Piggies Anti-1st cut Timothy..?

Wheeksers

Wheeksers

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey yall.

So, I've been feeding my herd of six Oxbow Timothy Hay for the past few months. As I noticed I started to run out, I decided to try another brand (Small Animal Select) and try 1st cut timothy hay to give them a bit more of those seed that they love so much! However, I've noticed that my piggies are not eating as much hay but rather being more wasteful compared to the Oxbow. Is this behavior because they are trying to get to all those seeds? Is there that big of a difference in the hay type/quality that they might not like this brand/style? I'm trying to figure out what to do as I bought a 50lb box (as I did with the Oxbow) and I'd really hate to have it go to waste. Should I get a smaller box of Oxbow and mix?

Thoughts would be wonderful! Thanks loves <3
 
You can try mixing it but you might still find that they will pick through it and only eat their favourite bits. They can be fussy little things!

Mine are bedded on meadow hay (and of course they eat that too) and then I used to get them timothy hay and put a pile in for eating. They loved it. Slowly then went off of it and were leaving more and more timothy and eating more and more meadow. Recently I bought the Timothy again (exactly the same one as they used to have) and now they will only pick off the seed heads and leave the entire stalk on the floor and then continue eating the meadow hay.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Recently I bought the Timothy again (exactly the same one as they used to have) and now they will only pick off the seed heads and leave the entire stalk on the floor and then continue eating the meadow hay.
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Maybe that is something that I need to do is to just let it be a bedding source for them in their Bistro eating area (for those who are familiar with the guinea pig market cage set-up). I usually have a mix of aspen/paper bedding - but now this timothy hay is becoming their bedding as they pull it down and pick through everything (which they did not do with the oxbow).

Do you change out they hay daily to avoid wet hay?
 
First cut hay has a higher stalk to leaf ratio than second and third cuts because it is mature. Second and third cuts are more leaf re-growth. Also timothy is a much thicker stalked grass than meadow grass, so as piggies usually prefer the leaf blades and softer, thinner stalks, there will usually be more wastage when feeding first cut timothy to other options. They do enjoy foraging for those seed heads tho!
 
none of my piggies will eat 1ST cut timothy hay...too stalky.some will eat 2nd cut.meadow hay is always eaten,though they forage for the best bits !
 
Ours boys don’t like 1st cut either far to stalky! 😂 who new they could be so fussy about hay!
 
Oh wow, thanks everyone for responding! I wish I would of gotten a smaller batch instead of this big 50lb! Well, you live and learn I guess!
 
Wheeksers said:
Oh wow, thanks everyone for responding! I wish I would of gotten a smaller batch instead of this big 50lb! Well, you live and learn I guess!
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They will still enjoy picking out the bits they like, sleeping on it, spreading it around and generally making a mess :))
 
Pound Shilling & Pig said:
They will still enjoy picking out the bits they like, sleeping on it, spreading it around and generally making a mess :))
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Yeah I'm just going to use it as a "bedding" for their eating area and supplement with some 2nd cut timothy hay to ensure they have plenty to eat (and not only eating the M&Ms :P ) <3
 
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