Hay: I couldn't find hay anymore...

[fridzalone]

I use Hamsfood timothy hay right now, but it seems Hamsfood Timothy Hay in every pet shop in my place is out of stock. I don't know how that happen. I've searched every petshop, and try buy online (from Indonesian online petshops), but they give same answer.

There's only 2 kinds of hay that I found, Hamsfood Timothy Hay and Vitakraft Vita Verde : Herbal Hay. Can I just use Vitakraft hay?

[Peggysu]

They need a grass hay. The herbal hay is only a treat type hay that doesn't replace a grass hay.

[fridzalone]

Originally Posted by Peggysu

They need a grass hay. The herbal hay is only a treat type hay that doesn't replace a grass hay.

So does it means I just need to give them grass?
I read in another thread that grass is only given as an extra veggies and not extra hay. So what should I do? I run out my hay...

[Peggysu]

If they are not used to grass it can give them diarrhea. They need the long strands of hay for their molars and digestive health.

It doesn't have to be timothy, it just have to be a grass hay.

[akstrohm]

If you have access to fresh grass (no fertilizers or pesticides), I would feed them that (start slowly if you haven't given grass in the past). Once they're used to it, they can have quite a bit of grass. You can grow wheatgrass indoors successfully too if you can find the seed. You can also feed some of the herbal hay. Get the grass hay when it is back in stock.

In the future, buy the grass hay in larger amounts. Hay keeps for a very long time as long as it is stored properly. Then order new hay well in advance of when you will need it.

[fridzalone]

I always buy large amount of hay before (usually between 4-8 packs) because I bought them online. And I've asked the petshop since last week and they only said they're out of stock and don't know when the stocks are available. They said they'll contact me when its available, but until now they haven't contact me yet. So I asked another petshops and they give the same answer, and it makes me worried if I couldn't give hay anymore to my piggies

I don't know if the grass near my place are clean enough or not. They're pretty near with the road, I'll try to wash them as clean as I can before feed them to my piggies. Unfortunately, I can't grow the grass because I only rent a room.

Btw, can I use cat grass instead?

[lissie]

Are there any horses in your area? I would ask them where they got their horse hay.

[fridzalone]

There's no horses in my area. I live in a city, and there's no farm near here.

[lissie]

There's no horse riding anywhere? Or horse racing?
I used to live in Bangkok and there are horse stables in the middle of the city.

[fridzalone]

No, the horses only available in the rural area, pretty far from my place. About 1-2 hours straight, and I don't think they give hay to those horses, I think they only give them wild grass.

[akstrohm]

I would not feed grass unless you know it doesn't have pesticides or fertilizers. Your pigs could get sick or die if there is something poisonous on the grass.

Just make do with what hay you have left and the herbal hay and stay in touch with the pet stores/online sites.

Do you have a window in your room? If so, I bet you could grow grass just fine. It doesn't need a lot of light or anything like that. It doesn't have to be a lot, but if you don't have a constant source of hay, it might be a good idea to have some growing.

[fridzalone]

I'm thinking to grow the grass, but since the grass in my place are wild grass that can be found in abandon places, I don't think the seeds available in stores. Is there any other way to collect the seed? How to plant them?

I also thinking to buy Vitakraft Cat Grass if it's safe for piggies, but still don't know what kind of grass they are. Any clue about it?

[lissie]

If the horse place is only an hour away. It may be worth the drive. If they sell you a bale, you can probably keep it for almost a year. Try calling around. You'll save more money in the long run than buying from pet stores.

[fridzalone]

The problem is I don't drive and I don't own any vehicle. Even if I go to that place, I still need to find the farm, which is not easy. Most of the villagers there are strawberry farmers. I ever went to cow breeders and ask them what do they feed their cow, and they only said : grass. So there's only small possibility they know what hay are.

[lissie]

I feel so sorry for you for having so much trouble finding hay. I wonder if KM will ship to you. Can you find other online pet store from nearby countries?

[JD In Van]

KM can't ship out of the country. I'm in BC and have had trouble getting Washington state hay even though it's SOOOOO close. There's a lot of laws about import/export of grains.

[blackarrow]

I did a search on Vitakraft and found that you had asked this same question back in June or July. You can feed herbal hay on occasion but it shouldn't be a regular thing. It's better than no hay, but you need to get a timothy or other grass hay ASAP.

[foggycreekcavy]

I believe that most cat grass is wheat grass, which is fine for pigs.

[fridzalone]

Originally Posted by lissie

Can you find other online pet store from nearby countries?

Buying online from other nearby countries will cost me a lot, to be honest I couldn't afford that. And the shipping probably will take about 3 weeks or more, and my piggies don't have time that much.

I used Vitakraft Vita Verde before on daily basis (before this site told me that it's not safe), and change to Hamsfood Timothy Hay because it's the only another hay that I can find in here.

And after foggycreekcavy told me that cat grass is wheat grass, I think i'll give it a try until I get the hay.

Thanks all