Pellets advice

[Bubble& Squeak]

Long story short one of my piggies Squeak has been having routine conscious dental work for the past couple of months. She's been making progress as I've now managed to find a type of hay she will eat which is the oxbow orchard grass hay. She will eat all types of veg hard or soft but she's having very minimal amounts of veg since having other health issues recently (UTI, gas, runny poo) these have now cleared.

However one thing I've never been able to get her back into eating is her pellets. Obviously I have been syringe feeding her throughout this time with Burgess excel dual care recovery food. She used to eat a few of these in pellet form rather than mushed up but she won't have any now. Her usual pellets are Harrington's but she won't touch these either even if I mash them slightly.

I was just curious as to whether anyone thinks it's worth trying a different type of pellet or if there's any you guys would recommend that might be a bit softer or easier for her to eat? The vet said it's worth a try as a new type might tempt her due to it tasting different. She also said it might be worth crumbling them up and mixing them in with her hay and see if she'll eat them that way which I think I shall give a go.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very helpful.

She is also having porridge oats to help bulk her up a bit as she's lost a fair bit of weight. She goes crazy for these but obviously I know they aren't a long term solution or replacement for pellets. I really would like to get her to the point where she doesn't need to be syringe fed anymore

 

[Piggies&buns]

I think I would try a different brand of pellets, the different taste might help, and try crumbling them. I feed science selective grain free to mine now, but they used to be fed burgess which come in either mint or black currant flavouring, something like that might tempt her.
Do remember though that pellets are the smallest part of their diet in any event so as long as she is getting plenty of hay and a variety of veggies, then for the long term, that is fine for her to not want many pellets

 

[Bubble& Squeak]

I think I would try a different brand of pellets, the different taste might help, and try crumbling them. I feed science selective grain free to mine now, but they used to be fed burgess which come in either mint or black currant flavouring, something like that might tempt her.
Do remember though that pellets are the smallest part of their diet in any event so as long as she is getting plenty of hay and a variety of veggies, then for the long term, that is fine for her to not want many pellets

Burgess mint were the ones I was looking at trying next as like you say it's a different flavour for her and I know she likes mint already. To be honest she's hardly having veg due to only just getting her poo back to normal so I'm hesitant to overload her with veg for a bit. So she isn't getting as much veg as she should just yet. I'm hoping if she gets her interest back for eating pellets then I can slowly increase the amount of veg I give her.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ok. That’s absolutely fine - definitely increase veg slowly, you don’t want to cause a further problem by giving too much too soon. As long as she can eat hay then you are getting along on the right tracks and it’ll help her with her weight gain. You could also try her with some grass (again, slowly. if you have some available - either in a lawn, or possibly by growing some on a windowsill). My point was mostly that pellets are just one tablespoon a day (it literally only amounts to a few pellets) so they really are the least important part of the diet.

 

[Bubble& Squeak]

Ok. That’s absolutely fine - definitely increase veg slowly, you don’t want to cause a further problem by giving too much too soon. As long as she can eat hay then you are getting along on the right tracks and it’ll help her with her weight gain. You could also try her with some grass (again, slowly. if you have some available - either in a lawn, or possibly by growing some on a windowsill). My point was mostly that pellets are just one tablespoon a day (it literally only amounts to a few pellets) so they really are the least important part of the diet.

Yeah I totally agree in regards to pellets. I think I just want to see her eating how she did before she had dental problems then I'll be happy but it's such a long and slow road. I'm just grateful she's making some progress.

 

[Eriathwen]

My go to pellets for fussy or recovering pigs etc is actually a recovery food, Burgess Dual care. They can be soaked down for use as a syringe feed or fed just as pellets, they're higher in calories than normal pellets, not as hard so easier to eat as well as being purposefully more appetising. I find these a decent way of bulking back up piggies that have lost weight, plus they contain more fibre than the average pellet as well as prebiotics

 

[Bubble& Squeak]

My go to pellets for fussy or recovering pigs etc is actually a recovery food, Burgess Dual care. They can be soaked down for use as a syringe feed or fed just as pellets, they're higher in calories than normal pellets, not as hard so easier to eat as well as being purposefully more appetising. I find these a decent way of bulking back up piggies that have lost weight, plus they contain more fibre than the average pellet as well as prebiotics

She's already on these at the moment aha. She has them as a syringe feedd as it's the only way she'll eat them now. She used to take a few out of my hand but now turns her nose up. So I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit for her and trying something new.

 

[Eriathwen]

She's already on these at the moment aha. She has them as a syringe feedd as it's the only way she'll eat them now. She used to take a few out of my hand but now turns her nose up. So I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit for her and trying something new.

wow my brain totally skipped over where you said that! Sorry! If she's used to the Burgess brand then trying one of their others if definitely a good way to go to start with. My lot really enjoyed the woodlands pellets from pets at home too, I think they've got lavender in them? Something they had never had before and they really enjoyed that. As well as versele laga which I think is blackcurrant. Both of those are also pretty soft pellets, just in case she finds the normal Burgess a bit too hard to bite into

 

[Bubble& Squeak]

wow my brain totally skipped over where you said that! Sorry! If she's used to the Burgess brand then trying one of their others if definitely a good way to go to start with. My lot really enjoyed the woodlands pellets from pets at home too, I think they've got lavender in them? Something they had never had before and they really enjoyed that. As well as versele laga which I think is blackcurrant. Both of those are also pretty soft pellets, just in case she finds the normal Burgess a bit too hard to bite into

Haha don't worry we've all done it! Thanks for the recommendations. I shall check them out.