Meal examples

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PAMELAKT

PAMELAKT

Adult Guinea Pig
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Can you guys give me some examples of what veg you serve your piggles for breakfast/dinner?

I thought I was doing well, not giving too much spinach etc - but have now learnt celery & carrot shouldn't be given too often! I wasn't feeding either daily, but celery most days.

This isn't leaving much left apart from lettuce!
 
I like to give my boys something leafy and something chewy with every meal...
 
Mine get things like spring greens, kale, broccoli quite regular.
For treats they get spinach, maybe every other week a small bag shared between the group.
They get celery quite often, probs twice/ three times per week.
Herbs they have as a treat as they're so expensive and gone within seconds!

Cucumber is a firm favourite here! :)
 
Yeah mine get cucumber for dinner in the evening, well only Rodney likes cucumber.

Usually I feed lettuce, cucumber & celery for their dinner. And something like else leafy with green beans/broccoli/carrot and pepper for breakfast.

I don't feed kale often as I read it was really high in calcium, or spinach, and spring greens they're not very fussed on but thats gassy. Seems there is a problem to everything!

I also thought carrot tops were like one of the best things they can have, but have read on here they shouldn't have much!

Running out of veg!
 
Ok, this is the one I've knocked together over the past week or so. I haven't really run with it yet so will be monitoring closely for any bloat issues etc. and probably feeding less of the grass and other gassy stuff than recommended here to get the new baby pig's tum used to everything.

I think the calcium to phosphorous ratio works out about 1.2:1, and ideal is about 1.3:1 so it's more or less right. Also note I give berries twice a week when they're in season; Machu loves them and it only amounts to a berry or two. The charts I work from recommend berries as something you can feed more often than other fruits like apple etc. so I count them separately to the weekly fruit treat. That may be debatable though, depending on your view.

I've tried to include options that have roughly the same Ca:P ratio and cover different seasons of fruit and veg so I can always keep costs down as much as possible, and cover the piggie menu with things that I might happen to have in the house for human occupants. (With only two of us, a bag of snap beans or a beetroot always yields leftovers that otherwise go to waste.)

Amounts are approximate but based on roughly 20-30g per pig per meal and were there to help me works out the calcium/phosphorous ratio.

Geez I sound obsessive! :D Hope it helps though.


SUNDAY
a.m. - lettuce OR grass 20g, parsley 5g

p.m. - lettuce OR coriander 10g, carrot OR squash 10g, yellow OR green pepper 10g


MONDAY
a.m. - lettuce 15g, red OR orange pepper 10g

p.m. - dill OR rocket 10g, tomato OR beetroot 10g


TUESDAY
a.m. - lettuce OR snap beans 15g, berries OR grapes 10g

p.m. - cereal grass (like rye or wheat) OR dandelion 15g (I'll be growing both of these in graze trays over the winter; some kind of treat hay would be good, too), yellow OR green pepper 10g, broccoli OR cucumber 10g


WEDNESDAY
a.m. - spinach OR pak choi 15g, fruit (non-berries) OR swede 15g

p.m. - lettuce OR grass 20g, carrot OR squash 10g


THURSDAY
a.m. - lettuce OR coriander 15g, red OR orange pepper 10g

p.m. - lettuce OR snap beans 15g, tomato OR beetroot 10g, parsley 5g


FRIDAY
a.m. - lettuce 15g, broccoli OR cucumber 10g

p.m. - grass 10g, yellow OR green pepper 10g, carrot OR squash 10g


SATURDAY
a.m. - lettuce OR snap beans 20g, basil OR kale 10g

p.m. - spinach OR pak choi 15g, berries OR grapes 10g
 
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I try to feed something leafy (lettuce, spring greens, kale), peppers (may be not everyday as they get bored of it) and something crunchy (carrot or celery).
I try to mix it up quite a lot so they don't get bored of anything and if I give lettuce I won't give cucumber (as they both have a lot of water) and if I give cabbage I won't give broccoli (in case of bloat). As I said, I try and mix it up a bit to make it more interesting.
 
It's not much help, but fine green beans are one that was recommended to me, and my piggies love them :) You can give quite a few as well :)
 
Ours love cucumber, apple, pepper, broccoli and lettuce. They have carrot and cabbage as a treat. Though Ainslie won't eat pepper he turns his nose up at it. rolleyes
 
Belinda Shute said:
Which berries do you give?
Click to expand...

Blueberries are Machu's favourite, but he also likes strawberries. I've yet to try him on raspberries or blackberries, but both are pig-safe and a little lower in sugar than blueberries, so I'm hoping he likes those just as much so we have a lower-sugar option.

Gooseberries are apparently OK too and seem to have virtually nil sugar (working from here, but I never see those in shops. :/
 
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SpinningNickel said:
Blueberries are Machu's favourite, but he also likes strawberries. I've yet to try him on raspberries or blackberries, but both are pig-safe and lower in sugar than blueberries, so I'm hoping he likes those just as much so we have a lower-sugar option.

Gooseberries are apparently OK too and seem to have virtually nil sugar (working from here, but I never see those in shops. :/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I am going to try some of those on my girlies I think
 
Ooooh fab replies thank you ;)

I've been giving lettuce & cucumber for 2 years! Will have to shuffle it up...
 
My piggies eat mainly hay and grass, with a little veg (whatever they get depends on what is on special offer or reduced in Tesco). This can mean on some occasions they get mainly spinach, or mainly kale, but then they may not have it again for quite a while. The amount of veg they get is probably smaller than most of you feed, but they eat a lot of grass and only have pellets on alternate days. Apart from one piggie who had a urethral stone, none of my piggies have ever suffered from bladder issues. In the winter months I grow grass in seed trays.
 
Yeah, I've always been inclined to be pretty lazy about veg and just give them a piece now and again as a treat... But lately I've realised that if I buy big bags of spinach, carrot, etc. they don't eat it all fast enough... Leaving lots of veggies I'm then forced to snack on or include in our dinners. So it's healthier for me, too! Trying to stick with it for everyone's sake!
 
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