need ideas for leafy greens and natural foods.

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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at the moment ches and maisie have:

parsley
coriander
basil
thyme
dill
watercress
spinach
rocket
wild rocket
mixed bag of watercress, spinach and rocket with red chard
curly lettuce
trio leaf lettuce
hearts of romaine lettuce
little gem lettuce
dandelions
pak choi
curly kale

obviously they don't have all these everyday, usually a mix each day of about 4-5.

i need ideas for other things to add some more variety. it has to be a leafy green. i did buy them some apple twigs and leaves recently and they loved those. so any natural things would be good aswell.

some of the mixed bags from asda have been awful lately. i nearly threw up when i opened the bag of wild rocket! :)>>>

they also have dried herbs aswell, i get a selection of them from hayexperts so they have those occasionally aswell.

they have about half an eggcup of pellets at night now, the vet says to feed none at all, so i have cut right down, but don't want to stop completely until i have a big selection of hays and leafy greens for them to have. then when that is sorted i will probably give them pellets a few times a week. the vet is all for a hay and leafy greens diet, so that is what i am doing. :)

and their main hay is dustfreehay, they also have oxbow oat hay, oxbow timothy hay, oxbow botanical hay, and burns green oat hay. and grass when the weather is ok.. i was growing grass inside but i need more compost from planet guinea and they are still not back online. :(

so anymore ideas for veggie and hays etc.. thank you. :)

oh, and maisie got a gassy bloated tum from dried grass so nothing like that. :)

oh again... lol.. i'm a bit wary of gassy veg aswell, but they have pak choi and curly kale in small amounts and seem ok with that so maybe other gassy veg might be ok aswell, what do you think?
 
does anyone know if any of these mixed bags are ok from asda -

baby leaf salad - Chard, Coral Lettuce, Spinach, Rocket, Tatsoi

fresh tastes italian style salad - Escarole, Lollo Rosso, Frisée, Wild Rocket, Radicchio

leafy rocket salad - Rocket, Virgil Victoire, Apollo, Saigon

tender leaf salad - A mix of oak leaves, apollo lettuce and red chard

herb salad - Mixed Leaves in variable proportions (78%) [Virgil Victoire, Saigon] , Mizuna (10%) , Rocket (3.0%) , Pea Shoots (3.0%) , Flat Leaf Parsley (3.0%) , Coriander (3.0%) .

and what about sage, tarragon, lemon thyme?
 
if anyone knows about those mixed bags being ok or not, let me know, i'm just sending OH off to asda now! :))
 
Mine eat any cabbage leaves and spring greens and chickweed (occasionally) and cauliflower leaves. My boar will sometimes eat ground elder. I can't think of any other leaves that you have not listed.

Oh and carrot tops and they can eat beet greens too but mine haven't grown big enough yet.
 
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i think i might try them with maybe savoy cabbage again, or spring greens. if it's a gassy food i don't tend to feed alot at once, so they will probably be ok.

i find it quite hard to balance the food calcium because alot of the leafy greens are high calcium.
 
I feed the asda:

tender leaf salad - A mix of oak leaves, apollo lettuce and red chard

baby leaf salad - Chard, Coral Lettuce, Spinach, Rocket, Tatsoi

fresh tastes italian style salad - Escarole, Lollo Rosso, Frisée, Wild Rocket, Radicchio

herb salad - Mixed Leaves in variable proportions (78%) [Virgil Victoire, Saigon] , Mizuna (10%) , Rocket (3.0%) , Pea Shoots (3.0%) , Flat Leaf Parsley (3.0%) , Coriander (3.0%) .

I have found that any salads that contain Rocket do smell abit and go off VERY quickly. Same with the herb salad, i would avoid that one, i dont feed it anymore simply because it only last about a day once open as the herbs go all squishy! Sometimes spinach can go off and make the salad abit smelly.

In asda or tesco by the spinach bags you can get a 'stir fry mix' which is spinach, kale, red kale etc and its only 99p last quite well if you leave the bag open in the fridge. I think there is 5 different leaves altogether and its not in huge amounts so it should be ok to feed to your gassy pig.

:)
 
Oxbow Orchard grass is my piggies favourite hay.

I grow 'weeds' in containers and old sandpits from here http://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/rabbit--guinea-pig-seed-mix-50g-79-p.asp

I have also found 3 Lemon balm plants in my garden which the piggies lx)ve and they are very good for them too!

Just trying to rack my brains on green veggies not mentioned..... Chicory? High in calcuim and sort of greeny white colour :))
Lambs lettuce?

Sorry carnt think of anymore
 
thanks everyone, lots of new things to try there :)

i think the problem is getting different variety as some of the salad bags go off so quickly.

i really need planet guinea back to get some compost bricks. then i can grow some herbs and other weeds etc. did try last year but didn't do so well :red

chesney and maisie have been munching on burns green oat hay and dried herbs, the coneflower, today and seemed very happy! :))

has anyone ever got the plantain from the willow warren before? i think they are dried aswell though so might just be like getting the dried herb bags.

:)
 
have ordered asda for sunday and got the pigs the tender leaf salad bag to try. hope they like it. think they will as it has lettuce and red chard in and they love those. they haven't had oak leaves before, but probably will like them, they aren't exactly fussy with their food! :))

and of course i will introduce it slowly so no tummy probs. :)
 
Mine love Pok Choi and chinese leaves! a littler dearer than your average greens but a great treat! Especially if you pack it toilet roll tubes and hay cages, they spend ages getting it out!
 
ches and maisie are loving the tender leaf salad bag - coral lettuce, endive, chard. it's really nice and keeps well which is always good. :)
 
caviaporcellus said:
Mine eat any cabbage leaves and spring greens and chickweed (occasionally) and cauliflower leaves. My boar will sometimes eat ground elder. I can't think of any other leaves that you have not listed.

Oh and carrot tops and they can eat beet greens too but mine haven't grown big enough yet.
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i didnt know that guinea pigs could eat beetroot leaves i thought these where poisonous to piggies thanks for letting me know its the only that generally has waste as the piggies get the rest
 
pretz said:
i didnt know that guinea pigs could eat beetroot leaves i thought these where poisonous to piggies thanks for letting me know its the only that generally has waste as the piggies get the rest
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beet greens are beetroot leaves? i didn't know that!
 
I have been stuck on what greens to give other than lettuce and cabbage over the winter thanks you have given be some good ideas to try :)
 
Has anyone tried drying nettles? I've had some in a treat shaped like a cigar before and the piggies loved it but I'd like to try and make my own seeing as I have loads of nettles
 
Countrylass said:
Has anyone tried drying nettles? I've had some in a treat shaped like a cigar before and the piggies loved it but I'd like to try and make my own seeing as I have loads of nettles
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no, i haven't, sorry. :)

we have some bushes all round the garden wall, need to find out what kind they are and see if the bunnies and piggies can eat them. :))
 
Lemon balm plant

Salt n Peppers mum said:
Oxbow Orchard grass is my piggies favourite hay.

I grow 'weeds' in containers and old sandpits from here http://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/rabbit--guinea-pig-seed-mix-50g-79-p.asp

I have also found 3 Lemon balm plants in my garden which the piggies lx)ve and they are very good for them too!

Just trying to rack my brains on green veggies not mentioned..... Chicory? High in calcuim and sort of greeny white colour :))
Lambs lettuce?

Sorry carnt think of anymore
Click to expand...


Oh wow can they definitely eat the lemon balm plant? I have one in my garden and was going to take it out this year as I haven't found a use for it! Should it be ok for them?
 
Lisa_Ann said:
Oh wow can they definitely eat the lemon balm plant? I have one in my garden and was going to take it out this year as I haven't found a use for it! Should it be ok for them?
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just seen this. lemon balm is fine i believe. i was going to get some dried from galens garden but they had none in stock. :(

but i think it's fine for them to have. :)p
 
Countrylass said:
Has anyone tried drying nettles? I've had some in a treat shaped like a cigar before and the piggies loved it but I'd like to try and make my own seeing as I have loads of nettles
Click to expand...

i recently ordered some nettle leaves from galens garden and people on the rabbit forum said they are ok for buns and piggies aswell. i haven't tried them yet, but they sell the nettle leaves and nettle stalks on galens garden so i imagine they would b fine. :)p
 
Please don't feel beet root leaves, they are toxic.
A few slices of beetroot a week is very good for them, the acidic-ness helps break down and dissolve any clacium build up which can lead to stones, I give my 4 2 slices each once a week. Just chop the tops off then slice :)

All mine love the asda varities mentioned and the co-op do bags that are similar, if you go in every other day you can get the days before bags reduced from £1.70 to 55p because they'll need using the same day or within a day or two. As I mentioned, I have 4 so that is no problem lol!

Green beans are good now and then, too many can be gassy but once in a while is a nice treat.
 
My piggies love ground elder. Not the elder tree. It grows quickly and gardeners are always trying to get rid of it,as it is classed as a weed.
 
I've been getting the bushy top carrots from Tesco (on offer, £1 bag) my girls LOVE the green bushy bits! x
 
Beetroot leaves?

months ago before i joined the forumi got a bag full beetroot leaves given off a freind an feed them to my gals they absolutly loved them, anhad no ill side affects i havent give them again since pleased i was lucky shame as they REALLY loved them :0
 
Mabel'sMum said:
I've been getting the bushy top carrots from Tesco (on offer, £1 bag) my girls LOVE the green bushy bits! x
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so does Putt

What about celery leaves? ours love them
 
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