Non-Pellet Diet

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:53 am


I do ration their pellets, but they get just as excited about the pellets as they do veggies.
Mine too!

Unless you had a specific problem I would think it's much easier to feed limited amounts of pellets. I think I would find it pretty hard - and extremely expensive - to work out if my pigs were getting the proper nutritional balance in veggies alone.

And the price of veggies here is through the roof! Just feeding (generously) daily veggies is a big expense here.

Brandilynn
Who's your Branni?

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:13 am


Chunkypiggies also had a pellettless diet for beasts, I think.

milly
Supporting the Bored

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:44 am


I didn't realise pellets were supposed to be rationed. From what age should they be rationed?

User avatar
rshevin

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:46 am


I think when you switch them to adult food from alfalfa, maybe between 9 and 12 months?

milly
Supporting the Bored

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:52 am


Ok thanks.

User avatar
arnoldthepig

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:55 am


FWIW The vet I use has done fine by me and he says either or both will keep the teeth ground down. He also said they won't overeat no matter what you feed them. He also says if they will chew on wood that will help with the teeth but it is not necessary. Mine don't chew on the wood I provide and their teeth are fine according to Dr. Bob. My little family will eat a bale of hay a day and two tablespoons of pellets but I still won't pull the pellets. I suppose that the fact that it is their only source of alfalfa is the main reason but they seem to enjoy sitting in the dish.......lol.

User avatar
ellissian

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:19 pm


If pigs dont over eat, how come some are fatter than others?

I have 2 almost adult females who are fed completely the same food. One weighs 830g and the other weighs 1100g.

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PiggieMamma
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:38 pm


He also said they won't overeat no matter what you feed them. He also says if they will chew on wood that will help with the teeth
Hmm, maybe someone else could comment on whether or not pigs can overeat. Mine will eat and eat until all the veggies are gone - I'd be inclined to think they would overeat.

I've never had a guinea pig chew on wood. If you provide unlimited hay - they usually don't have much use for other things (besides, maybe cardboard). They really aren't chewers in the way the other rodents are. But then, I have a mouse - and have yet to see him chew wood either.

I think maybe I was misunderstood - my pigs eat copious amounts of hay. They have hay racks and hay boxes and toilet paper tubes full of the stuff (Kleenmamas). I'm just trying to be proactive in preventing teeth issues in the future.

I think Mum's right - it'd be awfully hard for me to provide all that they need myself. They do get a variety of veggies twice daily, but it's hard to calculate just how much of a vitamin is present in any given vegetable.

I think I might just further ration their pellets (at least the healthy boys).

Thanks everyone for your comments!

User avatar
NoCableisSafe

Post   » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:47 pm


I was just about to post a similar thread :) You beat me to it!

pinta

Post   » Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:37 pm


WEAVER - It's the quality of the fibre that keeps the molars worn down. The constant grinding back and forth to masticate the hay enough to swallow is what planes the molars. Not the pellets which begin to dissolve when in contact with saliva. Dr. Legendre does not recommend hay cubes because much of the mastication has already been done to compress the hay into cubes.

Pellets aren't hard enough to wear down the molars. A pig full from pellets is not going to go to a lot of effort of power chewing on hay to fill the stomach. A pig whose stomach is filled only by hay gets one heck of a workout on the molars and the jaw muscles preventing TMJ in the future.

Definitely pigs can overeat - obese pigs do not do well with sedation for major surgery such as spays. And if they don't get enough exercise they get fat just like humans. Overeating is not a big problem for them but their systems were expressly designed to live on a diet of low nutrition forage grasses that forces them to graze continuously to get the nutrition they need to maintain. The continually pooping is proof of the special way they are designed. The food moves through quickly making room for more. The eating of the special poops is more proof. They eat them to wring the last bit on nutrition from the grasses and hay and to get vitamin B.

The greatest risk a pig faces from not eating enough hay is malocclusion caused by TMJ.

Chewing on a wood block is pointless. This will only control the incisors unless the pig grinds the wood with molars. This is a hamster thing - not a pig thing. It's the molars that usually control the incisors - If they overgrow they prop the mouth open allowing the incisors to overgrow to make contact.

Pellets should be treated as an augmentation to a primary hay diet.

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