What kind of hay?

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PennyV

PennyV

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My sister has offered to bring me a bale of the hay she gives her rescue sheep and goat, which she buys from her local farmer, who grows it himself for his animals. However, I notice that 'meadow hay' is recommded for piggies and I wondered if the hay she's offering is suitable for my guys. It's just basic farmyard hay...
 
If it's good quality hay (the quality varies from crop to crop depending on weather and stuff) then go for it!

I'm a full time student, and money is often tight. I bed my pigs on farm hay (they eat quite a lot of it!) which I find much cheaper, but do buy them "posh" hays to mix it up a bit for them. They like things like Oxbow oat hay http://c4.wag.com/images/products/p/oxb/oxb-028_1z.jpg which is quite coarse, they like oxbow meadow grass http://www.singpet.com/mmSG/Images/OB-OG0150.GIF which is very soft and green and everything in between! Alfalfa hay is recommended for growing piggies, as it has quite a high calcium content, which isn't necessarily great for adult pigs, but there's a lot of hays on the market!

The way I see it, is that if you had to eat potatoes every day, you'd want to mix it up a bit too, to get a bit of variety!

Have a play around, experiment, see what they like best :))
 
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Thanks, Amanda! :) My two are on Vetbed and the hay is, theoretically, just for them to eat, though they pull it down and stomp around on it. They also have a pile in their indoor run which they burrow in. Maybe I should keep the cheap stuff for that and get them the meadow hay for food...
 
Sorry but you do realise a meadow is just a big field of grass? So any bale of hay is pretty much meadow hay?!

Seriously, do you honestly genuinely think the hay you pay £5 for a tiddly bag with 'meadow hay' written on it is ANY different to bale hay, other than the fact it is packaged nicely? And if you know the very field it comes off, you're actually better off with the bale than the bag!

All my pigs have bale hay, always have, always will, and Readigrass every third day. Noodles is 6 tomorrow and has no history whatsoever of dental, digestive, urinary or respiratory problems, so she is my testimony!
 
Oh, yes, I know what a meadow is! :) I wondered if 'meadow hay' perhaps had meadow flowers in it, or a better quality of grass, making it more nutritious! I'm very much a novice piggie owner...

Your pigs sound pretty healthy, so that sounds like a worthwhile testimonial! :)
 
Hi Penny,

I'm feeding just farmyard hay at present it's not the best quality, normally I feed Hay for pets (although recently I've heard some negative comments about it), I have never had a bad experience.

I would feed farmyard hay if I could get the 'quality' but unfortunately the local feed isn't the best which is why I choose to buy online.

As a treat I often buy a bit more expensive hays like;

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hay...rbs.36/Alfalfa+King+Timothy+Hay+454g.270.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hay...ll+Hays+%2526+Herbs.36/Green+Oat+Hay.235.html

Just to give them the 'odd' treat.

These sites are good for hay and food supplies:

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/
 
I am very cynical about how they define it as from a meadow lol, I am quite tempted to email them and say 'send me a photo of your meadow!'

Hay is a fibre source so while nutrition is a factor, it is not the main one, you just want something not too dusty or IMO too soft as they need to chew it a bit, it helps keep their teeth in shape too.

Don't get me wrong I have had my fair share of vets bills (I do have 15 of the little monkeys and two on foster) but none have been down to hay. Well that's a lie, two of mine managed to poke themselves in the eye with it and had to have eye drops, but it wasn't down to eating the hay, lol!

You could always borrow a section from your sister and see if they like it! As Flintstones says it does vary in quality, due to when cut etc, but as you know the farmer and the field you are better placed to make a judgement than many of us are able to - I am the same with my hay supplier so again I can have total confidence in it.
 
I get a large bagged bail for £3 from my local farm/horse/general animal supplier for use in their large cat litter tray. The horse owners are very fussy about here so I know it must be fairly good stuff or they wouldn't buy it.
Then I use Burgess Excell (a variety of different sorts) in their hay rack.
Variety being the spice of life, as the saying goes! :))
 
The biggest difference I've noticed in bagged meadow hay and the cheaper bales is the colour. The meadow hay is always greener where asthe bales never seem to be green.
 
PennyV said:
Oh, yes, I know what a meadow is! :) I wondered if 'meadow hay' perhaps had meadow flowers in it, or a better quality of grass, making it more nutritious! I'm very much a novice piggie owner...

Your pigs sound pretty healthy, so that sounds like a worthwhile testimonial! :)
Click to expand...

I often buy treat hay from the hay experts (www.hayexperts.co.uk) who have trial bags sometimes. I find that mixing it up a bit (like sweets with kids lol) is fun for all concerned. I also put it in big cereal boxes, or large paper bags for variety. I like their oat and barley hay as a sometimes, and also their trial bags. I now buy meadow hay in bulk, which is fine, long stalked, and inexpensive. Different brands are different so you might need to experiment. I no longer buy short chopped hay from pet shops as it doesn't last becoming mucky quickly and seems to have a lot of dust. With any large or tightly packed (compressed) bag, it is a good idea to use gloves to start with as you ferret around in the new bag as thorns or thistles can be really painful. As the bag empties, they become more visible. If you want to spend more, or have allergies (inc hay fever) then there is a company that does dust free (as opposed to dust extracted) hay, called, I think dust free hay (another lol some forum members use it, I think this is the company). I thought about it for the late spring months when there is a lot of grass pollen out there which irritates my OH but never did anything about it. Also, best of all things is fresh long grass - in summer I cut it from the garden round the boles of trees, and they adore that. Better than hay, but a good idea to dry it if wet first.

HTH
 
Thank you everyone! I don't suppose this hay looks any worse than the shop-bought stuff, so I think I'm going to get my sister to bring the bale and just buy some 'nice' hay for a wee treat! They get lots of veg, and their nuggets, so I don't suppose they'll complain :)
 
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