Diet Finding calcium deposits on fleece, what should I cut back on?

[HollyLeaf]

Hey friends, it's been a while since I've been active around here.

Anyway, I noticed today while sweeping the cage there are more white smears on my fleece than normal, and I'm a little concerned one (or more) of the girls is having bladder sludge (my bet is on Pansy). Their diet consists of:

1/4 cup oxbow pellets each a day
Red/green leaf lettuce
baby carrots
zucchini
green bell pepper
and the occasional cranberry or piece of Apple.

They get a cup of veggies each every day, half in the morning, half in the evening. The lettuce is always a staple, and then I switch out between carrots, pepper, and zucchini. Note they only get a carrot each once or twice a week. They each get one small cranberry once a week, so I doubt that's the issue. I was pretty sure the veggie selection I made was simple and the healthiest for them. They don't get too much variation like they used to because the stores around me do not carry the kinds of things that are actually good for them besides what I listed.

Anyway, should I cut back on any of these things, or just keep an eye on the girls to see if it gets better? Should I cut back on pellets maybe? It's possible I'm giving them a tad too much. They are all so young yet with healthy vet exams and they all act completely normal otherwise so I don't want to get too concerned yet.

On another note, any other good daily veggie ideas for them? I feel like I'm being a bit boring lately, but as I said, the stores just don't have cool vegetables. :/

 

[bpatters]

How old are the pigs? If they're less than six months, don't worry about it. They need calcium for their growing bones. You can adjust the diet when they get to that age.

If they're over, then you can worry about calcium in the diet. But what you're feeding them is low in calcium. Oxbow pellets have been known to cause sludge in some pigs, so that may be the problem. You could cut out the pellets for a few days and see if things improve.

Another thing to consider is your water. If it's hard, it may have a lot of calcium in it. If you're on a city water supply, you can find out from them what the percentage of calcium in the water is.

The bad news is that some pigs will have powder/sludge regardless of what you do. If that's the case, the best thing you can do is keep them well hydrated and keep them moving.

 

[HollyLeaf]

How old are the pigs? If they're less than six months, don't worry about it. They need calcium for their growing bones. You can adjust the diet when they get to that age.

If they're over, then you can worry about calcium in the diet. But what you're feeding them is low in calcium. Oxbow pellets have been known to cause sludge in some pigs, so that may be the problem. You could cut out the pellets for a few days and see if things improve.

Another thing to consider is your water. If it's hard, it may have a lot of calcium in it. If you're on a city water supply, you can find out from them what the percentage of calcium in the water is.

The bad news is that some pigs will have powder/sludge regardless of what you do. If that's the case, the best thing you can do is keep them well hydrated and keep them moving.

They are all older than 6 months now. I believe we have well water. It's never caused any issues before with any of our animals, pigs included. I'd have to guess its the pellets. As I said, I may be giving them too much. I'll try cutting back for a while. If it's pansy that's having the issue, which I think it's her because I noticed on Monday when I picked her up she had a glob of white grossness coming out her rump, then I think she gets plenty of exercise, more than the other two. I'll keep a closer eye on her. Hopefully it passes.

Thank you for your help.