NEW pig owner

[mayersgirl]

I am getting a pig Tuesday and thought I should join here first to make sure I know everything I need to know. I wanted to ask what everyone thinks of Kaytee Aspen bedding and Kaytee Timothy Hay. Is Kaytee a good brand to use? Has anyone had any problems with their products? Thanks in advance!

[GuineaTV]

Kaytee is OK if you have to get your stuff from a pet store, but the pigs REALLY go nuts for (and you'll spend less overall) Oxbow hay. It's really fresh & it costs less if you get it in 40 oz. bags or (heaven help us) 9 lb. bags (I actually don't reccommend this - a bit much for me to handle at once!) You can get it at www.theferretstore.com, free shipping w/$35 order, or at www.petfooddirect.com, where it's cheaper, and if you sign up for their email specials you'll save enough to cover the shipping.
My favorite bedding is Cellsorb- it's made from recycled paper and is super absorbant. I spot clean by just taking a scoop and scooping the wet spots out - almost as easy as cat litter. If you can handle keeping 40 pounds of it around (doesn't take up much space - this is heavy stuff) you can get it now at 50% off at pet food direct - $20 for 40 pounds.

[mncavylover]

Kaytee Timothy hay isn't the greatest. It's all clumped together and brown-looking. Oxbow is much better, the first time my piggies smelled it they started wheek-ing! It's great stuff. For bedding, I use CareFresh, but am thinking of switching to CellSorb. There is also a cheap paper bedding at Walmart called CritterCare. They're better than wood bedding, I think. Hope this helps! =)

[ChadWPB]

Kleenmama's Hayloft sells arguably the best hay on the planet.

Kaytee is brown crap. Once your pigs sink their teeth into KM's hay, they'll turn their noses up on other brands like little furry gourmets.

Any aspen bedding is fine. There are alternatives such as towel, kiln-dried pine and Carefresh.

For pellets, nothing beats Oxbow's Cavy Cuisine. It's a timothy-based pellet with stabilized Vitamin C. It's designed for adult pigs. Oxbow's Cavy Performance is an alfalfa based pellet for younger piggies.

[mom to cujo]

www.sweetmeadowfarm.com is by far the best hay around with the most variety. Just visit the site and check it out.

[NoVeil]

I use www.sweetmeadowfarm.com for my hay. It smells so fresh and yummy and they have the best price on hay that I have found. They are really speedy on shipping and my girls looooove their hay.

[cavylover]

Does anyone know of any Canadian distributors for Hay . none of these places ship to ontario canada

[LiciaMommycott]

If you have any horses in your area, try finding a feed store. I can get an entire bale of fresh hay for under $20.