Now...Which brand?

[Maggie]

I'm stocking up on supplies, and I'm looking at which hay brand to buy. (don't yell at me for any of the brands, I'm listing them off from my choices )
- American Pet Diner (I believe that's the brand...)
- Oxbow (I know how you guys feel about oxbow )
- Kaytee
- Peter's

[fourbwabbys]

I've only heard of oxbow and Kaytee. I tried Kaytee with my pigs, but they wouldn't touch it. I feed them oxbow now and they love it. I have also had success with sun seed brand.

[Percy's Mom]

As long as it's just hay and it's green and fresh looking, any of them should be fine. Personally, my hay right now is from Kleenmama, but the shipping can be high depending on where you live.
http://www.kmshayloft.com

[BabyGrl]

I love Kleenmamas hay. Most important the pigs do too. They chow it right down quicker than anything I have ever seen.

[Maggie]

Yeah, I looked at Kleenmamas, but the shipping was expensive for my area. I'll get oxbow, since I'm buying some feed from them anyway.

[Ly&Pigs]

Depending on how many piggers you have, you may want to buy hay from a local feedstore in bales. If stored properly, it can last many months. As long as the hay is green, good smelling and free from mold, it doesn't matter where you get it.

[Idril]

Alfalfa is best. Timothy is dry, most of it is dried up hay, it has thistles which are VERY dangerous to piggies and is very light in calories. I fed my piggies Timothy and they lost weight because it is so low in calories. And if I were a guinea pig, Alfalfa looks better

[BabyGrl]

Alfalfa hay is only good for young pigs and pregnant pig. See the following taken off of this website

Alfalfa hay is rich in protein and calcium, but when combined with pellets it doesn’t have the proper ratio of calcium and phosphorus. This can lead to improper gastrointestinal motility, such as diarrhea. It also may predispose certain guinea pigs to calcium oxalate bladder or kidney stones. Timothy hay is a better choice and is becoming more readily available. It’s important to keep your guinea pig sleek, so cut down on the amount of protein and calorie-rich pellets while feeding timothy hay.

[Idril]

I've fed both of my guinea pigs alfalfa for five years and they are doing well...?

[Maggie]

One piggie (who I'm stocking up for) is only coming up 7 weeks.

[Cupcakeswirl]

I have had very bad luck with Kaytee. I bought it a couple of days ago for my soon to be my own guinea pigs and I decided to open up the bag and it was all grainy and smelt bad. So I am going to go out to a feed store and get some oxbow hay and pellets.

[redrocketpop]

I was using Kaytee, and sometimes it was good, other times there was hardly any of it they would eat. I think you just have to check the bags carefully to get decent ones. Now, though, I have a bale from the feed store and I can give them piles and piles and I don't have to worry about running out. The best part of the bale, is that it was $3.75...and Kaytee is usually about that for a small bag!

[Percy's Mom]

Idril - If your pigs have been on alfalfa for 5 years and are both doing well, then you've been very lucky. Alfalfa has a lot more calcium in it, and shouldn't be fed to pigs over about 6 months old, or pigs that are pregnant or nursing. The extra calcium can lead to bladder sludge in your piggy and then stones that a vet would have to operate to remove. It's also much softer than timothy or a comparable grass hay. They need the harder shafts of the grass hays to help them keep their teeth in check.

I bought Kaytee once between a couple of hay shipments and was very disappointed as well. I ended up tossing about half of the bag because it was brown in the middle.

[Ly&Pigs]

All cavies no matter their age should get grass hay. Alfalfa can be fed to cavies under 6 months and pregnant or nursing sows in addition to grass hay but cavies that are fed alfalfa based pellets under 6 months really don't need it as there is enough alfalfa in the pellets for the extra calcium they need.

[aqh88]

Alfalfa is best. Timothy is dry, most of it is dried up hay, it has thistles which are VERY dangerous to piggies and is very light in calories. I fed my piggies Timothy and they lost weight because it is so low in calories. And if I were a guinea pig, Alfalfa looks better

I grow alfalfa for horses and I find every last bit of this statement to be 100% wrong. Alfalfa is very likely to have thistles. We get them all the time. It depends on the person growing the hay, the land it's grown on, and the maintenance routine of the hay field. To eliminate thistles all you can do is dig it up and replant it again and again until they are gone. Which is what we are doing again to the alfalfa field and one of the pastures because the thistles have taken over yet again. I'm tired of walking around with a shovel trying to tear this things up. On the other hand I order timothy, bluegrass, and orchardgrass from kmshayloft and oxbow and have yet to find a single thistle or weed. Such things do not depend on the type of hay grown.

All hay is dried up hay/plants. That is what makes it hay. How you cut, cure, and store the hay makes the difference between green and brown. Again same as above this has absolutely nothing to do with the type of hay grown but with how it is cared for. My alfalfa is often far more brown and dried out than the grass hay I order for the guinea pigs because with so much of it to move and store we tend to not be as careful. Alfalfa also does have tons of nutrients. More than necessary so if it breaks down a little due to sunlight we don't really care. They are still getting far more than they need. It's better than it molding from being too wet which is a huge health hazard.

That leads to my next point. Alfalfa is extremely high in everything and has an abundance of nutrients. Great for growing and pregnant animals but very dangerous for adult animals. It can even have too much nutrients for growing animals and lead to bone and muscle problems from growing too fast. Alfalfa was first utilized to grow livestock such as cattle as fast as possible. No one cares if pushing their growth this much causes problems later in life because they are going to be slaughtered for food soon after they are grown. Many horse stables are switching to grass hays because it has been found that alfalfa causes lots of problems. Some try to balance it out by feeding high phosphorous, low calcium, and low protien foods such as straight oats and pouring vinegar on their grain to help keep the horses from absorbing the excess calcium. These are currently some of the tricks I unfortunately have to resort to because my grandpa who owns the field will not replant in grass hay. It's something we have argued on many times and if you really want I can try to hunt up all my research and nutrition class notes on the harmful effects of alfalfa. However I just moved recently and misplaced my 2 binders of health info so I'd have to hunt for them.

As a last guinea pig specific problem with alfalfa it tends to be much harder and stalkier than grass hays. That has led to serious puncture and eye wounds and expensive vet bills. Your guinea pigs lost weight because they weren't getting excess nutrients anymore. Generally that's a good thing when you switch from alfalfa to grass like that. They were probably either fat or carrying too much muscle and bulk from the high protein level in the alfalfa. Given the choice most guinea pigs will eat grass hay in abundance and pick the leaves off alfalfa. Even if they prefer alfalfa they also sometimes prefer junky horribly unhealthy pellets. It's like asking a kid if they want a salad or a candybar for a snack. Of course you know what they'll pick and it may not be the healthiest for them. Guinea pigs didn't evolve to eat such a concentrated nutrient source as alfalfa. They evolved to eat fresh grasses and a small amount of other vegetation. We try to mimic that by feeding them mostly grass hay along with vegetables and pellets to make up for what is lost when you dry any plant life(all vit c is destroyed in all types of hay as well as nearly all fat soluable vitamins). Your just asking for disaster if you feed only alfalfa all the time.

[Maggie]

Thanks aqu88, I saved that on my computer so I remember
(Don't worry Idrill, I've gotten yelled at already for suggesting a feed brand no one here likes, )

[Ly&Pigs]

I've gotten yelled at already for suggesting a feed brand no one here likes

No, you were just simply told that the brand you wanted to feed was a very poor choice. No one "yelled" at you. It hasn't anything to do with what brands people like or dislike, it has to do with what is nutritionally good for the pigs and avoiding bad ingredients.