Can piggies only eat orchard hay?

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Kancil

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Hi guys, recently I’ve tried orchard hay for my piggies since they were very picky with the timothy. They loved it so much. The would eat like 1/4 or 1/5 of their timothy but would absolutely devour the orchard hay.

Is it okay for me just to feed my piggies orchard grass? Or do I still need to include timothy somehow? I feel like using the timothy is so wasteful since they barely touched it.

I also checked whether it’s their teeth that cause them to prefer the softer orchard rather than timothy but my vet says that their teeth looks good and not overgrown.

Thank you guys!
 
It’s fine, I’ve fed orchard hay exclusively for a few years as it’s the one I'm not allergic too!
 
I have been feeding orchard hay to my piggies for years. I'm allergic to timothy hay so I can't have that in the house at all.
 
Any grass hay is absolutely fine.
Mine eat orchard. They get meadow as well but that is mainly used as a bedding (although they will obviously eat some of that also)
 
Yes, as long a it's good hay, it's all good. I generally get meadow hay for mine, because the Timothy hay you can get locally isn't very good.
 
I was told at the pet shop not to feed Timothy hay because it's long and can get in the eyes, but I see specialist suppliers offering Tomothy and other long varieties especially for guineas. I have to say, my boys both prefer the longer varieties and will ignore what the pet shop recommended if something else is on offer. Can anyone tell me what hay I'm OK to give my little wheekie
boys?
 
Tonisita said:
I was told at the pet shop not to feed Timothy hay because it's long and can get in the eyes, but I see specialist suppliers offering Tomothy and other long varieties especially for guineas. I have to say, my boys both prefer the longer varieties and will ignore what the pet shop recommended if something else is on offer. Can anyone tell me what hay I'm OK to give my little wheekie
boys?
Click to expand...

Not all advice from pet shops is good advice!
Any hay can be long strands and any hay can pose a haypoke risk, even soft hay!

Any grass hay is absolutely fine - Timothy, meadow and orchard are the most commonly fed.

Mine are fed and bedded on bales of meadow hay from a local farm and orchard hay from happy hay Co.
(They used to get soft Timothy from haybox but long story short I stopped using haybox and happy hay don’t do a soft Timothy, neither my rabbits nor piggies like the stalky Timothy, so instead they now have the orchard and actually they seem to prefer it).

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
 
My pair will eat orchard hay but what they really like is timothy, as stalky and stabby as possible. Thankfully I seem to get worse stab wounds out of it than they do, and I put up with the hay poke risk because that's what they'll eat. They won't touch soft hay, not to bed down in and definitely not to eat in.

Meadow, timothy, orchard, rye - if it's a grass hay and they'll eat it, let them eat it.
 
My boys switch between the orchard hay and timothy hay. My boys love eating, so they are fine with both.
 
Mine have p@h Timothy and meadow mix with the occasional treat hay. They are not fussy about it. Oh once bought the cheap Timothy only by mistake and they didn't care. Whatever it is they go nuts when it's refill time. I am lucky as it looks like they both close their eyes when they burrow in it.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Not all advice from pet shops is good advice!
Any hay can be long strands and any hay can pose a haypoke risk, even soft hay!

Any grass hay is absolutely fine - Timothy, meadow and orchard are the most commonly fed.

Mine are fed and bedded on bales of meadow hay from a local farm and orchard hay from happy hay Co.
(They used to get soft Timothy from haybox but long story short I stopped using haybox and happy hay don’t do a soft Timothy, neither my rabbits nor piggies like the stalky Timothy, so instead they now have the orchard and actually they seem to prefer it).

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
Click to expand...
That's really helpful, thanks. Assistant's at Two branches of a chain pet store said no Timothy but gave me a different kind that looks like grass clippings. Meanwhile, I ordered a taster box of Timothy and 2 other similar hays online and Pickle and Smudge DEFINITELY prefer them but I was concerned I was being a bad Guinea Mum. Now I will give them what they prefer with a clear conscience!
 
Tonisita said:
That's really helpful, thanks. Assistant's at Two branches of a chain pet store said no Timothy but gave me a different kind that looks like grass clippings. Meanwhile, I ordered a taster box of Timothy and 2 other similar hays online and Pickle and Smudge DEFINITELY prefer them but I was concerned I was being a bad Guinea Mum. Now I will give them what they prefer with a clear conscience!
Click to expand...

You certainly aren’t being a bad guinea mum, you’re just been given bad advice by the shops - not your fault

What was the one that looked like grass clippings? (Just curious)
 
There is definitely some conflicting advice around, especially online. I just watched a guinea pig "expert" saying that they don't yawn! Just by checking information on here you are a good mum 😇
 
Kancil said:
Hi guys, recently I’ve tried orchard hay for my piggies since they were very picky with the timothy. They loved it so much. The would eat like 1/4 or 1/5 of their timothy but would absolutely devour the orchard hay.

Is it okay for me just to feed my piggies orchard grass? Or do I still need to include timothy somehow? I feel like using the timothy is so wasteful since they barely touched it.

I also checked whether it’s their teeth that cause them to prefer the softer orchard rather than timothy but my vet says that their teeth looks good and not overgrown.

Thank you guys!
Click to expand...

Hi

I have always only ever fed meadow hay to my piggies for half a century. Never had any problems with dental overgrowth apart from a couple of root abscesses in coming up to 100 piggies. Any grass contains all the necessary silica to balance against the dental growth rate.
Keep in mind that guinea pigs have not evolved on timothy hay alone but in an area with mixed grasses - meadow hay has the greatest variety of different grasses. They just eat a little bit more hay than timothy - which actually means more silica for grinding down those teeth... So every hay has their pros and cons.

So offering a mix of timothy, orchard and/or meadow hay or changing between the hays is good for the digestive and dental health with more speciality hays making for good and healthy occasional enrichment treats. ;)

PS: I tried to introduce timothy as an additional hay a couple of times but my pigs do not consider it edible and only use it for toiletting on. As toilet paper goes, it was a bit too expensive! :(

A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
 
Piggies&buns said:
You certainly aren’t being a bad guinea mum, you’re just been given bad advice by the shops - not your fault

What was the one that looked like grass clippings? (Just curious)
Click to expand...
Very disappointing.The boys eat it under sufferance. They like Timothy and Meadow hay, though.
 

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Lorcan said:
My pair will eat orchard hay but what they really like is timothy, as stalky and stabby as possible. Thankfully I seem to get worse stab wounds out of it than they do, and I put up with the hay poke risk because that's what they'll eat. They won't touch soft hay, not to bed down in and definitely not to eat in.

Meadow, timothy, orchard, rye - if it's a grass hay and they'll eat it, let them eat it.
Click to expand...
I've been trying a sample pack of 5 - rye hay was a no-no and orchard hay too. But Timothy, Oat and Meadow was consumed in seconds flat!
 
They were iffy on rye, they ate it but only because it was there, if you get what I mean. Not like the timothy and orchard, where it was almost eaten before it hit the cage floor lol. Oat hay was well received but they can't have much of it, it doesn't agree with their tummies. Only time I ever had a box was when I got sent one in place of the orchard hay (and who am I to complain about a free box?).
 
Tonisita said:
I've been trying a sample pack of 5 - rye hay was a no-no and orchard hay too. But Timothy, Oat and Meadow was consumed in seconds flat!
Click to expand...

Trying out what your piggies like is best; then you can vary between that and know that you are giving them a good and enriched diet. Different piggies have different preferences. ;)
 
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