Where to Order? question for the british cavvy owners.

[mandamoo]

I live in england, and would like to know where to buy some nice soft green hay for my guineapigs. The hay that they sell in pets at home, is dry and brown. Or if i go the the local pet shop, they sell meadow hay which is slightly green. I found some ready grass from the petstall on the market which is lovely and green.is that ok to feed to pigs? or should it be limited?

Also what brand of pellets can you recomend for me. I bought some exel burgess pellets for my pigs but they dont like it so i went out today and bought some excel with oregano and black currant to see if they like that one instead. Iv mixed it in with their other pellets and mixed food. so ill go and have a look at the end of the day to see whats left over.

 

[heatheryyyy]

Hi. I live in the countryside so I'm lucky that I can get it delivered from the farms around here, depending on where you live there may be farms you can try. It normally works out alot cheaper than store brought stuff. I feed my pigs Burgess Excel because I'm pretty sure that is the best we can get in England.

 

[mandamoo]

Hello heatheryyyy.
I live in lincolnshire, there are a few farms around me.How do u go about asking for hay ? do you just ring them up and ask ?
My mother in law has horses i suppose i could ask her where she buys her hay from.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Just like the oxbow organic isn't good for pigs, neither would the Excel with oregano and black currant. You need to stick with the plain one as oregano is best fed only a couple times per week and black currant is a fruit and fruits need to be limited. These types of feeds with added stuff like veggies and fruits are just a marketing ploy to get you to buy them.

As far as hay, do you have any horse stables or horse places near you? I'd call/ring them up and ask if they would be willing to sell some hay. Make sure it's grass hay and not alfalfa.

 

[SpacePig]

I give mine the plain burgess pellets and the slightley green-ish meadow hay. Ive just found a web site called thehayexperts.co.uk and so on monday will get a delivery of some proper green nice hay (I hope) and some cavy cuisine.

 

[heatheryyyy]

The farm I got my hay from were advertising it but I'm sure any farms near you wouldn't mind you ringing and asking, some even deliver to your door.

 

[Jojojo]

Sometimes my local P@H has small bags of timothy hay from a company called "Alfalfa King". It's fresh and green and my pigs love it, but I can't always get it and have to settle for Burgess Excel "Fresh Forage" instead, which is the greenest alternative I can find locally.
For pellets, I use Supa Guinea Excel, because they are plain. (Pigs tend to be picky when you get the muesli stuff).

 

[crazywiggy]

Hi, I'm in England too.

I use Oxbow as they are the best pellets available in the UK, and their hay is very good quality too. I get the "Oxbow Western Timothy" and it has always been green, soft and nice smelling.

I get my hay and pellets online from this site: Animal Husbandry Supplies, hygiene Disinfectants, Kennel cattery Supplies Products

They do a huge range of Oxbow products (various hays, both cavy cuisine and performance, etc). You can also add "Reading guinea pig rescue" to your basket when you shop and they will make a donation to them. I've used this site for a year or two now and they have been excellent - when they haven't had the size pack of hay I wanted they made me one up which actually meant I got more for my money. Great service.

 

[mandamoo]

Iv sent a text meaasge to my mother in law, asking her where she buys her hay from for her horses.Im just waiting for her to replay.It seems that my guineapigs don`t like the plain exel food, or the oregano and blackcurrant exel, so im goin to order some of the oxbow pellets from the site that was suggested.thank you all for your help.
Can anyone suggest what i should do if i can`t find a pellet food that my gp`s like.It seems that they are as fussy as my three year old when it comes to their food .lol

 

[Cogni]

Pellets are the smallest part of their diet. They will eventually eat the pellets you put in front of them day after day if they are good quality and fresh. So I would just go ahead and get a supply and feed them only those pellets (in addition to their hay and veg) until they get used to them.
They ARE rather like toddlers. They don't like changes in things like their pellets. I find they are also very sensitive as to freshness. I eat vegetables they won't because they are slightly, just slightly, not at the peak of freshness. I don't notice that so much in my own food--city born and bred-- but my husband sure does and he and the guinea pigs reject the same salad materials even when I think they are still fine to eat.

 

[DalesLass]

It would be a good idea to get your hay from the same farm as your Mother-in-law. If she has been a regular customer at the farm she will be able to get an extra bale for you.

Good quality hay is in very short supply in UK as we have had two wet summers; some farmers or agricultural/horse suppliers will not take on any 'new customers' at the moment out of loyalty to their existing customers as the hay is running out

Many people in UK use Readigrass for their pigs but as it's very short pieces the pigs cannot burrow underneath it. We sometimes use readigrass but only as an extra with their normal meadow hay. We also feed a lot of Haylage but that is only because the farm where we get our normal hay makes very dry meadow grass haylage. Pigs will not usually eat the very damp haylage (i.e. Marksway Horsehage) - and you need to share it with someone else as it only keeps a week after being opened

However, no shortage of hay will persuade me to pay £62 a bale from the HayExperts. If anyone could be accused of 'marketing ploys' !!!

The hay sold in Asda is quite good and I have bought this in the past in an emergency if I have not had time to get to the farm. The quality may vary in different parts of the country though.

 

[Cogni]

I heard it is snowing in England, and I guess grass is unlikely
to be growing yet. I know you need a supply of hay but I'd suggest these things in addition: Grow wheatgrass indoors. And when spring comes you can snip them a nice pile of fresh grass. Spring is starting where I live and the last few weeks I have been giving them nice piles of new spring growth grass. I cut it with a sharp scissors and wash it well and give it to them a little wet. They love it, although it is not the beautiful classic lawn grass you have in England. I think you don't have to treat lawns in England to make a beautiful green lawn. In the U.S. people struggle hard to make their lawns look like English lawns do naturally.

 

[DalesLass]

I heard it is snowing in England, and I guess grass is unlikely
to be growing yet.

That made me smile; no chance! The spring grass starts here around mid-April. In the south of the country in places like Devon & Cornwall there may be some in March. This is a particularly cold winter and so I hope we don't have to wait later than April.

The growing season is not so long, particularly in the far north. It always amazes me when USA people say 'should I feed second cut or third cut hay?'. Very few farmers here get more than one cut of hay.

Yes, we grow wheatgrass indoors and I would recommend it too. We have fed it as 'sprouted wheat' and also grown it in trays and cut it with scissors at 3-4 inches high.