitamin C; older grass not quite so and brown grass/hay has rather little vitamin C.
Grow your own herbs in windowsill boxes or pots.

Make sure that you have hay for a week, pellets and some dry commercial forage in reserve. As well as not so much recommended cheap veg like carrots in the fridge that can keep for a few weeks and that you can use in your own cooking. You can feed more pellets in the short term.

Please be aware that there are basically only three food groups:
- water
- hay and grass (ca. 75-80%)
- supplementary forage replacement: fresh veg, herbs, fresh and dry forage, pellets and any treats. You can shift within this group as long as you roughly keep the balance. your piggies will survive without fresh food for a week or so without problems as long as you have dry forage and pellets and can ideally supplement with some fresh grass for added vitamin C.

We have got this guide from the Pandemic, which you may find helpful.
Ill / Self-isolating and Running Out Of Piggy Food?

How to Introduce New or Reintroduce Regular Fresh and Dry Food Safely - The Rules (includes grass; please feed a little more with each passing day for the first 3-5 days).

So this is great and has helped a lot! We have grounds around us, but an awful lot of our neighbours have dogs as well as a beautiful fox family near by so I grow a grass mix and some herbs on windowsills as i dont want to risk any pee flavoured bits, even with washing (probably ott, I know). Thank you so much!