Hay Is it too late to feed my pigs' alfalfa hay?

[Ilovemypiggies1]

My 2 sows are around 6-7 months old and i never knew that young piggies were supposed to get alfalfa until i found this site..is it too late to feed them alfalfa? Would it hurt them in any way if i just fed them timothy? I hope these questions aren't too silly...thanks for your answers.

 

[starshine123102]

No you don't need to start feeding them alfalfa. They shoudn't have been harmed by the lack of it as long as you were getting enough calcium from their veggies.

Alfalfa isn't so much a requirement as it is a supplement for them. They should always have a constant supply of grass hay though (timothy, orchard grass, blue grass, brome etc.)

 

[Ilovemypiggies1]

Okay, thank you so much. I have been feeding them Parsley which i believe has high calcium. The reason why i asked this is because i have so much Timothy hay available for them and it would be a pain to buy even more hay. (Alfalfa)

 

[Peggysu]

You can give them alfalfa as a treat every now and then but I'm sure they would rather have the parsley instead. I know mine would.

 

[Ilovemypiggies1]

So, if i buy some Alfalfa hay and mix it with the Timothy every now and then they will be fine? I just don't want them to get calcium deficiency if they can or get sick because of lack of calcium. I feed them Parsley 2-4 times a week which i heard is high in calcium also.

 

[starshine123102]

It's not essential to give them alfalfa if you give them a few high calcium veggies during the week. Parsley, Swiss Chard, Kale, Mustard greens among others are all good calcium sources.

I'm sure your piggies are fine even though they didn't get alfalfa as babies so long as they had a good varied veggie diet. Just because a veggie isn't "high calcium" doesn't mean they never got any if parsley was the only "calcium veggie" you gave them.

 

[Ilovemypiggies1]

Ok, well good news. I found the receipt for the big bag of Kaytee Timothy hay i bought from Petco and i'm going to go buy the Oxbow Alfalfa hay from a different store. Goodbye Kaytee hay, a few days ago i bought Oxbow pellets and they seems to like them so much more than the bad Kaytee stuff. Not only that, Oxbow is so much better for the piggies which i am happy about.

 

[gooberific]

Ok, well good news. I found the receipt for the big bag of Kaytee Timothy hay i bought from Petco and i'm going to go buy the Oxbow Alfalfa hay from a different store. Goodbye Kaytee hay, a few days ago i bought Oxbow pellets and they seems to like them so much more than the bad Kaytee stuff. Not only that, Oxbow is so much better for the piggies which i am happy about.

For a treat, why don't you try the oxbow orchard grass instead of the alfalfa? Your pigs really don't need the alfalfa now that they're older, especially if you give them the parsley. In fact, too much calcium can cause bladder and urinary problems. Orchard grass is another type of grass hay, but it's sweeter than timothy and in our house goes fast like ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

If you are giving a good variety of veggies during the week, you don't need alfalfa and you don't need to give extra parsley 4 times a week. Pretty much all veggies have calcium in them. If you give too much, your pigs will end up developing bladder stones or sludge down the road.

I would not feed your pigs alfalfa at this point.