Food for outdoor guineas

[LMPigs]

Hello wise Guinea Pig owners

Marshmallow and Toasty live in a hutch / run in our garden. We do have the space to bring them inside (and may well do so later in the winter) but for now they are well insulated and seem happy to be able to have the space to run around on sunny days and snuggle in their bedroom with a snugglesafe overnight.

I have noticed though that they seem to be getting through more dried food since the weather has been getting colder. We've started giving them pellets twice a day rather than once and they are happily scoffing them. They also get infinite hay and about a handful of veggies each a day, as well as grass (although the grass is growing slower now and they don't get let out on it when wet, so this may also be a contributing factor to the higher pellet consumption!).

I just wanted to check really whether anyone thought it wasn't a good idea to give them extra pellets, or if there are any particular high energy veggies which are recommended for outdoor guineas in winter?

We are trying to weigh them weekly although they are not the most cooperative! Also, they are 11 months old so I think their weight gain would normally be slowing down anyway around this point. In the absence of a guinea pig growth chart, quite hard to tell whether they are on track.

 

[Piggies&buns]

a very good question. Outdoor piggies (as mine are, albeit in a shed) will use more energy keeping warm. However, I have not fed mine more pellets and I have kept their diet the same - veg in the morning and veg and pellets in the evening, unlimited timothy hay. The only change is that they now have a lot more meadow hay as bedding but my guess is they may be eating more of the hay bedding but i obviously can’t tell!

 

[Seven7]

Hello and welcome.

My Finn and Lara are about the same age as yours and they go through more food now than when they were little.
When they were little, they couldn't handle being fed veggies three times a day so I would always end up with left over veggies and pellets but now, they yell for more.

I give them veggies three times a day, which is more than a large cup, endless supply of hay, and some pellets. I thought their increased intake of food had to do with them getting older and bigger. They are not babies anymore so they should get fed more. Mine are indoor piggies and I saw them drinking a lot more water in the summer and the increased food intake must be that they are not babies anymore.