Hay Where can I buy good quality hay?

[Stephanie12]

I live in Bristol, CT and I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get hay for my new pigs. I would prefer not to have to buy online or crappy pet store hay. A quick Google search shows that they sell hay at the tractor supply near me. Would that be good hay? It says it is second cut Timothy hay 50lb grab and go compressed bale. They also have an alfalfa version. My Guinea pigs are 6-8 week and about 3-5 months so from my understanding they need alfalfa. Should I buy 3 lb bags of alfalfa until they are 6 months old or just alfalfa pellets and Timothy hay? Also would it be bad if the older pig eats the alfalfa until the younger pig is old enough to switch over to Timothy? Even if a separate the food they are likley to share.

 

[jaycriae]

Second cut timothy hay is great. I'd go with buying some alfalfa and feeding that in addition to the timothy hay until they're a little older, and feeding timothy-based pellets, though you could probably do it either way. The 3-5 month old pig should be fine eating some alfalfa here and there, that's still pretty young.

 

[Stephanie12]

Second cut timothy hay is great. I'd go with buying some alfalfa and feeding that in addition to the timothy hay until they're a little older, and feeding timothy-based pellets, though you could probably do it either way. The 3-5 month old pig should be fine eating some alfalfa here and there, that's still pretty young.

So the tractor supply hay would be fine? I've read that it's best to get farm fresh hay but I don't even know where to start to find farms that sell hay lol.

 

[koalamissy]

So the tractor supply hay would be fine? I've read that it's best to get farm fresh hay but I don't even know where to start to find farms that sell hay lol.

I thought you had found a tractor supply place near you that has the 50lb bale of second cut Timothy hay? If you are skeptical about using that hay, you can try going on the Oxbow website and find a store near you that sells the Oxbow hay and pellets. I think I remember reading on here somewhere that Petco sells the Oxbow products. A number of people on here use the Oxbow brand and have no problems with it. I prefer to have mine delivered literally to my front door. This way I don't have to lift it at all. The mail people leave it on my enclosed porch so I don't even have to get it up those few steps, just one step into my house from the porch and I'm done. But that's me. If I were ever in a situation where I would run out, I'd go on the Oxbow website and see where they sell their products near me and use that in the meantime.

 

[bpatters]

Pigs don't NEED alfalfa hay. What they NEED is extra calcium when they're young. You can adequately satisfy that requirement by feeding them all timothy hay and timothy pellets, and taking the young ones out of the cage every day for some parsley sprigs.

You can't get farm fresh hay even on a farm at some times of the year. Hay is harvested in the summer and early fall, and the rest of the year it's been sitting around in a field or a barn, no matter who sells it. It doesn't start to lose nutritional quality for a couple of years.

Just check the Tractor Supply hay to make sure it's green and dry. I haven't had good luck with TS hay, but that may be because I live in Texas and the hay quality here is pretty bad because of the hot weather. Sweet Meadow Farms isn't too far from you, so shipping from them might be reasonable. Other online options in your area would be Small Pet Select and American Pet Diner. They both have excellent hay.

 

[Stephanie12]

(broken link removed)
This is the hay I was talking about at my Tractor supply. I was actually doing some research since posting last night about supplementing calcium through veggies such as arugala, spinach, and parsley. Are there any other veggies I should use? Would I add these to their regular veggies or strictly use high calcium viggies

 

[koalamissy]

Does anyone know what this part of the hay is called? My two girls just crack me up!! I started feeding them those things after I put their hay in the cage and now they won't touch the hay unless I feed them to the first! LOL!! They will just stand there and wait or climb and stand up on the side of the cage if I don't start with these. I'll feed a couple to each and then they dive right into the hay!! They just make me laugh every day!!


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[lunarminx]

Does anyone know what this part of the hay is called? My two girls just crack me up!! I started feeding them those things after I put their hay in the cage and now they won't touch the hay unless I feed them to the first! LOL!! They will just stand there and wait or climb and stand up on the side of the cage if I don't start with these. I'll feed a couple to each and then they dive right into the hay!! They just make me laugh every day!!


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Seedheads are a treat to the piggies. If you get second cut, you will get a good bit out of it, pick some out as a treat. I rarely get any as I get 3rd cut but I am moving back to second cut once this box is gone.

They make a nice training treat.

 

[bpatters]

Feed high calcium veggies in addition to their regular veggies, not instead of. And go pretty easy on things like spinach and kale, because they're also very high in oxalates as well as calcium.

 

[Stephanie12]

Feed high calcium veggies in addition to their regular veggies, not instead of. And go pretty easy on things like spinach and kale, because they're also very high in oxalates as well as calcium.

What are some high calcium veggies that I can feed dail? I want to have a few options just in case my piggies are picky and just for variety in there diet.

 

[bpatters]

On another thread, I posted two links with information for you to read, and you said you read it.

But in those links there was a vegetable chart with all the information you'd ever need about veggies and the amount of nutrients in them. Please look at it.

 

[Stephanie12]

On another thread, I posted two links with information for you to read, and you said you read it.

But in those links there was a vegetable chart with all the information you'd ever need about veggies and the amount of nutrients in them. Please look at it.

I did read them lol what I meant was that most of the veggies with high calcium aren't recommended for daily feeding. My question is how do I get around that?

 

[bpatters]

They're not recommended for daily feeding for pigs without extra calcium needs. If your pigs needs more calcium, feed the high calcium veggies.

 

[Stephanie12]

They're not recommended for daily feeding for pigs without extra calcium needs. If your pigs needs more calcium, feed the high calcium veggies.

About how much calcium do they need at this age?

 

[bpatters]

It's not an exact science, because you never know exactly how much calcium is in the veggies. Just give them all a sprig or two of parsley until they're six months old.

 

[JellyBelly33]

I use the tractor supply hay and I like it, the only thing that sucks is the hay is compressed making it difficult to pull out and put in my pigs hay bag. On the other hand 50 pounds of hay for $15 makes it worth it!

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

Does anyone know what this part of the hay is called? My two girls just crack me up!! I started feeding them those things after I put their hay in the cage and now they won't touch the hay unless I feed them to the first! LOL!! They will just stand there and wait or climb and stand up on the side of the cage if I don't start with these. I'll feed a couple to each and then they dive right into the hay!! They just make me laugh every day!!


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Be careful of Internet Explorer. If you order hay using Internet Explorer it will take 2 years to ship. I am writing this in 1997 using Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. I hope this post gets here soon.

 

[bpatters]

You've got a huge misunderstanding about what Internet Explorer does. It has nothing whatsoever to do with when your hay ships or how fast anything gets posted.

 

[koalamissy]

Be careful of Internet Explorer. If you order hay using Internet Explorer it will take 2 years to ship. I am writing this in 1997 using Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. I hope this post gets here soon.

I use internet explorer at my job and ordered my first shipment of hay and pellets and had it in like 3 days. I used my phone and searched for Small Pet Select using Google, found their site, ordered more hay and pellets and got it in like 5 days, which was about 5 days before I ran out of my first batch of hay. Have never had a problem when ordering anything over the Internet using I.E.


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[Stephanie12]

I use the tractor supply hay and I like it, the only thing that sucks is the hay is compressed making it difficult to pull out and put in my pigs hay bag. On the other hand 50 pounds of hay for $15 makes it worth it!

My thought exactly especially considering the over priced, crappy hay they sell at my local pet stores. I'm planning on storing it in my attack and bringing down a container to refill as needed hopefully if will have time to fluff back up by the time I need it.