Picky Hay Habits

[HibiscousDragon]

I've had my Piggies for a few weeks now and I've noticed that there's a lot of hay wastage going on, especially with the lovely ladies! They are on a OxBow Timothy Hay I get from a local pet food store, and while the boys up top will eat it all just fine, no complaints, the ladies will pull it all out of the manger just to eat the few pieces they like! They love the fluffy end bits and any thin papery bits, but HATE the thicker stalks and wont eat them at all. I know before I got them they were on a strictly Alfalfa Hay diet, and when I offer them little bits of what's left of that they go crazy for it, but would that have effected their eating habits? Would it be safe to try them on Orchard Grass Hay instead? Would a manger that holds the hay more securely keep the mess and waste down maybe? I'm worried they wont have enough in the manger they'll actually eat while I'm gone at work for the day...

 

[Swissgreys]

Over the years I tried many hay solutions and basically guinea pigs = lots of hay wastage and mess!

I find large boxes filled with hay work well and allow them to bury themselves in it and pick out the bits they like the best.
I also feed a variety of hays.
But at the end of the day there is no real way to avoid the wastage - as the major part of their diet it is more important to constantly have lots of fresh hay available than to worry about the waste.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hay waste is part and parcel.
Using a different hay rack will not keep mess and waste down - there is simply no way around it. They will always forage through and pick out the nicest tasting bits no matter what type of hay you use - its just a natural process for them.

I dont use hay racks at all and instead just bed them on meadow hay and have huge piles of it everywhere - they just love being in amongst big piles of hay, sleeping in it, foraging through it which obviously they cant do in a rack. Mine dont like the stalks of Timothy, only picking out the seed heads and to that end are exclusively fed meadow hay which is their preference - they eat so much more of it but there is always going to be waste

 

[HibiscousDragon]

That's too bad... I'll definitely get them some Orchard hay to try out, and I'll try to figure out a setup where they can forage a bit better without making too big a mess for me to clean maybe using the old cat carrier would work!

 

[Piggies&buns]

A cat carrier might work but remember they need two of every item including hay areas and that anything they go into should have two exits, particularly for the boars. A cat carrier being a smaller confined area could have the potential of meaning both of them in one at the same time could be cramped plus if there is only one way in/put it has the potential for problems occurring. Large plastic storage boxes, a large surface area, and shallow with doors cut out, or even the entire front removed, would likely work much better

 

[HibiscousDragon]

Ah, I am using only half the carrier, and Scoots, the smaller, submissive of the males, is a very jumpy man, he jumps on and over everything he can, so with the very short sides I'm not worried bout him getting trapped, he'll just jump over it without hesitation. All in all those two boys get along very well, Ivory sometimes will smack Scoots when he wants to have a better access to the manger, or wants to drink from THAT bottle, but he's a bit crippled, so he cant keep up with or chase Scoots down. I'm not worried about them hurting each other or even trying to really. I have all their items without duplicates spaced out so that they can cycle between them without needing to be near each other either, they can share very well