Can I give my pigs fresh grass instead of hay?
I ran out of hay about 3 days ago and have been feeding them freshly pulled grass from my front yard. They seem to love it and I cant find anything on the web that tells me it's a bad idea, unless I use bug spray or fertilizer on our front yard, which I don't.
I'm planning on making a trip to the pet supply shop tomorrow first thing to stock up on more hay, I was just looking for some feedback on the pros and cons of feeding my boys grass instead of hay for the past few day!
~*~ Back story to my pigs since this is my first post on this lovely website: I have 2 2month old guinea pigs, adopted from the Austin Guinea Pig Rescue about a month ago. Their mother along with a few other piggies were found in a box by a dumpster. Along with their mother, another female was pregnant. When my boys were born one of them, L. Ron had an eye infection as was treated right away by the AGPR. His brother Aliester was born healthy and happy, as they are now :) ~*~
I look forward to being a part of this forum, ive already found a lot of great information because of it!
I'm planning on making a trip to the pet supply shop tomorrow first thing to stock up on more hay, I was just looking for some feedback on the pros and cons of feeding my boys grass instead of hay for the past few day!
~*~ Back story to my pigs since this is my first post on this lovely website: I have 2 2month old guinea pigs, adopted from the Austin Guinea Pig Rescue about a month ago. Their mother along with a few other piggies were found in a box by a dumpster. Along with their mother, another female was pregnant. When my boys were born one of them, L. Ron had an eye infection as was treated right away by the AGPR. His brother Aliester was born healthy and happy, as they are now :) ~*~
I look forward to being a part of this forum, ive already found a lot of great information because of it!
- Bethie
- Still supporting in 2014
Make sure other animals aren't fouling where you're getting grass.
I'm not an expert, but a think a few days of grass instead of hay won't hurt them. But I wouldn't cut hay out completely. Most lawn grasses are probably too soft to wear the molars down. Corn husks and wheat grass would probably be better options.
(My boys always got cross when there wasn't enough growth to have fresh grass in the winter. Or it was too cold or wet for me to bother. Stink eye abounded when they got 'lettuce again.')
I'm not an expert, but a think a few days of grass instead of hay won't hurt them. But I wouldn't cut hay out completely. Most lawn grasses are probably too soft to wear the molars down. Corn husks and wheat grass would probably be better options.
(My boys always got cross when there wasn't enough growth to have fresh grass in the winter. Or it was too cold or wet for me to bother. Stink eye abounded when they got 'lettuce again.')
Actually, fresh grass is just as good, if not better, for grinding down the teeth. One problem is making sure they have enough of it. Pigs who haven't had much grass before can have some digestive upset with so much grass suddenly.
It's the silica content of grass and hay that keeps the molars ground down.
It's the silica content of grass and hay that keeps the molars ground down.
- karalianne
- Supporter in '12
I didn't have any problems all summer with diarrhea with any of the boys, and they were all on grass all summer.
Of course, we're talking tall grass for the most part, not lawn grass.
I topped them up with about the same amount of grass as I would have given them hay, and they always ate every single blade (not the stemmy bits, though).
I started slow in the spring with just a few handfuls a day, what with new grass being richer than older grass. And then as the grass got taller, I gave more and more.
Others may not have the same experience, though, as we have an acreage and I was "harvesting" every day from over near the barn... (we don't have any livestock, just some ravens, pigeons, blackbirds, and swallows that live in the barn; I was careful not to give them anything that had animal waste on it)
When you think about it, grass is just REALLY fresh hay. Timothy hay is grass hay, after all, and orchard hay is also grass hay.
Of course, we're talking tall grass for the most part, not lawn grass.
I topped them up with about the same amount of grass as I would have given them hay, and they always ate every single blade (not the stemmy bits, though).
I started slow in the spring with just a few handfuls a day, what with new grass being richer than older grass. And then as the grass got taller, I gave more and more.
Others may not have the same experience, though, as we have an acreage and I was "harvesting" every day from over near the barn... (we don't have any livestock, just some ravens, pigeons, blackbirds, and swallows that live in the barn; I was careful not to give them anything that had animal waste on it)
When you think about it, grass is just REALLY fresh hay. Timothy hay is grass hay, after all, and orchard hay is also grass hay.
We've had multiply guinea pigs, whom we have never fed timothy (or any other) hay. Instead, we have always given them fresh grass, fruits, and veggies, and almost every single one of them has lived to be 10 years or older.
This is very interesting. We bought a whole tray of wheat grass recently and a few days in our guinea pig LOVES it. She could literally be parked in front of it all day. So if she grazes on fresh grass all day and hay after 6pm that would be ok?