Young boar diet questions

[PigurLuvr]

Hi,

I have a young boar, Chewie, who is about 10-12 weeks old. He was adopted from a friend of a friend from work who had a litter of two boys, one sadly died during birth. Chewie was fed a diet of baby carrots, broccoli and cheap rabbit pellets... I think they were the dreaded LM Farms ones I have had him now for about 3 weeks and has since had a major diet overhaul! At first he didn't like or want the change. He had never seen, smelled or even tasted hay, so he didn't know what to do with it. Various greens and veggies were scoffed at, except his baby carrot... that was gobbled right away. Now, three weeks of persistance has paid off. He accepts most veggies (except peppers) and wheeks for his romaine, greens and grass. He doesn't think much of fruit like apples, pear or strawberries. He enjoys blueberries tho.

My question is who should I buy my next order of pellets from? Oxbow, KM or Sweet Meadow? Right now he is on Cavy Performance from Oxbow. He is not crazy for it and I end up throwing most of it out. How long should he be on the alfalfa pellets anyway?

As far as hay goes, he gets Oxbow Timothy and Orchard Grass. He only eats the seed heads and I have a ton of waste with the hay too, straight to the trash. I just purchased a 20 oz. bag from Sweet Meadow Farms Organic Timothy and he doesn't care for it either. It is much lighter and softer than the Oxbow and has no seed heads, so he wont touch it. Not to mention, I found a clump of dried dirt that took up 1/4 of the bag, it was gross

KM shipping prices are insane for me, but will budget other things so I can get him good stuff. Sweet Meadow is very affordable and the shipping is sweet. Anyone ever try the pellets? They seem almost identical to Oxbows ingredients. I must admit I am a bit turned off by the clump of dirt in the bag.

I never had such a picky piggie before. All my other pigs loved Oxbow, both pellets and hay. Any advice, help and/ or expertise is greatly appreciated

[PrayerWarrior]

If he's not crazy about Cavy Performance, you could try Oxbow's alfalfa, and if he's not excited about that either, you could give a few sprigs everyday or every other day, for the extra calcium, and feed him timothy hay and timothy pellets. He'll need extra calcium 'til he's 6 months.

[PigurLuvr]

He's had Sweet Meadow alfalfa hay, but didn't take to it. He has also tried some Cavy Cuisine I had left from a piggie that passed recently. Chewie doesn't touch that dish at all (I have two food dishes out for him, one performance the other Cuisine).

Parsley he just recently warmed up to.

Thoughts on SM?

[PrayerWarrior]

Sweet Meadow's a good brand, too. I think Oxbow is better, and KM is better than Oxbow, but SM is way better than petstore brands and such.

[Ly&Pigs]

Not sure about the Sweet Meadow pellets, I need to see an ingredients list. I may have it somewhere on my computer though.

You could email KM and ask if you could buy sample packs of hay (timothy and bluegrass) and pellets (either) to try. Otherwise, it's just going to be a persistance game.

If he's not crazy about Cavy Performance, you could try Oxbow's alfalfa,

Oxbow's alfalfa based pellet is Cavy Performance.

[PrayerWarrior]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Oxbow's alfalfa based pellet is Cavy Performance.

I know. I meant alfalfa hay.

[PigurLuvr]

Here's a link to SMF:
Timothy pellet ingredients
http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/pel_gptimothy2.html

Timothy blend pellets
http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/pel_gpblend2.html

Compared to Oxbow, they have very similar ingredients as far as I could tell.

I did a 'fake' checkout over at KM's and the total for shipping came out to $45! That's for 30lbs. of pellet and hay!

I honestly think Chewie hates the size/shape of the Oxbow pellets. He liked the chubbier pellet he grew up on.

Stupid question, how do use the thank you feature?

[RainKindle]

Originally Posted by PigurLuvr

Stupid question, how do use the thank you feature?

I wondered that when I fist started here too, because that is when you get the most needed help.
Newbies like us aren't allowed to. I was frustrated at first, but they have good reason to prevent it's overuse.
If someone especially helps me as I am starting out, I often just thank them if I am an active part of the thread they helped me in. Otherwise I'm just being patient. I've started a mental list of the people I should really thank in a month. I thanked Ly in a private PM because she was so helpful on quite a few things.

[Drawingwords]

I, by far, am no means a diet guru at all, but I've had experience with KM, OXbow and other pellet brands. I think that animals are like children sometimes, in that they will be extremely picky if they know you will change it up. Chewie's diet was so bad that it might take a while breaking him into a new diet.

GP's aren't curious eaters like cats, and if you change their food they are probably going to stick their nose up at you. Did you completely switch the food over without weaning him off of it? I know that the food he was on is aweful but it seems to help if you mix in some old with new. And keep offering it! If you keep switching the brands around he'll probably reject it even more. Let him get used to one. It took my girls 3 weeks to be switched over to the Oxbow and now they love it!

I would also keep offering new veggies for him to try in small amounts. He probably thinks you're poisoning him but that will stop. Does he have a buddy that he can watch eat and see that the food is good?

[Ly&Pigs]

KM's may seem expensive BUT, by the time you figure out the cost per pound, it's actually cheaper than buying small bags locally.

I checked out the ingredients list for the SM pellets and they seem to be ok, pretty comparable to oxbow. It will be ok to give your pig the SM pellets and hay.

If you've already switched cold turkey, I don't suggest adding any old food back in. Pellets are the least of the diet so if he doesn't eat many pellets right now, it's ok.

If he's eating veggies pretty well now and a decent variety then that's good.

You may have to try a variety of hays to find out which one he will eat the best. Have you tried offering any fresh forages such as fresh grass? Just start with a very small amount so you don't upset his tummy and then gradually increase the amount.

[PigurLuvr]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

No I didn't switch his pellet diet cold turkey. I went back to the guy (shortly after) I got him from and inquired what he was feeding him, because of the lack of interest in the Oxbow foods. He gave me a couple of handfuls of pellets from a large paper bag. I've been mixing the old with the new for the past few weeks. Now he is on all Performance with an extra dish of Cuisine.

Thanks for reviewing the SM ingredients LY&pigs. I know pellets should not be the main diet. I had 2 boars on an all hay diet for 5 years. They were obese and had stones/sludge, so the vet told me it was OK to not have pellets added at all.

He has just started eating different veggies. He dislikes all bell peppers and fruit except for blueberries. I do offer wheatgrass and reg. non contaminated lawn grass and he loves it.

Hays he has tried include Oxb. Timothy and Orchard grass, SMF alfalfa and Organic Timothy.

[Ly&Pigs]

You may want to try some of KM's hays. Her bluegrass is exceptional. I know it seems a lot for shipping but it's totally worth it.

As for veggies, have patience and keep trying new things. He's still young so he may yet take to bell peppers. Fruits aren't a big deal. What all veggies has he been eating? This way I can get an idea of what veggies to suggest to try.

You can have just a HAFF (hay and fresh foods diet) but not just a hay diet. The only thing about HAFF diets is that you need to really research them well to ensure the pigs are getting all the required nutrients and needed vitamins.

[PigurLuvr]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

You can have just a HAFF (hay and fresh foods diet) but not just a hay diet. The only thing about HAFF diets is that you need to really research them well to ensure the pigs are getting all the required nutrients and needed vitamins.

Yes I know, I didn't possibly feed just hay. Fresh foods are a given when it comes to herbivores. It was difficult hearing them wheek for their pellets, but it really helped them in the long run.

Fresh foods I have tried:
Arugala, Kale, Baby greens(mixed), cucumber, zuchini, radichio, cauliflower (limited I know) brocolli (ditto), parsley, cilantro, carrots (baby), green and red leaf lettuce, romaine, chickory, endive, dandelion greens, bell pepper (diff. kinds), apple (4 kinds), pear, orange, strawberries, blueberries, grapes (3 kinds), cherries, grass (lawn and wheat).

I usually buy most if not all of these from the market each week, I am a vegetarian and my sis is a vegan so we have variety and the piggies benefit!

I think I will try your suggestion on the samples from KM, hopefully he will like that hay more.

[echolalia]

Originally Posted by PigurLuvr

How long should he be on the alfalfa pellets anyway?

I'm glad you asked as I was about to pose this question myself — albeit with a slight variation.

I adopted my two boys in June, so (unfortunately) I don't know exactly how old they are. However, the shelter classified them as young boars, and I agree with that assessment based on their appearance and behaviour. (I should note here that I also believe they are brothers and therefore the same age.) Based on that evidence, they've been eating Oxbow's Cavy Performance pellets.

About a week ago, I noticed something: it looks like they now have their "adult" faces. I told my sister, a fellow guinea pig slave, about this possible milestone; she thinks their faces are definitely broader and more adult-like as well.

This is a delightful development, but it does raise the question, "When should I switch to timothy-based pellets?"
They love Kleenmama's bluegrass, so I'd like to try out her brand of food, but now I'm not sure which type to order. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Ly&Pigs]

You can feed alfalfa based pellets for up to 1 year but I always recommend around 6 months to decrease the excess calcium intake.

PigurLuvr, that's a nice variety. I can't think of anything to add to the list.