Selective Hay Eating

Dilly10

Dilly10

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LONG POST ALERT
I've had our guinea pigs since July last year a friend who board's rabbits and guinea pigs said feels hay at all times. Pellets in morn and veg at night ( I wasn't measuring)
I've recently been doing more research and changed to split veg to morn and eve plus putting pellets in in morn topping up hay 3 x a day.
At this time I notice they weren't eating much hay
I started with 10% of there combined weight in veg. Their hay intake went up 🤩
Then I saw a cup per pig thought it would be easier than weighing but didn't know what size cup so took to the forum for food plans and used this approach shown in photo 2days I swap the herbs for carrot or broccoli stalk and 1 day I swap cucumber for fruit.
I have 4 pigs. A week into this I have found the hay eating has reduced again. Are they being sneaky pigs and holding out for the veg? Is this too much veg?
 

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It sounds okay. Though I wouldn’t feed broccoli, kale and carrot too often. How is their weight? Are they stable? It’s difficult to judge hay intake by eye hence the weekly weighing. You could also try a different hay. Some can be picky about the one they’ll eat.
 
The sample plate in this guide shows how much veg to feed to one guinea pig, so you’ll multiply that amount by four. It’s roughly one cup or 50g of veg per day. Veg is just a snack. Pellets even less so - just one tablespon per pig per day. if you’re going to feed carrot in the week, the don’t give them fruit as well - one or the other once a week is fine but not both due to the sugar content.
i actually don’t measure the veg I give them, it’s just gauged by eye. I’ll also add that my piggies are out on grass all day long throughout most of the summer, and then still get roughly the normal amount of veg (I always ensure they get vit c rich veg and herbs anyway even if I cut down on other things due to their grass intake). They always eat a lot of hay regardless how much veg/grass they get

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Hay makes up 80% of their daily food intake.
Are you weighing your piggies weekly as part of routine care? As hay makes up the biggest proportion of their food, if they aren’t eating enough hay then they lose weight. You can’t judge hay intake by eye so this is why weighing them every week is so important.
You could also change the type of hay you use if you think they really aren’t eating enough.
Also, look at how you feed them their hay - is it in a rack? If so, then try switching to just throwing in large handfuls of it. I found mine ate so much more when I ditched ghe hayracks! They love being in big piles of hay to sleep and play
 
Siikibam said:
It sounds okay. Though I wouldn’t feed broccoli, kale and carrot too often. How is their weight? Are they stable? It’s difficult to judge hay intake by eye hence the weekly weighing. You could also try a different hay. Some can be picky about the one they’ll eat.
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Brocolli once a week carrot once a week and I switch between kale and spinach once a week. I didnt realise until recently that they should be weighed weekly. It's weigh day today the 1st 2 weeks aside from last I didnt do it same time and day but have increased each week my 9mth old is 955g the other 3 are 8months and are 725g, 798g and 696g was concerned the smallest is a bit small but I watch them eat and they all get some. The older one mothers her
 
Thank you I'm going to weigh same time same day every week from now. Last week and this week I did 2 gained 2 lost a little I'm going to keep am eye and then next week should get some more accurate weights
 
As long as losses are still within normal fluctuations (the guide I linked in explains). If you become concerned about them at all then you switch to weighing them daily at the same time each day as it enables you to have a closer eye on their hay intake
 
Piggies&buns said:
They all have their own genetically determined adult weight, as long as they gain weight and aren’t losing, then don’t worry if some are smaller than others
Weight - Monitoring and Management
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Yep this food guide I have used as a guide for veg. I top hay up 3 x a day last couple of days there just seems to be more un eaten.
Weighed today and 2 gains 2 small losses but only like 10g so no concern.
I was thinking they have got used to new food routine and are holding out for veg over hay. I'm currently in process of changing from double hutch in shed to them having the whole shed but will also have outdoor time on the grass
 
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