Can very green hay / too many kinds of hay upset a guinea pig's stomach?

[Digital-Sneeze]

So for a while now I've had intermittent stomach sensitivity issues with two of my pigs. This actually seem to start after I started introducing a variety of hays into their diet, most notably soft-cut Timothy hay. My pigs in general get a very nice meadow hay along with a very green sweet green hay (which is a brand I suppose rather than a type) as their mains, but in addition I also give a handful or two each day of oat hay and the aforementioned soft-cut Timothy hay.

I've looked about and I can't find any correlating examples of people having issues with overly green hay causing issues, however my instinct is really starting to feel that that either the variety or the greenness is a factor in their iffy stomachs.

Their veg meals remain the same each day, so it seems unlikely to be that, but I may have to start adjusting anyway.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any insight or similar problems occurring from offering them too many types of the same thing.

Thanks again.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

We have had a few piggies on the forum who started to have tummy upsets after being fed soft cut timothy, so it is a possibility it is what is happening with your piggies.

My own rabbits and piggies a variety of hays without issue - meadow hay, soft cut timothy and coarse timothy (they didn’t like the coarse for quite a long time but have now decided they do!)

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

Welcome to the forum

We have had a few piggies on the forum who started to have tummy upsets after being fed soft cut timothy, so it is a possibility it is what is happening with your piggies.

My own rabbits and piggies a variety of hays without issue - meadow hay, soft cut timothy and coarse timothy (they didn’t like the coarse for quite a long time but have now decided they do!)

That's a shame, as they go absolutely crazy for it, but I have had that feeling for a while now. 3 of mine are fine, but 2 are not, so I may have to slowly cut it out and hope they don't judge me too harshly for it!

 

[Seven7]

My boys eat both Oxbow Western Timothy hay and Orchard Grass hay without issues, so I buy bulk as shown in the photo below.
11.34 kg or weighs 25 lb in the US, and I have both Timothy and Orchard Grass hay.

 

[weepweeps]

I agree. I moved my two boys onto soft cut Timothy hay and they both had soft poops. I didn’t link the two things. So I cut out all veggies. That didn’t work. They only thing that helped was to give them stalkier hay along side the soft cut and we’ve had no problems since.

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

My boys eat both Oxbow Western Timothy hay and Orchard Grass hay without issues, so I buy bulk as shown in the photo below.
11.34 kg or weighs 25 lb in the US, and I have both Timothy and Orchard Grass hay.

I'm in the UK, so I've opted for Nature's Own Devon meadow hay, and the "sweet green" hay which seem to be the consistently best of all the ones I've tried. For the soft cut Timothy hay I go for the one by Hay Box, which looks very fancy. I have got their coarse cut one before, but which is a much lighter shade of green, but I'm always paranoid at now sharp the hay is so I stopped getting it. For the oat hay I get the Hay Experts one, which always seems far nicer and greener than the others I've tried.

Unfortunately I now have a very large 5kg box of soft cut Timothy hay which is probably never going to get used. I might have to try and give it away somehow.

I suppose I should try and find a more conventional Timothy hay to make it for it.

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

I agree. I moved my two boys onto soft cut Timothy hay and they both had soft poops. I didn’t link the two things. So I cut out all veggies. That didn’t work. They only thing that helped was to give them stalkier hay along side the soft cut and we’ve had no problems since.

OK seems like I'm not going mad. A rougher, stalkier hay might be a good option for me to try as well then.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I use haybox for the soft and coarse Timothy.
You could get a box of the coarse and mix it with the soft to balance it out (but more coarse than soft) and continue to feed it.
You don’t have to worry about how sharp it is. Feed it in flat piles and let them enjoy it!

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

I use haybox for the soft and coarse Timothy.
You could get a box of the coarse and mix it with the soft to balance it out (but more coarse than soft) and continue to feed it.
You don’t have to worry about how sharp it is. Feed it in flat piles and let them enjoy it!

Haha I might try it again then. I remember getting it and bending it all up so it would be less pointy, but I'm probably just fussing.

I notice now that their soft cut is advertised as "medium to high" fibre, which makes sense now, and I wonder if realistically it's not as high fibre as some guinea pigs need.

 

[Lorcan]

For stalky timothy, I get the Excel timothy box from the Hay Experts - expensive, but my two won't eat anything that doesn't stab me repeatedly, so if they'll eat it, even better. Or, if you don't mind deliveries, Happy Hay do a timothy and an orchard hay they both loved (and I'd still buy if they didn't ship via DPD).

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

For stalky timothy, I get the Excel timothy box from the Hay Experts - expensive, but my two won't eat anything that doesn't stab me repeatedly, so if they'll eat it, even better. Or, if you don't mind deliveries, Happy Hay do a timothy and an orchard hay they both loved (and I'd still buy if they didn't ship via DPD).

I don't mind spending a bit, and to be honest I quite miss the days of trying out lots of different hays and seeing how they react to it (and the disappointment that follows when they turn their nose up at something fancy and expensive).

 

[Lorcan]

I'd been a bit put off by the price at first, they're notoriously fussy and genuinely seem to find soft hay to be some kind of insult, and I've not found Excel's bagged hay to be great either. I live in permanent fear of haypoke. But they love it, been about 6 months they're on it now and they're constantly excited for it.

 

[piggieminder]

I mix Natures Own meadow with Hay Box soft Timothy. I had tummy issues with 2 of my boars when I was just feeding the soft cut and 3 were too heavy for my vets liking she suggested it's very rich?

 

[Seven7]

I'm in the UK, so I've opted for Nature's Own Devon meadow hay, and the "sweet green" hay which seem to be the consistently best of all the ones I've tried. For the soft cut Timothy hay I go for the one by Hay Box, which looks very fancy. I have got their coarse cut one before, but which is a much lighter shade of green, but I'm always paranoid at now sharp the hay is so I stopped getting it. For the oat hay I get the Hay Experts one, which always seems far nicer and greener than the others I've tried.

Unfortunately I now have a very large 5kg box of soft cut Timothy hay which is probably never going to get used. I might have to try and give it away somehow.

I suppose I should try and find a more conventional Timothy hay to make it for it.

I hope you don't throw away your soft hay. I use hay as bedding as well. I use paper bedding and fleece bedding but they love sleeping on top of hay.
Instead of throwing away, I would use your soft hay as bedding.

 

[ThatPurpleB]

My pair had soft poops after soft cut too. We're back on nature's own sweet green hay. It's cheaper and easier to find for me anyway.

 

[ThatPurpleB]

I agree. I moved my two boys onto soft cut Timothy hay and they both had soft poops. I didn’t link the two things. So I cut out all veggies. That didn’t work. They only thing that helped was to give them stalkier hay along side the soft cut and we’ve had no problems since.

Same! I cut out veg and there was still soft poop. Then worked out it was the soft cut hay.

 

[Digital-Sneeze]

OK definitely no more soft cut Timothy then! Just their regular two meadow hays and a new coarse hay of some kind. I guess the oat hay is pretty coarse so hoping that's fine.

 

[Lorcan]

Too much oat hay might cause the same issues - if I remember correctly it's to do with the protein content of the hay. Soft cut timothy tends to be higher in protein than the coarser timothy but I've had the same problem if I overdo the oat hay.