what is hayleage

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liquorice allsorts

liquorice allsorts

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i dont even know if i have spelt it right! have just been and brought the dog food from an equine centre, and while i was there , asked them what size hay bales they sold, and they said "we dont sell hay we sell hayleage," not wanting to look stupid (although i probably am with my knowledge on horse feed) i just left, is it suitable for guinea pigs?
 
There is three types of storable grass - to keep this simple.

Silage, haylege and hay.

Silage is cut and dried for 3 days, its full of water still and pickles in silage barns to preserve it, very high in sugar content and is not suitable for pigs.

Haylege is mostly fed to horses, it is asls cut and dried for about 3 days but is usually stored in bales which are bagged to keep the moisture content inside. It does pickle slightly but not as much as silage.

Hay is cut and dried for a minimum of 7 days, turned several times as it dries and is very low in water content. It isnt pickled so is safe for piggies.

I dont think haylege is suitable as it is still pickled grass.
 
That was very informative, thankyou. I go to a local equine farm and the hay I get is out of this world, next time I go I'll ask them about this.
 
No, it's not suitable for cavies. As Pepperdog said, it's basically pickled grass and is very likely to give them upset tums. Don't forget, dried grass is also a form of storable grass - Readigrass, Just Grass etc., my pigs love that!
 
I forgot redigrass :red mine love it, and this can be brought at equine stores in big bags, I have not even got through a quarter of a bagged bale and had mine for months. Or you can buy smaller more managable bags if you dont have the space off the internet or pet shops.

This redigrass is processed completely different to hay and silage, they actively dry the cut grass out in special barns which prevents it pickling and dries it slowly (like hay would be but without risk of rain ruining it).
 
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