rescue piggies with 'bad' feeding habits.

[mugwump]

Morning

I've had my lovely ladies since last Monday and initially fed them a diet that was as close as I could to mirroring the diet they'd had at the rescue; Gerty muesli, unlimited hay and some veg - cabbage and carrot (a little of each). Since then I've tried to shift the diet towards pellets rather than muesli and more favourable veg but they're having none of it....for these ladies it's Gerty and carrots/cabbage from here to eternity.

I've tried adding in a little pepper, tomato, cucumber and parsley with each offerng of veg, so far with no success. Their weights are all reasonable between 600-700 (I know it's on the smaller side but they're not losing weight, they arrived petite and are maintaining at the mo) so I'm not worried that they're at immediate risk - I just want to improve their diet for their longterm health.

Is is plain old persistence or are there some tried and tested tricks that might persuade them from the Dark Side?

On the brightside they luuuuurve grass - I've been putting a little into their cage to ready them to spend the sunnier days on grass and that's been eaten almost before it lands!

Thanks for any help x

 

[Rubybubbles]

My girls still won't touch peppersrolleyes I give them a little bit everyday first thing (when they should think yippee) but nope nothing! Yet if I gave them carrot for example they eat it right away!

They do love herbs though I have just started to put them out in the run I love watching them teehee

 

[mugwump]

Phew, at least mine aren't the only divas! I did have my first piggie chorus last night (I give them a small amount of veg first thing and then again when I go down in the evening and it would seem they've cottoned on the the bag-rustling sound as last night it was 'weeeeeeeeeeek'x3! Soooo lovely ) so at least they're sussing the veg=yum thing.

I will persist though as I know how good these veg are for them. Herbs it is!

m x

 

[Ange17]

I think it's a matter of doing it really gradually. I had rescue piggies several weeks ago which were fed muesli mix. My piggies have burgess excel.

The rescue piggies are still not happy will excell fed alone so I mix the two and they usually eat it all then I am gradually increasing the ratio of excel to mix so I don't have to buy two types of food.

I think trying veg little and often works. Some piggies just don't like certain types of veg, I have one that will not eat parsnips and another that will not eat peppers. rolleyes

I find trying a 'new' veg before they have other food, usually at breakfast time, when they are hungry, helps encourage them to try things.

As long as they are getting a variety, plenty of hay and some kind of mix/nuggets and grass they should be fine.

Many piggie eat muesli instead of nuggets and are fine. I do find nuggets less wasteful though as they do not leave any.

 

[Wiebke]

I have had that problem especially with Cariad at first - she was very slow in shifting from only dry food to eating veg.

Try to mix in pellets as part of the muesli and slowly increase the ratio of pellets.

Persevere in always adding one extra veg to the ones they are already eating - repetition is the key, but do not beat yourself up if it is a matter of weeks rather than days; you are enriching their basic diet. Have you tried herbs like parsley, coriander, basil, dill or carrot greens? I have found that that and lettuce are some of the first things to go down well.

Not all my piggies have been eating ALL veg at first either; although it has been easier for me as they have had the example of the other piggies in the tribe.

 

[flips]

My girls refused carrot soon after I got them even though they had previously eaten it. So I took it out of their evening meal and put it in when I went to bed. Hey presto, all gone by the morning.
I have found with some new foods, such as sweetcorn and green beans, that it took 3 days of putting it in before they fully realised they liked it. Other things they gobbled stright away- especially parsley and pak choi.
Good luck.

 

[slackalice2k]

It took my foster girls 3 days to get over Killer Green Beans camping out in their hutch, but the girls won the war and the beans disappeared. They'd had no veg before they came but they must trust me enough now not to question my selections for them, because there's not a trace of any veggies left.

They had cherry toms yesterday, I don't give them very often, the other piggies all left theirs, but the foster girls gobbled them up first and sported red moustaches all day.

I buy a large sack of Supa Excel muesli and 2 smaller bags of Excel nuggets and mix them together, all 10 piggies have different tastes so I try to cater for them all. It would be a whole lot easier if they were all on pellets but cannot find one sort of pellet they will all eat.

 

[Goldie]

I used to feed mine Gerty but found that I was throwing lots away.

The secret is to put some new pellets in with their Gerty and then gradually reduce the amount of Gerty compared to the new pellets until they aren't getting any. It may take several weeks but you will get there!