Hay Can dried grass replace hay?

You need to find out what kind of grass it is. Every county in the U.S. has a county extension agent, and can help you identify the grass.

What you need is a grass with a long strand fiber in it. Timothy is one, others are meadow, blue, brome, and orchard. If your grass is has long strand fibers, it should be fine.

Wonderful! According to my dad, it's "either brome or young Timothy". However, he can sometimes be a little…clueless. For now, I'll feed it in addition to their hay, but once I can identify it for sure, it might be a good long-term substitute!

Should be good. Hay is just dried grass, anyway.

You can feed fresh grass, too. Just a little at a time to start with.

I do feed them fresh grass, every day. They love it

I know that fresh grass isn't a great substitute for hay, but dried long-strand grass could be. Next weekend, I plan on taking some pictures and trying to identify the grass. It'd be wonderful if I could just dry it myself every week or two.

Kenna18155 said:

I do feed them fresh grass, every day. They love it

I know that fresh grass isn't a great substitute for hay, but dried long-strand grass could be.

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Why dried is better than fresh?

As far as I'm aware grass and/or hay are both fine provided that you get them used to the fresh grass gradually. Fresh grass probably has better nutritional value but it's difficult to source it reliably in a large enough quantity, whilst ensuring it's not contaminated and that it's fresh (I think).

Hay is just dried grass, although not all grass can be dried to be hay. If you lived in Hawaii, or someplace with a year-round growing season, you could feed your pigs fresh grass all the time. But few of us live on the equator, so at least part of the year, we have to feed dried grass.

If you've got good, fresh grass, not contaminated with animal urine/feces, pesticides, pollution, and hasn't been recently fertilized, there's no reason not to feed it.

Two words of caution, though. One, start your pig on fresh grass in very small amounts, and work up a little at a time, or you'll have a bloated pig. Second, you need to figure out what kind of grass you're feeding and what the calcium content is. Some grass is very high in calcium, others not so much. You don't want to set your pig up for urinary tract stones.

In addition, it's no very practical to run outside and pick a ton of fresh grass every single day. It's easier for me to toss a large amount on the trampoline and let it dry for a few days, and then have enough for, like, a week.

Okay, so we are talking about convenience, not that dried grass (hay) is better than fresh. I thought, that fresh is always best. I had some weed grass in my garden and gave them -they loved it. I gave it with variety of greens, but they picked grass first.

I don't think fresh or dried makes much difference. Hay doesn't lose any appreciable nutritional value for two years after it's harvested.

In my opinion, my pigs will eat more grass than they will hay. Don't know why. Taste, perhaps? So for me, it's a combination of convenience, ease of storage (grass gets floppy quick), and amount eaten that I would choose dried grass/hay over fresh grass. But my pigs will get fresh grass every day or two just because they like it, and if you want to feed your pigs fresh grass, go for it. (Just make sure it's the right kind, as @bpatters mentions above.)

I don't have enough of fresh grass, but if I would have enough of right kind I certainly would. At least I can feed them greens from my garden - they love it and it doesn't cost, and they get huge variety. I have this philosophy, that it is best to eat as much variety as possible in terms of greens, fruits, and vegies. For people and for piggies. All plants have alkaloids, which means it is best to eat variety to avoid having too much of any kind building up. And of course, variety of nutrients is great too.

I just bought some lawn grass seeds/seed, and I wanted to confirm that it will be ok for them to eat before I plant it. I am thinking that it should be, as I don’t think many people would check what type of grass is on their lawn before they feed it to their piggies, so I’m guessing most lawn grass is OK..?

Here is the list of what types of grass is in it:

• Annual Ryegrass - Quick germination

• Perennial Ryegrass - Tough, hard-wearing and drought tolerant

• Kentucky Bluegrass - Dark green and repairs bare patches

• Creeping Red Fescue - Shade tolerant and fine leaf

• Unhulled Couch - Drought tolerant and hard wearing

Here is a picture of it:

I hope it is edible, though I don’t see why it shouldn’t be
Unless one of the grass types is toxic, it should be OK, as I am going to be growing it in a tray inside where no bugs etc can get to it, and obviously no pesticides etc.

I am wondering that too. I am thinking about buying some wheat berries or barley or oats from bulk bin in food store, and sprouting them for my piggies. Maybe even let them "pick" it themeselves from the pot.

Hi

Would anyone be able to tell me if the grass I posted about previously is OK? I really want to plant it, but need to know if it’s alright before I open it, so that I can return it if need be...

Thanks!

Also, following what @Easefirst said, are the barley/oats seed grass ok? I know that wheatgrass is loved my most piggies...

The grasses look okay. There are issues with a certain type of systemic fungus (Acremonium coenophialum) that is sometimes found in tall fescue causing of issues in cattle (fescue toxicosis), but creeping red is not a tall fescue so I don't think that would be a problem.

Oat grass is okay, my guinea pigs have only ever been fed oaten hay as that is the best hay I can get in my area. Oaten hay is simply a crop of oats that is harvested early for hay instead of being allow to fully develop for grain.

Thanks so much!! I will hopefully be able to plant it after school tomorrow, as I have a tray and some seed raising mix already. Again, thank you so much for your reply!

According to the extension agent, the grass is a mix of orchard grass and "maybe cheat or chess". I'm pretty sure that those are types of brome... So would they be acceptable?

Theres also a so a chance that some clover hay is mixed in. However, I'm only picking the long pieces and I think it grows shorter, so I should be OK.

If that's all good, I'll probably offer 50% dried grass and 50% SPS Timothy. That will save money on my part, but I won't have to worry about picking huge amounts each week.

They are bromes, and they can be fed.

Just be aware that brome is a lower quality hay than timothy, so keep an eye on their weights and the quality of their coats. You might have to go to different brome/timothy mix to keep things normal.