Ramblings about Hay

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My lot wont touch it if I put it in their hay racks (dust free) but will eat some in their run.

I would recommend a sample bag before getting loads as I have 3 big bags left and sold lots of mine off to pay back part of what I spent.

Sophie if you look in the free samples sticky loads of companies will send you a sample to try before you buy a big bag so you can try them on different types and see what they prefer?

I've wasted too much money buying hay that my lot don't like and wont eat. I know what works now and am sticking to that for my lot!
 
Lisajazz said:
My lot wont touch it if I put it in their hay racks (dust free) but will eat some in their run.

I would recommend a sample bag before getting loads as I have 3 big bags left and sold lots of mine off to pay back part of what I spent.

Sophie if you look in the free samples sticky loads of companies will send you a sample to try before you buy a big bag so you can try them on different types and see what they prefer?

I've wasted too much money buying hay that my lot don't like and wont eat. I know what works now and am sticking to that for my lot!
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Thanks. To be honest they seem happy with their local £4 a bale hay, but reading all this hay talk has made me feel like a bad piggy mummy, hence wanting to give them more variety!

I will send off for some samples at the weekend.

Sophie
x
 
sophiew said:
Thanks. To be honest they seem happy with their local £4 a bale hay, but reading all this hay talk has made me feel like a bad piggy mummy, hence wanting to give them more variety!

I will send off for some samples at the weekend.

Sophie
x
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OMGosh Sophie you so aren't a bad piggy mummy! Everyone does things differently don't they? I'm sure te way we feed / care for our pigs will all come in cycles and we'll all try new things. Doesn't make you a bad anything at all!
 
I use a bale from a local farm as a bedding in my cage and i put the good oxbow orchard grass&timothy in the hay racks and i do put it at the side of the hay loft area, hoping they wont flatten it and use it as the bedding, but sometimes they do. rollseyes

The hay i got from the local farm is very good quality and smells nice and sweet, but of course its not as sweet smelling and lovely and green like the oxbow. The boys arent that fussy on which one they eat as they seem to eat the hay i use for the bedding and the oxbow but they do choose to eat the oxbow first. :)

I currenlty have the 4kg of the timothy and 7kg of the orchard (thanks to Lisa :) ) I think it will last me a while as i do only have two piggys. :))

Laura can you tell me where you get your large boxes of oxbow from as ive only seen the 11kg boxes for £54 + postage.
Joanne found a great site that are selling the timothy oxbow for £50 for 8kg, its the two bags of the 4kg hay. I thought that was a good price as that should last mine a while and its easy to store and free postage! :))

I think i may have become addicted to hay now as i keep looking at all the different types and may try mine on some oat hay and the botanical hay.
 
Another one to add to the hay a holics group :) Welcome aboard!

SPH sells the 22kg boxes for £60 - if you are going to pay £50 for 8 kilo's I'd head there.

The hay experts do too - I think they work out a teensy bit cheaper for the timothy hay - maybe.
 
Sophie, don't forget your lot go out on the grass a lot in the warmer weather. They're not wanting for anything - most of them are simply glad for any hay, after all. :)

Sam - The Hay Experts is usually slightly cheaper than SPH Supplies for 22kg boxes of hay. You buy 11kg for £50...or 22kg (double the amount) for £62!
However...The Hay Experts does not sell 22kg boxes of Orchard Grass any more; only Timothy. https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hay...b).121.html?osCsid=81i3mul1667c2i87v2is6v80d7

I'm not giving up on Oxbow at all, too loyal a customer and the pigs would never forgive me. I'm just trying to bulk up the hay diet and Dust Free Hay has the best reviews I've come across.
 
I love the Oxbow hays too but from an environmental point of view I try to buy local too - there is a fair few "air miles" in the old Oxbow :)

I try to keep several different hays here to give the piggies a broad and balanced diet. I have tried pretty much every hay going over the past three years and have come up with a few that I now keep in stock here all the time. These have been the most popular with all the residents here and are never wasted.

I liken different hays to the breads that we eat ourselves. There is not one bread that provides absolutely everything beneficial in perfect ratios so as part of a balanced diet it is important to have a "core" bread and then eat others too. Also what suits one, may not suit another.

There are thousands of different grass seeds grown both here and in US, inevitably when that is cut as hay nutritionally it will be slightly different, depending on seed variety, weather, time of the year, 1st or 2nd cut, storage, soil etc. Also what grows in the fields with the hay, weeds and seeds are very beneficial. So even bales cut from the same field will each be different.

If anyone is able to leave an area of lawn without cutting it until July, then cut it by hand, put it in a sack until Christmas in a dry place then you will have a great sense of how it all works. I do that each year and on Christmas Day all the piggies have a small handful. There is nothing to beat your own hay.

Anyway, hope that helps a little - I am a hayaholic I'm afraid :(|)
 
Sorry - it's me again :red

Here are my "wouldn't be without" hays! ;)

*Bedding bales - bought locally from a friends organic farm at £2 - this is beautiful hay - dry, fresh, no chemicals, smells good enough to eat. This is the bulk of the eating hay too as it is so good.

*Oxbow Timothy - I give the pigs a small handful a couple of times a week, it's a weird green colour but the piggies love it. Timothy hay is called such because it was a farmer by that name that first discovered the seed that Timothy is grown from. Oxbow is grown in US but Timothy hay is also grown in this country, where it is more golden but just as piglicious. Dust Free Hay used to grow it and it was exceptional but I see they only do the American now. Most likely because of our wet summers.

*Oxbow Orchard - again a real must have for the pigs. Quite coarse but great for the teeth.

(The Oxbow Oat and Brome hays have never been a great hit with the piggies. The brome always reminds me of the end of a broom!)

*Oxbow Alfalfa - I use this sparingly but it is good for babies and also for a reluctant eater for a day or two. The residents here get a miniscule handful about once a month as it is rather fattening! Any boar who has just been neutered gets it as a treat so I dont feel so guilty :))


* Dust Free Hay - it really is a great hay, I like the finer bales and it's really very popular with everyone. It is very similar to my locally grown hay but I feel that it is slightly better quality, only just though. I buy a huge pack of dried marigolds & cleavers from the local horse merchant (horses eat them too) and mix a little of them with the Dust Free. They love foraging through it.

* A company called Alfalfa King do a pack of hay called Oat, Wheat & Barley - this is a Timothy type hay coarse and thick stalky hay but with the added oat heads the piggies absolutely love it. They get it about twice a week but again only a tiny tiny handful - basically what I pull out with three fingers. They love foraging for the oats!

* A new one I have just tried and only because someone bought it for me is Vitakraft 7 day nature feeding pack from Hay Experts - comes in cute mini bales and is mixed with different things eg rose petals, dandelions etc

So that's what my little furries enjoy here plus they will get the grass soon and of course a little bit of Readigrass too :)
 
Summerleaze have you tried the botanical hay from oxbow? I'd be interested in what the piggies thought about it?
 
It's been some time since I bought it but I do remember it being popular. Oxbow stuff is always great - it's like buying all your food shopping from Marks & Spencers LOL What I do like about Oxbow is it is consistent, you know exactly what you are getting everytime you buy a bag.

I am in a fortunate position though in that with so many guinea pigs nothing is wasted - I realise it isn't easy to trial everything if you only have two piggies.

http://www.alfalfaking.com/library/library_TimHay_extended.htm

Some more info on Timothy hay for anyone interested.
 
All mine love graze on freeze dry grass... for horses. I have some very fussy bums here. All have perfect teeth.. except henry the bunny but thats a whole differnt story. Its pretty cheap too, its a large bag for around £7. which lasts my 30 ages
 
summerleaze said:
Sorry - it's me again :red

Here are my "wouldn't be without" hays! ;)

*Bedding bales - bought locally from a friends organic farm at £2 - this is beautiful hay - dry, fresh, no chemicals, smells good enough to eat. This is the bulk of the eating hay too as it is so good.

*Oxbow Timothy - I give the pigs a small handful a couple of times a week, it's a weird green colour but the piggies love it. Timothy hay is called such because it was a farmer by that name that first discovered the seed that Timothy is grown from. Oxbow is grown in US but Timothy hay is also grown in this country, where it is more golden but just as piglicious. Dust Free Hay used to grow it and it was exceptional but I see they only do the American now. Most likely because of our wet summers.

*Oxbow Orchard - again a real must have for the pigs. Quite coarse but great for the teeth.

(The Oxbow Oat and Brome hays have never been a great hit with the piggies. The brome always reminds me of the end of a broom!)

*Oxbow Alfalfa - I use this sparingly but it is good for babies and also for a reluctant eater for a day or two. The residents here get a miniscule handful about once a month as it is rather fattening! Any boar who has just been neutered gets it as a treat so I dont feel so guilty :))


* Dust Free Hay - it really is a great hay, I like the finer bales and it's really very popular with everyone. It is very similar to my locally grown hay but I feel that it is slightly better quality, only just though. I buy a huge pack of dried marigolds & cleavers from the local horse merchant (horses eat them too) and mix a little of them with the Dust Free. They love foraging through it.

* A company called Alfalfa King do a pack of hay called Oat, Wheat & Barley - this is a Timothy type hay coarse and thick stalky hay but with the added oat heads the piggies absolutely love it. They get it about twice a week but again only a tiny tiny handful - basically what I pull out with three fingers. They love foraging for the oats!

* A new one I have just tried and only because someone bought it for me is Vitakraft 7 day nature feeding pack from Hay Experts - comes in cute mini bales and is mixed with different things eg rose petals, dandelions etc

So that's what my little furries enjoy here plus they will get the grass soon and of course a little bit of Readigrass too :)
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Thanks for that. My lot agree with you on them all apart from Oxbow Oat. They LOVE it here. But I only bought it as I was having problems getting the alfalfa oat, wheat and barley which they adore more than the oat only.

The vitakraft 7 day feeding pack is in my local pet shop and i've been ever so tempted. I may have to get that today I really need a cheer up. This sadly will make me feel better.
 
Mine have had oxbow timothy, oat and botanical. The botanical smells liche chamimille, but the piggies don't exactly go bananas over it. Not over the timothy either and the oat they just didn't want at all.

Right now they are on pet shop timothy hay as I found the most wonderful, long stranded and green soft hay. It literally looks like hay in picture books. I have decided not to buy oxbow any more as I dont like the shorer strands and schrunched up look and just can't justify the food miles of American hay by way of GB. Makes no sense if I can get good hay here. I will instead buy herbs and mix it in with the hay for a bit of excitement. Not that they need it, they are excited enough about hay as it is.
 
Who would've thought there were so many undercover hayaholics?!

Louise, that's a great list of hays; so much variety and the pigs do seem to eat more hay the more types they are given. A real treat for them.

The Dust Free Hay arrived today. Happy enough with the soft hay, the coarse is more like straw - which I figured it would be, I bought it for a stalky, fibrous option to really work their teeth well. It's dry and smells fresh, it's not low quality. I think I've just been spoilt with super-green hay for so long I'm a bit disappointed by anything not very green. rolleyes

Bottom line is, they love it all. Which is good.
 
My piggies are currently very into the Pampered Piggies farm hay. It really works out expensive, but they adore it. They also get the Oxbow timothy, which I buy in the huge boxes from SPH.
 
* A new one I have just tried and only because someone bought it for me is Vitakraft 7 day nature feeding pack from Hay Experts - comes in cute mini bales and is mixed with different things eg rose petals, dandelions etc
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Okay I went to my local pet shop and they had this one and another one with smaller bundles - 16 of them. They are green hay or green hay mixed with either rose petals, chamomile or dandelion. 16 bundles for £5.99 which I thought was quite cheap.

I have bought them and trialed them on my babies. The kitchen posse have all loved it, the 6 girls also love it - I have given Orson the hay with dandelion and he's not touched it. He seems to ONLY eat hay as hay, he wont eat hay cakes, mini bales, cookies or these. HMMMM

But for everyone else they are very exciting and gone down a storm.
 
skrikopanik said:
Right now they are on pet shop timothy hay as I found the most wonderful, long stranded and green soft hay. It literally looks like hay in picture books. I have decided not to buy oxbow any more as I dont like the shorer strands and schrunched up look and just can't justify the food miles of American hay by way of GB. Makes no sense if I can get good hay here. I will instead buy herbs and mix it in with the hay for a bit of excitement. Not that they need it, they are excited enough about hay as it is.
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I do wonder about 'hay miles' - as I said, was surprised that mine came from my own village! And the bales are obviously local. One day, maybe... my home grown hay!

Sophie
x
 
skrikopanik said:
I think Orson will be less picky when he has more competition for the best bits :) How much longer now?
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2 more weeks for Orson and that's what I'm thinking.

Mork used to take all night to eat his veg but not long after joining the greedy girls he's learned to eat up quickly. Fingers crossed Orson will do the same.

He's VERY quirky - when my hubby was offering a piece of something through the bars he went and took a piece of apple he already had in his cage and threw it at my hubby as if to say no thanks I have this! He's quite a character!

Orson wont eat readigrass either!
 
Just for all you Hay Addicts - this is my latest bale, isn't it lovely! The last one was all stalky and rough, this one is fine and smells great:

IMG_0137.jpg


There's nobody else I can really share this with :))

Sophie
x
 
Sorry if I'm going to make some stupid questions here.

Right, I've been looking at the Oxbow- apart from the quality, is there a big nutritional difference between Oxbow timothy and say Burgess's excel hay- it's the fresh herbage one, with timothy and herbs? They've been having the Burgess' one for the past few weeks, and they seem to really like that one- and they do seem to tuck into it more than the pets at home Timothy which Pablo had on his first week here. The burgess' one does smell lovely, and the pigs seem to enjoy the more 'stalky' strips as well as the softer bits.

Also, is there any nutritional difference between the various types of oxbow hay? Like the meadow hay, or the grass hay, or even the alfalfa hay? I'm really, really confused as to what the difference is- I presume they're all from different grasses, but is there a difference nutritionally, or is it just down to the taste?

We have tried the new vitakraft hay bundles- the one that come in little squares with the paper wrapped around them. We did give them one of those the other night, and it was eaten- but not as quickly as the Burgess.

I'm more than happy to buy Oxbow, but the other half is taking a bit more convincing. He wants to know if there's that much of a difference between the stuff we get in pets at home and the Oxbow.
 
Mine love hay. They eat it all before they have a chance to make a huge nest and tunnel in it.
 
Thanks for the link for the bulk buy of the hay Laura, i shall be buying that once all my other oxbow has gone.:(|)

I also have the vitakraft 7 day feeding hay, i got it from my local p@h a few months ago, they were selling if off, so i thought i should try it and the boys love it. I do still have one or two hay bundles left. rolleyes

Since they have had their new hayloft all they seem to do is eat hay and they arent fussed which type the bedding hay or the oxbow but i would say they prefer the oxbow as they only pick out certain bits of the bedding hay and they always have the green oxbow stands sticking out of their mouths. :(|)

I love hay i think I'm quite obsessed now as i find myself visiting pet shops, just to look at the hay they have available. xx>>>
 
Sorry me again, ive just been looking on the hay experts site and there are so many different yummy hays and i was wondering if it was ok to mix/swap hay to add variety?
For example i have oxbow orchard grass and timothy which i alternate also the hay that is used for bedding which is put in every other day or as needed. So if i continue to use the oxbow ones but also add a few other for variety like the chamomile or peppermint is this ok? As i have given the vitakraft ones alongside the oxbow, they also go mad for the alfalfa timothy king hay.

I maybe being dull but just thought i would ask before i buy. :)
 
Nova - Nutritionally there is no vast difference between each hay - although inevitably there is some small differences as it is a natural product and each hay comes from a different grass.

Hay is an entirely personal choice and providing a range and variety for your guinea pigs is the important part of offering a balanced diet. The source of the variety isn't overly important. Buy hay to suit yourself as well as the piggies. :)

Oxbow provide hay of a consistant good quality so none is wasted. You know what you're getting and each bag is the same as another.

However, it is expensive and I am trying to reduce the amount of Oxbow I buy in on an environmental basis.

The "food miles" is one consideration but also it is not a certified organic product and I don't know what their policy is on use of pesticides and weed killers. With a natural product being that uniform and perfect I do wonder how much of the ground Oxbow is grown on is sterile?

I am looking to buy local as much as possible this year even if that just means the UK - however, I can't see that I would give up the Oxbow altogether, there would be riots in the camp :(|)



PS Thank you Sophie - the hay looks great, I'm very proud of you taking a photo of hay, even I haven't done that yet :(|):(|):(|);)
 
We just get a big bale of fresh meadow hay from the local animal feed suppliers, the piggies absolutely love it and go mad when you put it in the cage and wheek non stop, don't know about pet shop hay, it seems expensive compared with the big 3ft by 2ft by 2ft we get, it's lovely and smell delicious!
 
Sam, it's fine to mix hays - a variety will encourage them to eat more which is only a good thing for their teeth and tummies! Mine are currently on a mixture of three - Oxbow Orchard Grass, Dust Free soft, and Dust Free coarse/stalky.

Sometimes I find myself wondering if all the worry and research and experiences leading to so many questions and dilemmas about hay is "worth it". Of course, our pigs are worth it. But at the end of the day...hay is hay, and pigs need hay. That is the bottom line and I find myself becoming confused on occasion why I feel Oxbow is so much more superior to others for example. Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to look too much into what's on/in hay and so on, you end up going round in circles and coming across conflicting information and you're just not sure what is best for you and your pigs.

The main things that come up, in terms of hay quality and deciding what hay to feed, are:

- Parasites - are they more commonly found in UK grown hay due to a damper climate?
- Fungal spores - similarly, fungal spores can live on hay, but are they more likely to live on UK grown hay?
- "Sterlised" or "quality controlled" hay - are imported brands (Oxbow, Alfalfa King) or dried grasses (Readigrass) really likely to be far better quality than anything grown here? Are they really less likely to contain parasites and fungal spores?
- Environmental impact - air miles, local hay, imported hay etc.

I am not saying that everyone posting on this thread is a bit neurotic about hay...although some of us do admit to that rolleyes....but I do wonder if there is a point that could be seen as going in too deep, where so much confusion is not doing us owners any favours.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel I have reached a point where I cannot win. Whatever hay I choose to feed, there will be one issue or another with it - whether it be to do with the fact it's UK grown and so might be "lower quality" or whether it's imported and good quality, but environmentally terrible and very expensive. Maybe I'm better off choosing what matters the most to me, based on my own experiences with my own pigs and all the hays I've tried, but even then it all comes down to whether I really do know enough about UK grown hay vs imported hay to say whether one is better than another.

I think that is what it all comes down to...how do we really know whether hay is good enough or not, other than getting the microscope out with every bale of hay we buy?

I don't know. My brain is in a bit of a funk this evening, it's had a lot of thinking to do. :))
 
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