General Hay Brands?

[jamielk92]

So I'm still on my first bag of hay.. I bought Oxbow because I heard it was the best (or one of the best), but the problem is that my piggies aren't eating half of it! There are a lot of tougher, thicker pieces (stems?), like about half the bag it seems, that they will not eat. They pick through and eat the softer pieces and then scatter the harder pieces all around their cage. I need to know if there is a brand of hay that is softer than Oxbow because not only am I wasting money on about half a bag of hay, but I can never tell when they really have enough hay because I can't tell how much they will and will not eat out of what I put in there. Sometimes the hay rack will be almost full, but with pieces they won't eat, so it's hard to know when they actually need more (tried to make that easy to understand haha).

Basically, I just need to know if there's a brand of hay with softer hay and less 'stems'. I've heard Kleenmama's is the other really good brand, is that one softer? Thank you!

 

[Piggypogs]

I would buy a bale of hay if you can and stuff it into a deckbox for easy access this would be best and they can eat all the hay possible and waste more because its sooo cheap to buy! My bale lasted about 2 years for two piggies

 

[Mastershroom]

There are different brands, but also different types of hay. Oxbow, KMS and Sweet Meadow are generally the highest quality brands. As for types, timothy hay is the most common, but also is usually thicker and tougher than other types. Orchard grass, bluegrass and meadow hay are softer, and also usually easier on allergies.

I've been feeding my pigs Oxbow orchard grass, and I just ordered some meadow hay from Sweet Meadow, so we'll see how that is.

 

[pinky]

I bought an approximately 30 lb. bale of grass hay from a local farmer this week. My guinea pigs are used to fresh boxed Oxbow Orchard Grass which is very green, soft and leafy. The grass hay I bought is green and fragrant but it also has thin stems in it. Surprisingly, my guinea pigs love it. It was a lot cheaper than boxed hay. I paid $7.50 for the bale, plus tax.

 

[jamielk92]

Is there a specific type that you're supposed to feed them (timothy, orchard, etc.)? I thought it was supposed to be timothy, but if it doesn't matter then I would definitely like to get a softer hay.

Piggypogs-Getting a bale from a from or something would make me nervous! Like it isn't as 'approved' for piggies? I'm probably just overly-safe when it comes to my piggies though! It's also not as much the price as it is not knowing if they have enough. When I come down in the morning all of the soft hay is gone and the rest spread around. I pack the hay rack as full as I can, but there's so much tough hay taking up space that they won't eat!

 

[jamielk92]

I would feel better with a bale of hay if I knew someone nearby that had gotten a bale from around here and had good luck with it!

 

[Thumper27]

I'd say orchard, or bluegrass, my boys love those, of course they also spread it around the cage (somebody please explain why I wasted a day making hay pouches lol) But I know for sure they eat enough too.

 

[Piggypogs]

Is there a specific type that you're supposed to feed them (timothy, orchard, etc.)? I thought it was supposed to be timothy, but if it doesn't matter then I would definitely like to get a softer hay.

Piggypogs-Getting a bale from a from or something would make me nervous! Like it isn't as 'approved' for piggies? I'm probably just overly-safe when it comes to my piggies though! It's also not as much the price as it is not knowing if they have enough. When I come down in the morning all of the soft hay is gone and the rest spread around. I pack the hay rack as full as I can, but there's so much tough hay taking up space that they won't eat!

The people i got it from was a family buissness amd they sold it right at the farm you should be able to get different cuts of of it such as the bigger tougher stuff and the fluffyer stuff i kinda thaught that hey a horse eats it all the time how will a piggie die from it? Its just timothy hay
And i also got a bag of horse treats carrot flavour i read the back and the ingrediants were pretty much the same as you get from pig food nothin stood out that would be bad for them so i triedmthem and my girls love them!! I know most people wouldnt take these 'risks' but hey when you dont have the money to buy all the best stuff from highend petstores just improvise as long as the piggies are happy, healthy, and well taken care of thats all that really matters its not what brand the hay is hay is hay no matter what you call it there are varieties but brand will not matter it was all grown on a fiend in dirt then harvested with machines.

This is just my opinion i cant afford all those luxury branded hays and my piggies are happy, healthy, and well taken care of!!

 

[Piggypogs]

If hay is approved for horses i dont see the difference in giving it to piggies hay is hay