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My pigs might get no grass this year :(

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CiaraPatricia

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Normally in the summer my pigs get to go in runs on grass everyday.

We used to have the dogs fenced off in half the garden, and the pigs could go on grass without any dog poo or anything.

But this year the dogs have the whole back garden. We planted loads more grass and there's some at the side of the house (where the dogs can't go) that the pigs could eat, but it won't be grown enough this year, and they'd eat all the roots apparently, so they can't have it. :(

And I can't really put them on grass where there has been dog poo . . . I could try cleaning the grass really well, and my dogs are obviously wormed and healthy and all, but it's a bit risky probably so I doubt I'd do that. Poor pigs will be sad :(

They can still go on runs on concrete with loads of hay thrown in for fun for them :) And I can pick grass from the front garden, but sometimes my dad puts weed killer and feed on it so then I won't be able to rolleyes (unless I can convince him not to :)) ) and maybe I can sneak into the field behind my house and steal grass :)) that's kinda bold though!

They'll miss their lovely healthy yummy FREE grass :( They're always so happy when they get grass, see my profile pic!

I'm thinking of getting big trays and growing some grass . . . probably not worth it though as it'd be gone so fast with 5 mouths to feed.

Though lately my dogs have been pooing on the patio instead of the grass sometimes rolleyes so there may be hope for the pigs getting grass yet!
 
Yes, Readigrass or a barn dried grass such as Burgess Excel Fresh Forage - my guineas love grass too, and this product is excellent to tide them through until summer days in the run. I get mine from Pets at Home. I got the Readigrass off Amazon but I'm sure you can get it from pet shops. Readigrass is the better of the two products, smells lovely too.
 
That's true, I never thought of Readigrass! I think I'll do that! :)
 
Do what i do and pick nice tasty grass from fields. My dad also gets me some when he takes the dog out and then drops it off for me. Just make sure that no weed killer etc has been used on it, but most fields etc are free from weed killer its just the grass you find near houses to look out for, as i know the council by me spray some areas with weed killer.

Also have a go at growing your own its easy and you can get seeds off eBay for 99p!

:)
 
I suspect you may be able to pick the grass yourself the first year - especially if you don't cut it too short - just not let the piggies out on it.
 
I'm sure your piggies will be fine having a run on the concrete. I have to pick grass for my piggies as we don't have any that is safe for them to run on unsupervised x
 
I suspect you may be able to pick the grass yourself the first year - especially if you don't cut it too short - just not let the piggies out on it.

That's a good idea, I think I'll do that! We have a piece of grass at the side where the dogs can't go, and my dad only puts weed and feed on the grass at the front of the house, so I can just tell him to not cut the grass at the side of the house and I'll pick it!

I think I might be able to put the rabbits on that piece of grass too sometimes, because they don't really eat grass, they just nibble at it, whereas the pigs eat it all :))


Joey&Gizmo, I can pick it in the fields, I'm just worried that the farmer might see me stealing his cows' grass! :))
 
It will be a good few weeks yet before the ground is dry enough for piggies anyway. Why not fence the grass off now and by April it will be more than safe to have piggies on the grass. Even if dogs have been on it over the winter months. Give the lawn a mow a couple of times too before letting the piggies go back on it should be fine. I do not let my dogs on the grass at all much easier to scrub the concret down every week.
 
It will be a good few weeks yet before the ground is dry enough for piggies anyway. Why not fence the grass off now and by April it will be more than safe to have piggies on the grass. Even if dogs have been on it over the winter months. Give the lawn a mow a couple of times too before letting the piggies go back on it should be fine. I do not let my dogs on the grass at all much easier to scrub the concret down every week.

I would fence off some grass if it was my house but I live with my parents so can't rolleyes :))

And we don't have a huge garden anyway, so I like my dogs to have as much space as they can :)
 
Do what i do and pick nice tasty grass from fields. My dad also gets me some when he takes the dog out and then drops it off for me. Just make sure that no weed killer etc has been used on it, but most fields etc are free from weed killer its just the grass you find near houses to look out for, as i know the council by me spray some areas with weed killer.

Also have a go at growing your own its easy and you can get seeds off eBay for 99p!

:)

Horses, cattle and sheep also carry worms and other parasites that can be passed onto guineas, so this isn't necessarily a safer option, especially as you will have no way of knowing if these animals have been wormed or kept up to date with their vaccinations.

Also unless these fields have public rights of way through them, you shouldn't be in them! We had some stupid people get upset as the horses 'chased' them out of their field...damn right, shouldn't have tresspassed in the field, especially with a dog, and the horses just wanted to know if they had polos anyway! Needless to say they got no sympathy from us.

At the moment we have had some foxes poo on our lawn, we have picked it up and are keeping an eye on it, by the time it comes to lawn time the grass should be fine though.

You say you want your dogs to have space, but you can't deprive one animal of its needs for the sake of another IMO. My cat needs space, still doesn't poo on the lawn, tried it once and we squirted him with a water pistol. Cat now poos in flower bed but can still run about on the lawn, all animals are happy! If the dog squats on the lawn, grab it and lead it over to the patio or something, just like when you train them not to poo indoors :)
 
You say you want your dogs to have space, but you can't deprive one animal of its needs for the sake of another IMO. My cat needs space, still doesn't poo on the lawn, tried it once and we squirted him with a water pistol. Cat now poos in flower bed but can still run about on the lawn, all animals are happy! If the dog squats on the lawn, grab it and lead it over to the patio or something, just like when you train them not to poo indoors :)

My guinea pigs' cages are about the same size as their runs, and they can still have the runs on concrete so I think they'll be fine either way, they have loads of space. I dunno about training the dogs not to go on the grass, it seems like a bit of a nightmare with my lot, they're just a bit dumb I think rolleyes :)) They just go anywhere. We have a picnic table outside that they jump on and one of them poohed on top of it rolleyes and if it's raining they'll pooh in their shed instead of going out :)) I have four and I think some are better than others :)


Out of interest, does anyone know why the dog's poo is so harmful, besides parasites? My dogs are wormed but I'm guessing the bacteria in it could harm the pigs.
 
It turns out now my pigs might get more grass than ever :)

I decided to get a really big run, and use their runs they have now, and put the runs all out on the grass all the time so the dogs can't get on that part. And rotate them between those runs as the grass grows. :)

And my dad said this year he won't bother putting weed and feed on the front lawn, so I can pick all of that too :)

So they'll have loads of grass everyday :)

My dad did some weeding twice today and gave them all grass and dandelion leaves, he said the squeaking in the shed was really loud and he can't really hear the guinea pigs normally cos he's a bit deaf. I said "there weren't any buttercups were there?" and he said "no and I picked out any dead tree leaves too" :)) He's learning well.
 
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