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Diet Could diet be causing dry, crumbly poos?

Red5Iam

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I'm not sure who is leaving them, but it appears to be most of the poos in the cage when I clean up. They tend to look normal, but when I try to sweep them they immediately crumble and break apart. Is that normal? I tend to notice this more in my evening clean up than in the morning, so everything I've been sweeping up tends to have been in the cage for a few hours.

I just want to make sure that there isn't something to be massively concerned by, OR that if it's a diet issue I can correct it. Their weights appear to be ok. Phantasm is about 9 months at 902g (+4 from last week), Harley is about 6 months at 748g (+20 from last week), and Ivy is about 6 months at 743g (+20 from last week). Everybody is eating normally, including hay, pellets & veggies.

I'll admit they aren't on good pellets, they're on Kaytee brand right now (no colored bits, though). I'm ordering either Oxbow or KMS this week, still trying to find the best price. They were on Kaytee hay for awhile, but are now on hay from the shelter, which looks to have come from a feed & tack store. I'm picking up a bale today from a place closer to me. As for veggies they are getting 3 cups of veg, split into AM & PM feedings, that include red/green leaf lettuce, cilantro, green/yellow bell pepper, cucumber, belgian endive/radicchio and mint/basil.
 

bpatters

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Dry crumbly poop usually indicates dehydration, although the poor quality pellets and hay could certainly be a major issue. How many water bottles do you have? Are they using them? You can also make sure the veggies are very wet when you feed them.
 

Red5Iam

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They have 2 water bottles, they use both but really favor one of them. Should I try getting a third? I'm not sure it would help except to distribute the drinking more?

I do soak their veggies most days but I'll try to make sure it's every day for a little bit, to see if that helps.

As far as the pellets & hay go, would you recommend one brand over another? After I went to the feed store this morning I didn't like the look of their Timothy, as it just looked too brown. Was thinking of Small Pet Select and trying their combo deals for hay and pellets. Would that be ok or should I stick with Oxbow/KMS for one or both?
 

PiggieWigglies

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They have 2 water bottles, they use both but really favor one of them. Should I try getting a third? I'm not sure it would help except to distribute the drinking more?

I do soak their veggies most days but I'll try to make sure it's every day for a little bit, to see if that helps.

As far as the pellets & hay go, would you recommend one brand over another? After I went to the feed store this morning I didn't like the look of their Timothy, as it just looked too brown. Was thinking of Small Pet Select and trying their combo deals for hay and pellets. Would that be ok or should I stick with Oxbow/KMS for one or both?
I order SPS and would highly recommend it. Its green, fresh, and smells great. My pigs like it. KMS has pretty good hay I heard too.
 

Artista

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I personally love KMS pellets. Smells delish and is fresh. It has a type of calcium in it that gives a pig less chance of possibly forming stones. If you see white urine spots, this is the pellets to go for for sure.

For hay, Small Pet Select is the bomb. I've tried many and SPS has more green and smells so fresh. I get the 3rd cut hay for Mooshy as she loves the softness. The 2nd cut is great too if you want stems and seed heads as well. If you're not sure which they will like, maybe start with 5 lbs of each to see. Turns out Mooshy doesn't like 2nd cut. I don't know why because she loves 1st cut which has even more stems in it. Weird Moosh.

Any non-bagged hay you get, you need to sort through it. Sometimes the debris in it is sharp as I have found, so I go through it before I give it to Moosh.
 

bpatters

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Oxbow, KMS and SPS are all very good for both hay and pellets. As [MENTION=27627]Artista[/MENTION] says, if your pigs are producing white spots where their urine dries, KMS pellets are the ones to try. Other than that, the hay is about the same from all three.
 

Red5Iam

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Great! Thank you every one! Looks like I'll be trying SPS for hay and KMS for pellets, just based on shipping I think? Will have to double check all of that. But thanks!
 

pigger123

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When I first got Pumpkin I was feeding her Oxbow pellets and hay. I just got my KMS pellets and bluegrass, and boy does she love those pellets! With Oxbow I would give her some in the morning and she would slowly eat them throughout the day. With KMS pellets, I have to split them into two feedings because she gobbles them up so fast and then demands more! I would highly recommend KMS pellets, but they are more expensive than Oxbow. As for the hay, I keep hearing amazing things about SPS. Unfortunately I'm allergic to timothy, so I had to order the bluegrass from KMS. It's still really nice hay, and she likes it fine, but she doesn't seem to love it. For where I live, KMS hay and SPS hay were about the same price.
 

bpatters

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KMS pellets are about the same price as Oxbow, not more expensive. To compare the two, you have the add the price of pellets plus shipping (UPS, not USPS) for KMS and get the price per pound. Then compare to the price per pound for Oxbow. I live 2000 miles from KMS, and the price of those pellets and Oxbow are usually within a nickel per pound of each other. Depending on shipping from KMS, sometimes they're a few cents cheaper, sometimes a few cents more. But never as much as a dime per pound difference.
 

Artista

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KMS's blue grass hay is nice. I give Mooshy American Diner's high fiber mini bale hay which is 1st cut (she LOVES the sticks and tons of seedheads along with coarser leaves), KMS blue grass, and SPS 3rd cut hay. Out of all 3, aside from the seed heads, SPS 3rd cut is the clear winner.
 

pigger123

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KMS pellets are about the same price as Oxbow, not more expensive. To compare the two, you have the add the price of pellets plus shipping (UPS, not USPS) for KMS and get the price per pound. Then compare to the price per pound for Oxbow. I live 2000 miles from KMS, and the price of those pellets and Oxbow are usually within a nickel per pound of each other. Depending on shipping from KMS, sometimes they're a few cents cheaper, sometimes a few cents more. But never as much as a dime per pound difference.

Right, it depends on where you live. I live on the east coast, and 10lbs of KMS pellets costs $29 counting shipping, whereas 10lbs of Oxbow costs $14. It's a pretty big difference for me.
 

bpatters

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I used to buy the 25 pound bags because the shipping was cheaper per pound.
 

Red5Iam

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I ordered both hay & pellets from KMS because it somehow worked out to be cheaper than splitting the order, even with free shipping from SPS. But I got 25lbs of hay and 10lbs of pellets. Wanted to not get too overboard with the pellets until I know the girls like them (though I'm sure they will). Biggest downside? I've been having some bad eye allergies lately where they are super red and itchy and today it occurred to me that it may be due to the Timothy hay, since the pigs live in my bedroom. UGH. Hopefully some OTC Claritin will help. It could also be some seasonal pollen, which has been a huge issue lately. We'll see! If it turns out to be a bigger issue than that, I'll probably try blue grass and see if that helps.

Anyway, I'm excited for the girls to get on some better hay and some better pellets next week!
 

Red5Iam

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Today was the first day with KMS hay & pellets, and so far I think my girls are into both! So that's at least a step in the right direction.

Sadly, there is still some dry poos laying around. I'm starting to wonder if my small ac unit might have more to do with it than dehydration? It's been pretty warm the last couple weeks, so I've been running a portable ac unit in my room during the hottest hours (the room stays about 75F, as opposed to the 97F that it was hitting). But maybe that's making the poos dry out faster in the open? I mostly started thinking this after turning over some while cleaning and finding that they were still wet on the lower half. Which would of course mean I was worried for nothing, but better safe than sorry, right?
 
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