Most successful eating hay you use? (Subjective to pig I know)

Gadzy

Gadzy

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Hi all, I hope you are all safe and well.

Basically trialling some gays out at the moment and monitoring their tastes. I have a 50/50 box currently from haybox, although the blend is great quality I think my little ones might be finding it rather stalky and large. I’m not sure what you guys use for your eating hay.

I’m tempted to try the 2nd cut Timothy hay from bunny bistro? I have read the sticky thread on hays which is a great read, but in the past my other pigs turned their nose up to the hay box stuff, although amazing quality and all I can put it down to is the stalkiness of it and the hardness.

I will continue to try a few
 
The goblins and the Quad all swore and swear by Happy Hay's timothy, but the goblins wouldn't even touch softer hay so it's been years since I bought anything else.
 
Not one of my rabbits or piggies has ever liked stalky Timothy hay.

I feed meadow hay which I buy by the bale from a local farm.
I have always fed meadow hay as a main hay but I have at times added in something else: they have liked the soft cut Timothy from haybox (but caution: it is rich and can cause digestive upsets in some pigs so best given as a treat mixed in with a different type of hay) and orchard hay from happy hay co
 
Piggies&buns said:
Not one of my rabbits or piggies has ever liked stalky Timothy hay.

I feed meadow hay which I buy by the bale from a local farm.
I have always fed meadow hay as a main hay but I have at times added in something else: they have liked the soft cut Timothy from haybox (but caution: it is rich and can cause digestive upsets in some pigs so best given as a treat mixed in with a different type of hay) and orchard hay from happy hay co
Click to expand...


Thank you, I think they are finding the haybox stuff very long and stalky. They seem to want to bite it in half or bits off it unless they find a smaller bit. I fed my old pigs meadow hay also, that was their preference. I had some left over orchard hay when they first arrived and absolutely bolted it down so that might be my answer, it’s just harder to get hold of?

Gonna need to throw a few types in there and trial it I think
 
2nd cutting Timothy, here. But I'm in the states, so get small pet Select.
 
Has anyone ever tried the bunny bistro 2nd cut stuff? Seems a good price for the weight etc
 
Haybox do sell orchard hay. Although happy hay now don’t.

I’ve not tried bunny bistro.
(I'm lucky to have access to a farm for bales of meadow hay and storage for bales, so at £8 a bale which lasts (four animals) six weeks I find it very hard to justify the cost of anything else now!)
 
Mine have a few favourites, can't go wrong with nice soft, sweet smelling local meadow hay from a farm which at £5.50 a bale, lasts a couple of weeks and forms the bulk of their hay intake.

But they also really enjoy:

-Natures own sweet green hay
-Ings hay from Hay and straw .co. uk (without the spaces)
-Orchard grass from Timothy hay .co. uk (again without spaces)
-Rye hay from The hay shed

There's a few others but for the life of me I can't remember where I used to get them from 😅
 
Soft cut Timothy is their absolute favourite. I use a big pile of ings hay and mix in a handful of the soft cut. They tend to eat all of the soft cut and about half the ings. They sometimes get a handful of Redigrass in there instead. Next best favourite is the 2nd cut Timothy. They’re not a fan of the really stalky 1st cut.
 
Mine have decided that Ings hay is the best, although I do get meadow hay and mix things up a bit.
I get my hay from the Hay and Straw Company
 
We have tried a few over time, including our local farm shop.
We love Natures Own meadow hay & sweet green hay, as our everyday hay.

We sometime get a box of HayBox soft cut as treat hay. Our piggies get a tiny amount we call it posh hay and make it last ages!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Not one of my rabbits or piggies has ever liked stalky Timothy hay.

I feed meadow hay which I buy by the bale from a local farm.
I have always fed meadow hay as a main hay but I have at times added in something else: they have liked the soft cut Timothy from haybox (but caution: it is rich and can cause digestive upsets in some pigs so best given as a treat mixed in with a different type of hay) and orchard hay from happy hay co
Click to expand...

I was thinking does Timothy hay have that much better nutrition than meadow hay? I guess whatever they eat most of is the best form of nutrition because there’s no point trying to get them to eat Timothy if they don’t want it. I don’t know, it’s just a very stalky hard Timothy where I have tried the viktakraft hay before which is Timothy and seems softer
 
There are some nutritional differences but there is absolutely no problem with using just meadow hay. In fact my lot love it because it is a mixture of grasses
I’ve fed meadow hay for over three decades! It’s only been probably during COVID where I started getting different types but haven’t fed anything other than meadow for the past year or so.

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
 
Mine always loved Oxbow Timothy - though the quality can be variable. When it's good, it smells lush even to piggy slaves!
 
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