Beet greens for guinea pigs?

capybara · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:27 pm

My husband and I belong to a local community supported agriculture program, and this week we got beets complete with the greens still attached. Does anyone know if beet greens are safe to feed piggies?

If not, does anyone have any good recipes? I hate throwing out food...

tcarey · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:47 pm

Mmmmm.....beet tops! I don't know if they are safe for piglets, but I'm sure others here will be able to tell you. If it turns out you need a recipe, my mother-in-law has a delicious beet green recipe I can get for you.

newwave_polly · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:48 pm

I've fed them beet tops before. I think they're similar to spinach and chard though, so I'd feed them in moderation only. I have one pig who really likes beet bottoms too.

JodiMN · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:02 pm

I can just imagine bright pink piggy lips after those. hehe

Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:37 pm

My pigs love beets, and their greens. They look like little vampires afterwards, with the red lips and red juice running down their necks. I don't feed the beets as often as the greens, however, because of the sugar content. I grow beets in my garden, just for my pigs.

Now that I think about it, 90% of my garden is for my pigs.

sillycavies · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:52 pm

I brought beet greens home once, and my Peruvian attacked them like he'd not eaten for a week.

zookeeper · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:58 pm

I grow yellow beets, my piggies get the greens and I get the roots. (Well, they get an occasional beet root too, spoiled little stinkers.)

99.999% of my garden is for the pigs.

Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:04 pm

Oh, I haven't tried any yellow beets. How do you prepare them?

purrie · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:32 pm

Mine love beet greens, but be prepared to see their urine turn reddish for a day or so.

zookeeper · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:14 pm

purrie, you must have those "bulls's blood" beets where the greens as well as the roots are red. When I grew red beets and fed the greens to my pigs, the greens had no effect on the color of their little poopies.

lisam, when I eat the yellow beets I just slice them up and then microwave them till they soften up a bit, and eat them plain. Some people put butter on them but I have never felt the need.

purrie · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:22 pm

I've never heard them called that, Zookeeper! I thought all red beets were the same.

ya learn somethin' every day.

Jenny T · Post » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:30 pm

Beet greens have a high Oxalic Acid content.