Pigs and Grass

[bamby71994]

How safe is grass?? I have heard it can have parsites and diesease in it from the other animals. All so could I boil the grass in water to make sure it doesn't have anything harmful in it? Could I give my pigs half hay and half grass in the summer time??

[Ly&Pigs]

You can give grass from areas free from pesticides/chemicals and animal feces. You don't boil grass at all. Just rinse it with water before feeding. Grass is a forage but start with small amounts if your pigs have never had it to avoid stomach problems.

Grass should not be a replacement for hay but can be a supplement to hay.

[bamby71994]

Ok thanks, but what about the bugs that have touched it??

[Ly&Pigs]

That's why you rinse it before feeding to ensure there are no bugs on it.

[GermanGirl]

I give grass since 7 years the whole summer long and I never had problems with grass.

[bamby71994]

Ok I will allow my pigs some, but no going outside! There are many owls by and aroung my house.

[auburnmare5]

Is the rinsing mandatory- or just preferred Ly?

[Ly&Pigs]

Personally, I'd say mandatory because you don't know what bugs are in/on the grass.

[aqh88]

Grass should not be a replacement for hay but can be a supplement to hay.

Why is that? Technically it should be healthier than hay because it contains the same vitamins/minerals plus the ones that are lost when dried and lowers the risk of impaction or dehydration issues from the increased water content. Grazing herbivores on grass with limited to no hay are usually healthier with shinier coats and less digestive tract issues than those fed on a diet higher in hay than grass. The only issue is that you can't suddenly start feeding high amounts of grass. At minimum it causes diarhea but for some animals it can be life threatening. The grass needs to be increased slowly especially the new growth in spring but that doesn't mean you can't eventually feed unlimited grass without any health problems. Guinea pigs evolved to forage on fresh greens all day.

Currently mine are getting over a pound of grass each per day (I dump it into the cage by the grocery sack full) and a handful of hay in case they run out before I get a fresh bag full the next morning. All last summer they did not eat any hay. Only fresh grass and forages. I don't order hay from midspring to late fall now that I have an unlimited supply of safe grass for them.

[Ly&Pigs]

Because I've always been told that pigs are to have unlimited amounts of hay. Forages are also important in the diet. I feed my own pigs grass and other forages all through the summer months but I've never replaced their hay with grass, I just give them fresh grass in addition. Many people don't have access to the amounts of fresh grass that pigs would need to replace the hay.

Doesn't hay have more fiber content or would fresh grass have more fiber content?

[auburnmare5]

What about time actually outside? What do you do then? Do you rake everything out?

[aqh88]

Grass has a higher water content so they have to eat more to get the same amounts of everything as hay but that's actually better. The increased water intake makes things move better and dehydration less likely than hay. Less concern about them having to hit the water bottle as frequently. I forget the exact amount for horses but I believe it's at least 25% more pounds of grass needed to equal the same amount of hay due to the weight of water. Other than that grass has the same nutritional values as hay plus some vitamins like C and E. I would think if anything the fiber would break down some when you dry the grass into hay. You don't add any nutritional value to grass when you dry it. You only lose water and some nutrients.

The only thing I can think of that would make a difference is the age of the grass. Hay is made from older grass that is allowed to grow. New growth in the spring is sweeter with a higher water content and probably slightly less fiber. The fiber still isn't the issue though it's the water and sugar that leads to more problems, usually only diarhea in pigs, than if they overeat on older grass. Generally with grazing animals grass intake should be restricted more on new spring grass or the new growth that comes after cool weather and thunderstorms. Older grass is slightly healthier despite the fact animals prefer to hunt down the newer, softer shoots.

[PrayerWarrior]

Originally Posted by auburnmare5

What about time actually outside? What do you do then? Do you rake everything out?

[FONT=Georgia]Ditto. What do you do when you let them out in a pen to forage for themselves? [/FONT]

[Ly&Pigs]

If you put your pigs outside to eat grass make sure there are no poisonous plants in the area you are putting them. There are many safe forages they can eat but there are also many poisonous ones too. If the area is just grass with no other weeds then it's fine but if they aren't used to fresh grass or haven't had it in a long while it's best not to let them eat too much. Let them slowly adjust by giving them a bit of extra time outside daily.

Also just make sure the area is free from pesticides and animal feces.

[aqh88]

I didn't rake the ground when at my mom's house where there were no trees and my stepad insisted on keeping a yard completely free of anything but grass. Here the yard has been allowed to run wild for many years and there are trees everywhere. Most leaves are toxic. So now I go over the ground with a leaf rake and this spring I used a garden rake to really scrape the grass and pull away any dead material so I could inspect the area for dangerous plants.

If your dealing with tall, fresh, spring grass that they haven't eaten any of in weeks-months I'd probably start with 10-15mins of outside time. Pick at least a few handfuls of grass for them on days they can't go outside and you can start increasing that time by 5-10mins every 4-5days. This is a very rough estimate based on my pigs, Iowa grass, and how we handle turning horses out on new grass. You should watch your own pigs for signs of diarhea and cut back on the grass if their droppings start to get soft. If you live somewhere drier or that doesn't kill all the grass off in winter then the spring grass won't be as rich and you won't have to be as careful adjusting them to it.