Hay Cubes?

[CathiiPiggie]

Has anyone seen those mini hay cube things before? Basically they look like cubes/cylinders and they are blocks of tightly packed hay. If you have, are they any good as hay substitutes for someone with hay allergies?

[xXMaggieXx]

They cant substitute hay because they are not long strand. Have you tried orchard grass? I mentioned in your other thread. It is much better for allergies. And can be used instead of timothy

[CathiiPiggie]

Okay, I will try Orchard grass instead.

But are these cubes okay as a treat or are they just bad all round?

[abi.25]

my pigs werent really that interested in them and they made an awful mess on the fleece!

[bpatters]

If you can find the cubes of just compressed hay, they're ok as a treat. But most that are sold in pet stores in small bags are bound together with molasses, and so have too much sugar for the pigs.

[spy9doc]

Regarding allergies to hay, it's not uncommon for people to be allergic to timothy hay. And, sadly, many folks think that they are allergic to cavies and get rid of theirs! Most of the time it is just the timothy hay residue on the cavies.....as well as just having it in the cage.

My partner is highly allergic to timothy hay and can't even have it in the house. We found a solution in the bluegrass hay from KMS. Of course, I suspect that it would be prohibitively expensive for you to have it shipped to the UK. Orchard grass would be my second choice, although the quality of that found is pet stores is abysmal.

As a side note, we were forced to use the hay cubes while we searched for an alternative to timothy. The cubes are so dry and hard that my piggies wouldn't/couldn't bite into them. I found that soaking in water for about a minute and then draining, softened them where the boys would eat them.

[CathiiPiggie]

Thanks, Orchard grass it is!