Hay what kind of hay?

[ggpigs]

So,I asked dad is he would buy me some hay.He said ya.I have two10 month old boars named Larry and Mo.What kind of hay do they need? Timothy or Alfalfa?

 

[Gforcepiggies]

I'd go with Timothy. Alfalfa is for younger pigs.

 

[ggpigs]

How do you know if hay is good enough?

 

[Gforcepiggies]

Fresher the better. Like from a local farm. But if push comes to shove, Petco or another local pet store would probably have the OK hay.

 

[MissJean]

Green and leafy with a fresh smell! You can also buy large quantities for a decent price on kmshayloft.com

 

[lifesvr7]

Did you just get these guinea pigs? Have they never had hay before? Just wondering because it is very important that they have access to unlimited amounts of hay at all times.

 

[bpatters]

They need timothy or another long strand grass hay -- meadow grass, bluegrass, orchard grass or brome. Alfalfa is way too high in calcium for adult pigs.

Ditto the recommendation about hay at all times -- you're just setting yourself and your pigs up for expensive dental problems if you don't keep hay in their cage all the time.

 

[ggpigs]

Thank you guys.@lifesvr7,I have had these pigs since they were two months old,so I had them for 8 months.Yes,they have had hay before.But I am not sure what kind it was.

 

[lifesvr7]

Thank you guys.@lifesvr7,I have had these pigs since they were two months old,so I had them for 8 months.Yes,they have had hay before.But I am not sure what kind it was.

Ok. Just please make sure they have an unlimited supply at all times to you can avoid costly and difficult tummy and teeth issues.

 

[Kristine]

My only advice is to stay away from Kaytee brand. We've found a lot of foxtail in it and once even had to make a emergency vet visit when a piece of foxtail got lodged behind Zeus's eye! Poor piggy had a horribly scratched cornea as a result. Our local feed store carries a better selection of decent hay than the bigger chain stores in the area.

 

[Agrimony]

I recently started ordering online from sweet meadows and my boys are crazy about it, and I have saved a lot of money. timothy is the go to variety but there are other safe varieties as well. I think you will find Timothy the easiest to get however since it is so common. If he's getting it from a petstore I'd recommend oxbow brand if they have it. If they only have Kaytee though its not the end of the world, while I wouldn't recommend it poor quality hay is better than no hay at all! They need it at all times.

 

[Rayven105]

Crap! I just bought Kaytee brand alfalfa hay. What does foxtail look like so I can check the hay?

 

[ggpigs]

Are you kidding me? When I first joined this forum,everybody said Kaytee was one of the best hays out their! What DOES foxtail look like? And how would it get in the hay?

 

[Paula]

I really can't recall any time when Kaytee hay was suggested to be one of the best hays, although I will say that hay is generally hay and as long as it's green and fragrant it's fine. Kaytee is generally overpriced, especially when you consider what you can get at a feed store by the bale, which is generally considered better because it's usually fresher and locally grown and hasn't been sitting on a store shelf for months.

Kaytee brand food is quite generally substandard so definitely steer clear of it, but if Kaytee hay is all you can get, you definitely need to be giving hay on a 24/7 basis.

 

[ggpigs]

Thank you,Paula.Do you know if there are any Farmer's Markets near Brighton,Colorado?

 

[Paula]

I don't actually but I bet you could just do a web search to find feed stores and/or farmer's markets. I discovered that my state has a website that lists individual sites for every farmer's market in the state and feed store information should be just as easy to track down.

 

[ggpigs]

Thank you,Paula.I'll do that.Tell all you guys later when I find somethin'!

 

[Kellyvs1013]

I couldn't agree more!!! I found grasshoppers in the Kaytee brand, they were all flattened and I found at least 3 of them. I buy oxbow now and my pig loves it.

 

[Piglicious]

if kaytee is all someone can get fine. but if you can get something else do so...their is usually yellow and always thick stemmy stuff that none of the pigs i have had wont do more then sniff at. plus kaytee runs and owns animal mills that supply animals for pet stores.


so check your local farm and feed store or if you can order from sweet meadow, oxbow, or kleenmama's

 

[ggpigs]

Ya,I am totallly going with Oxbow! Can you buy that at Petsmart,or Petco?