pellet free diet

[aloren]

I did a search and came up with nothing, although I am sure this has been discussed before.
It seems neither of my pigs care much for pellets. Both came from previous owners who fed them nothing but pellets. Once I introduced veggies, they never looked back.
They literally will not eat them. I feed veggies during the day, then I would measure out 1/8 of a cup and leave that (plus hay) in each cage overnight(Fabio is still in quarantine).
When I get up, they are both screeching for food, pellets untouched. They wolf down any and everything I put in their cages as far as veggies and the occasional fruit.
Is a pellet free diet in the best interest of my pigs? If this is ok to do, is there anything they should be getting extra of? I know the pellets are good for mostly vitamin C. Both the pigs enjoy all colors of bell peppers and a slice of an orange about once a week.
Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

[VoodooJoint]

My feeling is that they are probably eating some of their pellets but not enough to notice. It could also be that they aren't fond of the pellet brand and maybe (if you don't already) try switching them to Oxbow or Kleenmama's brand.

Going completely pelletless will take a lot of research and dedication as you will need to do careful meal planning to insure that they are getting all the nutrients they need from their diet/veggies.

Personally I always offer pellets. Sometimes they don't seem to touch them and other times they finish them all. They seem to know what they need and when they need it.

To see if they are actually eating their pellets you may want to try giving them a specific weighed amount and then reweigh the leftovers the next morning to see if any have been eaten.

[Ly&Pigs]

I agree with VJ. I don't recommend this type of diet to newer owners, only those very experienced with pigs and after a ton of research has been done.

But if you want to do a search on the forum, try searching for HAFF (hay and fresh foods) diet. There are several threads about it.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

As long as they are eating hay, I wouldn't worry about it. But they usually don't turn their noses up at Oxbow or Kleenmama pellets.

[this_lil_piggy]

My pigs don't eat pellets. It wasn't a choice on my part either, they just simply gave up eating them when I switched them from junky pellets to the good KM ones. They would pee in them, poop on them, knock them over but they would not eat them. I wasn't impressed with spending the $ to have KM's shipped here only to use them as litter :-/ My piggies have been on a hay and veggie diet for quite a while now and seem to be doing just fine. They get a wide variety and larger amount of veggies, and lots of fresh grass and of course unlimited hay. I plan to buy and retry them on some pellets again when I place my next order for hay...hoping maybe that after the break from them perhaps they will pick back up eating them a little again. We will see.

[jabberwock]

My piggies went pellet free when I was a very new piggie owner. They had been on a mixed food and when I switched them to Oxbow pellets they had big sulks and wouldn't eat any. I used to count the pellets out in the morning and then count them again the next morning and not a single one had been eaten. Like this_lil_piggy I felt that the pellets were just too expensive to be just thrown away so, after a couple of weeks I withdrew the pellets altogether. I weighed, measured and calculated very carefully to make sure they were getting enough vitamin C from their veggies.
Then, after 4 months I tried them on Oxbow pellets again and they decided they were delicious. It seemed that they needed time to completely forget the rubbish food they were on before.

[aloren]

I'll do the weighing of the pellets tonight to see if they are actually eating any. This morning Cookie's bowl had pee in it too...ewww!
I am not thrilled with the idea of a pellet free diet, so I am hoping I am wrong and that they are actually eating some and I am just not noticing.
I'll post tomorrow about the difference of the weight with the pellets.

[HowietheGreat]

JAsper and Jinx ignored their Oxbow pellets the first 3 weeks I had them. Now they clean their bowl. I think it takes time, just like when new fruits or vegtables are introduced.