I know that Oxbow makes an oat hay but can guinea pigs eat oat straw?
I know that Oxbow makes an oat hay but can guinea pigs eat oat straw?
I doubt that they would want to. Oat hay is cut when the plant is still nice and green. Oat straw is the dried up stems of the plant after the grain, the oats, are harvested.
Actually my piggies LOVE oat hay, I buy a blend of oat, wheat, and barley hays from Alfalfa King, it is green and smells so sweet, They love it! My vet say it is fine for them, my piggies won't eat timothy hay, so I have tried so many, the Oxbow oat and the oat wheat and barley hays are their favorite.
Straw of any kind is no good for pigs -- not enough nutritional value.
Straw is not good but Oat, wheat and Barley hay has only 1% less protein than Timothy and less fat and calcium. It is ok to give your piggies. My piggies have been eating oat hay for months and are very healthy and are eating more hay than ever (I used to have to toss bunches of timothy hay as it would sit of DAYS) Yellow straw is no good but as long as it is green and sweet smelling you are fine to feed it. From my vets lips!
I would stick to Timothy Hay, Oat doesn't have quite as much nutritional value, and some piggies don't like to eat it either.
I recommand giving Timothy Hay to your piggies instead because of it's high nutrition. I give my piggies Timothy Hay on a daily basis and make sure I'm always stocked up. Occasionally, I throw in some other kind of Oxbow hay (I get my Timothy Hay locally) such as Oat Hay, Meadow Hay, that way it gives them some variety but they seem to like Timothy Hay the best. I guess it depends on the piggie but Timothy is a must to me. Straw isn't good because it lack the nutritional need of your piggies. What foggycreekcavy said is true. Hope that helped
That's a great way to put it!Originally Posted by PiggiesnPuppies
PiggiesnPuppies, yes, oat hay is fine to feed. Oat straw, which is what the OP was asking about, is not.
I misunderstood. I apologize.
Timothy hay is what is usually recommended, but it's not a "must" or definitely "the best". Newbies come on the Forum and sometimes think that they "must" feed timothy. We need to use phrases like "in my opinion", "in my experience", or "the current thinking is......".
Are you aware that timothy hay is a very big allergen to many people? They begin to think that they are allergic to the cavies themselves, when it often is the hay. Of course, it IS possible to be allergic to cavies, but it isn't common.
As an aside to anyone who is buying hay, if at all possible, DON'T BUY FROM A PET STORE. In my experience, any hay that I've purchased at a pet store has been old, crumbly, and brown. Try to buy direct from a company or even from a farmer or feed store so that you can look at it, smell it, and perhaps even have a sample.
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