Which hay?

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maharvey83

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So I have been buying large bags of meadow hay for my guinea pigs and using it in their beds and in their hutch for them to forage and hide in on top of layers of paper and wood chippings - dust free. I don’t have a separate hay bag or box or anything.
Is this right? Am I supposed to have a different type of hay for foraging and bedding and then just use the meadow hay for eating? I feel like we are getting through a lot of it and throwing away so much of it every time we clean them out
 
Ours don’t distinguish between hay for bedding and eating. We’ve tried placing hay intended for eating in various types of racks, but they pull them down or climb in if they can, or they just pull all of the hay out.

What works best for us is to put hay in a couple of boxes where they can climb in, nest, eat and whatever. That keeps the hay in more or less the same place, and we top up as required. Seems like they eat more hay that way.
 
Sikorsky said:
Ours don’t distinguish between hay for bedding and eating. We’ve tried placing hay intended for eating in various types of racks, but they pull them down or climb in if they can, or they just pull all of the hay out.

What works best for us is to put hay in a couple of boxes where they can climb in, nest, eat and whatever. That keeps the hay in more or less the same place, and we top up as required. Seems like they eat more hay that way.
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Thank you. What do you have on the bottom of their cage as bedding?
 
We use polyester bath mats. The piggies are on the floor, so we have vinyl at the bottom and some thin door mats in the middle, to prevent the bath mats from sliding around.

Back when we had a cage we just put the bath mats in the cage with some old towels below to suck up excess moisture

Are yours outside?
 
If your piggies are outside, then you are going to get through a lot of hay - they need it for warmth (as well as for eating). Wet hay needs to be removed daily and topped up with fresh. You can’t use any type of fabric bedding outside as they don’t dry properly in damp UK conditions.

Mine live in my shed and I use an absorbent layer of aubiose or megazorb and then stuff the hutch with meadow hay. I use meadow hay bedding and then throw in two piles of soft timothy which they eat. They prefer to eat the timothy but absolutely will nibble through lots of the meadow as well. The timothy hay is just loose on the floor as mine dont eat enough if i use any kind of rack. I get through 20kg of hay a month particularly in winter as they need a lot more to help keep warm
 
At the moment we have two different types of hay - both meadow hay, but of very different quality. The good stuff is green and smells really nice. It is also three times as expensive as the other kind which is yellow, slightly dusty and doesn’t smell as nice. The piggies eat both, but seem to prefer the cheap kind. Go figure.

Our current compromise is half of each, until I find something acceptable to both parties, and that I can actually afford.
 
You will get through a lot of hay with pigs but remember that to them this isn't just food. It's something to sleep in, something to hide in, something to play in ect.

I use meadow hay all year round, my 6 all prefer eating and snuggling in it and as I can get a 13kg bale for £6-£7, I'm happy with this.

They may get Timothy but more as a treat and don't seem to go mad over it all the time. They just eat the seed heads really so stopped buying it for now. Meadow hay is a good all rounder if I'm honest. Variety of grasses, soft and normally cheaper than other hay.

I normally just dump a pile of hay in the cage but I've been trying out some haybags (,DIY) and while it keeps the cage somewhat tidier, I'm not sure I like them. I've got lots cut and ready to sew as well. 😅 I'm sure I'll find a use for them lol
 
Mine love meadow hay for eating, sleeping in and playing in.
Timothy first cut is loved for the seed heads.
 
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