Hay Which part is the most nutritious/best tasting?

[aislynn99]

I'm curious, because my boys go ballistic over the long, fuzzy heads on timothy hay. They have two different cuttings of timothy hay available at all times, both fresh and soft from a local farm, and while there aren't many heads on either kind, they still eat them heartily and seem to enjoy them. I was cleaning up around their cage today and came across an older bag of Kaytee that was chock full of headed pieces. I tossed them a few, and despite the stalks being dry and crunchy, they started bickering over them like they were the best thing ever! Even now they're snuffling around their cage looking for more.

Are the fuzzy heads (and please feel free to insert the technical term here, as Google has failed me) the better tasting portion of the hay stalk? Can anyone explain this mystery? Are my boys just weird? lol

 

[mari11]

Your boys are smart! Mine like the heads on pasture hay too - they're the seed portion so more nutrients and I'd guess a different taste. They prefer broccoli flowers over the leaves too, but not celery or lettuce flowers.

 

[SurfingPigs]

Some pigs love the seed heads (the fuzzy things), others will ignore them. My pigs are 50/50 on whether or not seed heads are the bees knee's.

Hay with lots of seed heads have lost much of their nutritional content and will have a higher abundance of indigestible proteins in it. Kaytee is normally first cut hay, which is why it is so stemmy and usually has lots of seed heads. Second and third cut timothy hays are cut earlier in the life cycle, when fewer indigestible proteins have been created by the plant, which is why these are softer cuts, have fewer seed heads, have more nutritional value, and have more moisture.

 

[mari11]

Sounds like a mix of first and third cut would suit my guys then, they love a big soft pile to burrow in and eat but love the seed heads too.

 

[aislynn99]

Re: Kaytee - Figures, and is yet another example of why they are crappy.

And it figures my boys like the "junk food" version of hay... I like junk food too! The apples didn't fall far from the tree on that point lol

 

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

One thing I have learned about hay is that as it matures it forms more lignin in the stalk part - to be able to hold up the ever heavier seed forming head.

The lignin is apparently where the immune system bugs park in the colon, so while a lot of it all the time is not good nor nutritious it is important for the immune system health.

Before cellulose in certain areas of grass becomes lignin later in life, it's value in the gut is to act as a water reservoir and parking space for good gut micro-organisms. But once it is lignin it no longer acts as a water reservoir, that job is only for cellulose.

There are digestible proteins in mature grass as well as indigestible proteins, and importantly there are mature complex carbohydrates/sugars that the body can use readily without health dangers of upsetting the lymph system which happens with new grasses which are high in immature sugars and have the effect of packing on "water" fat. Especially certain grasses which were selected to ensure the greatest dead weight of meat for the consumer market - the cuts that start out big and end up with lots of "water" in the pan and shrink to much less than they started out being. Rye is a classic weight gain grass and hay.

Not only are the seed heads packed with enzymes and nutrients they also have oils which are not overly abundant in the cavy diet. Maximus von Lichtenwalder devours some kinds of seed head and avoids others. We offer him every variety available out there to choose from.

So it depends what you want to offer them I guess, there are different stages to grass and hay that provide for different needs in the functioning body. I guess that is why in nature there are nearly always varieties of young new blades coming up while there are older mature seeding species next to them offering a natural selection.