Different hays for different purposes?

I'm not quite sure why you're putting hay over the bedding at all. It doesn't absorb anything, and can get really smelly and possibly mold when your pigs urinate on it. There's no reason to line the cage with hay.

If your pigs are over 6 months old, you want to stay away from the alfalfa. Continue with the timothy, or we can help you find online sources for timothy, bluegrass, orchard grass, or other grass hays to fill their hay rack.

I like having hay on the bottom of the cage because they so enjoy playing and sleeping in it but if they aren't going to eat it then it's only going to cause problems. Within less than 12hours of sitting in the cage hay will end up wet, moldy, and rotting. I give them enough in the morning to last until night and then feed them again in the evening to last until morning. I also clean out any leftover hay when I feed them in the evening. Otherwise the stuff they don't want to eat just keeps piling up and within a few days creates the grossest gooey pile you'll ever clean out of a cage. Even a a very thin layer of what they've deemd unedible hay can hold in alot of moisture. Hay is a great insulator for both heat and moisture.

I place the hay around the cage on top of the bedding in clumps or piles so the piggys can play in it, sleep on it and nibble on it if they don't feel like walking all the way to the other end of the cage. It is not intended to be an absorbent bedding. Just another "toy" like a toilet paper tube. I always clean out all the hay at least once a day and replace with fresh hay.

I guess my question should have been: Is it ok for them to occasionally nibble on 10% alfalfa hay? Or should I shell out more money for them to play in the feed store timothy hay? Keeping in mind that I plan to have a supplier of inexpensive timothy hay within the next week or so.

It would be preferable not to have them eating the alfalfa. Some may develop stones and alfalfa is rather stemmy making it a poor hay to play in. Guinea pigs have suffered puncture wounds and serious eye injuries from burrowing and playing in stemmy hay. While many may not have problems with 10% alfalfa if one does your looking at a possible $300 surgery to remove the stones or a dead pig so I don't think it's worth the risk. If it was the only hay you could get then maybe if you watched their health very closely but if you already are feeding timothy and will have more timothy in the future I think they can live without their hay piles for awhile.

I know this may sound stupid but what is your 'local' hay? here we have
'Coastal Bermuda' and my gang loves it! I have 10 pigs and 2 chins. I can not afford pet store hay at all. I just bought abale from a feed store. It is so nice.

Most every supplier I have contacted has hay with a percentage of alfalfa in it. The majority is field grass.

I have removed the play hay piles from their cage. They ran around the cage several times looking for it, chattered, brrrred and then hid in their house.

I always put a large pile if hay in the bottom of their cage - this site actually recommends the practice on this link:
https://www.guineapigcages.com/toys.htm
(item number 5 in the list).
Sometimes I give them the hay in a paper bag or cardboard box to make it more interesting. I pull out the uneaten hay twice a day and replace it.

They do have a hay rack that always contains clean hay but all they have ever done with that in all the time I've had them is pull out as much hay as possible, spread it over the floor and then eat it or lie on it (or both).

Im also using hay as a top layer of bedding. I line the bottom of my cage with newspaper, top that with aspen shavings, and then top that with hay. The hay doesnt absorb, but ive noticed that most everything moves through the hay and absorbs down into the aspen and newspaper so the top layer of hay actually stays pretty clean/dry. Furthermore, the hay is very easy to grab up in handfuls and remove a couple times a week to replace with new hay. (i take the used hay and place it around the bottoms of my trees in the yard) It may not seem to serve much purpose, but my pigs love it... they prefer to bed in hay, and they love tunneling under it to play/sleep....and yes they nibble it too. The hay that i use for this purpose is local hay i buy from the farmers in my area. Its called Tifton 44, which i gather is a fancy name for a bermuda/field grass mixture. The best part is i can get a huge bale of it for 3.00 and it lasts forever! Ive been working on one bale of it for 4 mths now, and its only half gone. I buy Timothy hay in bags for their hay rack, and i buy bags of alfalfa to give my little ones a small portion each day.
IVe tried several different bedding combinations....yesterday news, carefresh, fleece etc and everything ive tried i either dont like or is too expensive for the size cages i have. The paper/aspen/hay combo is what i always revert back to. It just seems the most cost effecient, clean, and happy pig making solution i have found for us.

this lil piggy,
I don't even bother with pet store hay anymore and mine are healthy as can be. I see where your young ones need some alfalfa. You are right in it is Bermuda hay. Tift 44 was actually developed in Tifton, GA.
For those of you in the South, here is a great site for information on Bermuda hays. It says Bermuda grasses in GA but it covers AL, MS, LA, and TX hays.
(broken link removed)

The Timothy hay I had been giving my three girls is from Kaytee and I think it is pretty bad. There are so many long, stiff pieces in the bag and very little soft green strands. I discovered Bermuda grass at my local feed store and they love it! The strands are long and soft with no sharp, jagged pieces that could injure little eyes. I provide Timothy based pellets and lots af fresh veggies and fruit as well.

I order my hay from KM. It's as soft as I've ever found, and the pigs love it. My second stories are all haylofts, which I line with newspaper and dump each day.

They need piles of hay to play in and eat, so haylofts are a huge success.