Thistles in Hay

**willowfaery** · #1 02-10-08, 11:42 pm

I just bought some Oxbow hay and I noticed that there are a number of thistles and (for lack of a better term) seedy looking blooms in the bag. I read somewhere that I should not let my piggy eat the thistles because they could hurt their mouth. Is this true? And what about the seedy things? Oh, and they aren't like individual seeds....they are like clusters of seeds. Am I making any sense? Hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about.

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #2 02-11-08, 02:50 pm

Can you pick it out before feeding it?

Did you order it via oxbow? If you did, they usually will replace the bag at no charge.

**pig-in-paradise** · #3 02-11-08, 05:52 pm

Are you talking about the seedheads? From what I heard they are ok for your cavy, mine (including my 3 week old baby) love them. I hope I heard right...

**fourboys4now** · #4 02-11-08, 07:08 pm

The hay I have has something like what you're describing. It kind of looks like a dried up dandelion. I'm not sure that's what it is, but mine eat it like the rest of the hay.

**willowfaery** · #5 02-11-08, 07:22 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitsncavyluv

Can you pick it out before feeding it?

Did you order it via oxbow? If you did, they usually will replace the bag at no charge.

Yeah. I picked them out. I was just wondering if they were okay to leave in there. I bought the hay at a local pet store.

**willowfaery** · #6 02-11-08, 07:28 pm

I think the seed clusters are seed heads and I have heard of people's piggies liking them. But what about the thistles (the elongaged prickly things)? Are they okay for guinea pigs to eat?

**Dutch** · #7 02-13-08, 07:45 pm

That is a pretty good picture of timothy hay. The prickly, caterpillar looking thing in the middle is the seed head. If that is what you are seeing, it should be fine. If you are seeing something different, it may not be part of the hay.

(I got that pic from google pictures. I wasn't trying to steal it! I don't think I can post links yet, but Annie & Emmie's carrot patch was the website where the picture came from.)

Dutch

**willowfaery** · #8 02-13-08, 09:05 pm

Thank you Dutch. That is exactly what I was talking about. It's hard to describe stuff over the computer. That is what I meant by "thistle". The cluster of seeds looks different though.

**aaronmeister** · #9 02-14-08, 12:26 pm

Those are the first things gone when I give out more hay.

**rabbitsncavyluv** · #10 02-14-08, 04:09 pm

That's normal then. I thought you meant hard weeds.

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