Not eating Hay!

A

Apexa

New Born Pup
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Hey Guys,

My piggies are not eating any hay. One of my piggies prefer hand feeding so tried giving her vegetables pallets and hay, she eats all the other things except hay. She turns her face away when I offer her hay. I checked her teeth they are perfect. And she doesn’t seems to have problem eating any other things she even eats her hardest treats with ease.
The other one eats hay occasionally but if she has options does not even look at hay. I know hay is really important for them but I don’t know how to make them eat hay!
I feed them oxbow Timothy hay. They get veggies and pallets twice a day. They haven’t touched their hay in last 3 days. Their hay rack is same as it was 3 days ago when I refilled it!
Any help will be appreciated.
 
Hi! :)
While I am not a professional, I can offer some advice as it is nighttime in the UK.
1) When I first brought mine home, they were hesitant to touch their hay. 2) Are you sure that their teeth are okay? A piggy vet visit might be necessary.
Were they eating hay and then suddenly stopped? Are you weighing them?
The stale hay may be the issue - My piggies won't eat any hay that has been left out for more than a day.
My advice (for now)
Try putting their hay in large handfuls in their enclosure. They may just not like eating from a hay rack. :)
 
:agr: with everything above.

Only a vet can check their teeth - it’s the back teeth which need checking and only a vet can do that with the correct tools.

Are you keeping veg and pellets limited to the recommended amounts? One cup/50g of vegetables per day and just one tablespoon of pellets per day

My animals (guinea pigs and rabbits) absolutely hate hayracks and don’t eat nearly as much from a rack. I therefore got rid of all racks. They prefer their hay to be in loose piles on the cage floor. This enables them to get right into the hay and forage freely through it. Hay racks can be too restricting. Definitely ensure the hay is refreshed regularly. They are going to be less inclined to eat three day old hay.

Please weigh them weekly as part of routine, but daily when you are concerned about them. This enables you to more closely monitor their hay intake (it’s the only part of the diet that really matters - eating veg and pellets is more like having a snack so won’t maintain their weight).
 
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:agr:take them to the vet first to see if they have any health problems including their back teeth.

My girls love a hay tray and a huge pile of hay in the middle of the run. They love to hide in it, make tunnels in it and eat their way out and general rootle through it to see what they can find. They also love to play in the hay pile too.
 
Oxbow timothy hay does vary in quality but it seems to be in tip top tasty condition at the moment. I do have a few different hays though for maximum hay eating. At the moment my pigs have in their cage seperate piles of soft hay, american timothy and meadow mix from dust free hay co (that is a uk website and all 3 of those hays are superb just now)

I also have some oxbow timothy on order as they demolished the last pack. Another really good one (if you are uk) is Alfafa kings Timothy from pets at home (and online too)
The more hay, the better :tu:
 
Thank you so much guys.
My hay rack or old hay seems to be a problem. When I kept everything on floor now suddenly they are more interested in hay than pallets.
After all your recommendations I realized I was giving them way more pallets and veggies than they need. So just to be on safe side I’m also limiting their pallets.:yahoo:
I’m also seeing two moving piles of hay. They are creating a mess right now but having the time of their life. Thank you so much guys from two happy piggies.
 
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