Hay Can guinea pigs eat hay dust?

[advil zyrtec]

About 1/8 of my hay bag is hay dust, and I don't want to waste it. Is it possible for me to put the little bits and pieces of hay in a bowl for my piggies to eat?
Thanks

 

[bpatters]

I'd take it all out and sift it through a colander. The bits of hay are OK to give them, the dust is not.

I'm assuming you buy hay in small bags? That's by far the most expensive way to buy it, and you get the worst quality hay. Per pound, it's two to three times more expensive than hay bought online in larger quantities (40-60 pound boxes), and WAAAAY more expensive than buying it from a local farmer if you've got one.

 

[Saylavi]

For the hay dust: throw it in a blender with some bell peppers and 100% vitamin c tablets (just a couple) and blend until it’s the texture of gingerbread dough.

Make them onto tiny cookies on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 until firm

when they cool they will harden, and you will have homemade cookie treats! Store them in a dark place dry at room temperature.

 

[TrueColoursProd]

Here is something else to be aware of. Hay should NOT be stored in plastic bags - period. Ever. That dust in the bottom may well have mold spores in it, so before you go and try and encourage them to eat it or bake it into anything for them, smell it. If its moldy, it will have an acrid smell and smell musty and you want to get rid of it - pronto.

Farmers also suffer from what is called "farmers lung" or "hay lung". That is a result from working with hay as it is harvested and throwing bales down from the hay loft. feeding it every day, etc and breathing in that microscopic dust

That very fine dust that collects on the bottom of the bag is what causes irreversible lung damage in the older farmers when they breathe it in day in and day out

Think carefully before you go and feed that stuff. It can not only adversely and permanently affect the respiration for your piggies but also for you and your family if they churn it up in their cage and it becomes airborne