Forages: Redi-grass ultra grass etc.

[Cornish Cavies]

Hi, just wondering if anyone here used the above? I used to buy redi-grass but came across ultra grass, and its much softer than the redi-grass the pigs love it.

They have it along side their long hay.

[Ly&Pigs]

I've not heard of it. Do you have a link to it online?

[DalesLass]

Yes, we feed ‘Readigrass’ as do many other guinea pig keepers in UK. Our pigs really love it.
This is the link
Friendship Estates - ReadiGrass - The Natural Part of Your Horse's Diet
There are other similar products ‘JustGrass’ is also a popular one in UK.
In the winter we also feed bagged Haylage (a fine meadow haylage, not the very moist ryegrass type). We are lucky that it is made and bagged locally in Craven near where I live.
Craven Country Ride - News
The only problem with this is that it needs using within 5-6 days of opening so unless you have a horse you really need to share a bag with other guinea pig keepers.

[jabberwock]

I have always assumed that haylage isn't suitable for guinea pigs as it's partially fermented. I know that horse quality hay is fine but haylage is different. (I've searched and found an old thread linked here from guinea lynx which suggests haylage isn't ideal)
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19174
Does anyone else use it?

As to the Ultra-grass, I've seen this one from Badminton Feeds in my the horse place where I buy my Megazorb, is it this one?:
Badminton Feeds Products

If so, it says it contains added oils , which is the reason I've always avoided it.

[DalesLass]

Thanks jabberwork. I’ve read both links.

Badminton Feeds Ultra-Grass – It would be good if they divulged what type of oil was added so that an informed decision could be made about it.

Haylage - we were very wary about it and introduced it extremely carefully and only after we had heard that a friend was using it for her 50 guinea pigs with no problems.

The Guinealynx page contains rather a lot of ‘opinions’. This is understandable as I believe that most contributors are in USA – “Haylage” or “Horsehage” was invented in UK (‘Horsehage’ is the original inventors trademarked name, ‘’Haylage’ is the generic term for the look-alike products) I don't know how much is used in USA.
Welcome to HorseHage

Some of the Guinealynx comments ‘often used to feed cows and not horses’ ‘a use for poor quality grass’ ‘It's not good for hay to be stored like that’ suggest that people are unfamiliar with haylage.

The comment about being able to produce the crop in rainy areas is absolutely correct – it means that quality grass grown in the Limestone area here (Craven/Yorkshire Dales) can be preserved for feeding even in a wet summer. The alternative would be rained-on hay which goes mouldy/dusty whereas the haylage can be of a very consistent quality

Yes, the original haylage was ryegrass but soft meadow haylage is available now.

Haylage needs to come from a reputable source though as there is room for error. I have been told that one of the hazards is soil disturbance, such as molehills, if the cutter blades are set at the normal low height for hay making. A clod of dried mud (or even a dead mouse) in an ordinary bale of hay is not the end of the world but if sealed into a bag, very harmful bacteria could proliferate in the anaerobic conditions. Apparently this is much more of a risk with the very wet types of haylage – and as I already mentioned, the type we feed is fairly dry.

Can I just clarify stuff though...
I’m not ‘recommending’ haylage. (That's mainly because of the storage/spoilage difficulty unless you also have a horse or a large number of guinea pigs).
I am just interested to know if anyone else feeds it.
I’m not suggesting that it is a full substitute for hay or anything else; we just use it as an ‘addition’ to our pig’s diet.
The original (and considered best) haylage in UK ‘Marksway Horsehage’ is much wetter and stronger smelling, more like silage in character and the pigs don’t like it - ours wouldn’t touch it.

[Cornish Cavies]

The redi-grass, ultra grass and just grass all have oil in the ingredent list

Dodson & Horrell: Just Grass

Badminton Feeds Products

Friendship Estates - ReadiGrass - The Natural Part of Your Horse's Diet

here they are.

[DalesLass]

Originally Posted by Cornish Cavies

The redi-grass, ultra grass and just grass all have oil in the ingredent list

No - I think you are confusing 'ingredients' with 'analysis'.
Unless I have missed something on the websites, Ultra-Grass is the only one with ADDED oil.
Grasses will naturally contain a certain percentage of fats/oil and that will be listed in the 'typical analysis'.

For example Oxbow Western Timothy analysis -Oxbow Animal Health | Western Timothy Hay

I suppose it is a matter of deciding whether this additional oil benefits piggies or not.