Fresh grass

H

HEvan

New Born Pup
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Location
England
Hi,

One of my sows went into mild gut stasis secondary to uti and had 2 days at the vets for syringe feeding of critical care, subcut fluids and gut motility meds. She's home amd very much on the mend (yay).

She's back to her usual self, but to get her eating more herself the vets gave fresh grass from thier garden which she loves. To ensure she is eating plenty I'm giving her grass as well as hay. However, she much prefers the grass! So I'm always topping up on the grass to ensure she eats plenty.

I live in a flat so don't have my own garden but a friend will be giving me a bag of grass in the next few days. I went to a big, natural field and picked lots of grass and She's loving it. But how long can I keep fresh picked grass for before it starts to ferment? I dont want to upset her tummy after she's just getting over it.

Thanks!
 
If you’re giving grass you should build up the amount she gets. Giving too much too quickly can cause bloat.

I don’t know how long it should be kept, I have never picked grass to keep. Is the friend mowing their lawn or just cutting with scissors/ripping it up?
 
Siikibam said:
If you’re giving grass you should build up the amount she gets. Giving too much too quickly can cause bloat.

I don’t know how long it should be kept, I have never picked grass to keep. Is the friend mowing their lawn or just cutting with scissors/ripping it up?
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Ooooo, I normally have some potted wheat grass for them to have a treat once a week. She's probably has had half a body size worth of grass today and half a body size of timothy hay. Shes been eating it at the vets the last 2 days. If she is going to bloat, how long does it take? I thought fresh grass was really good for them alongside hay.

No, I've told her freshly picked.
 
Fresh grass is good for them but they need to be used to eating it and it needs to be built up in quantity gradually - a handful each day increasing slowly. Grass at this time of year is very rich. Making sure plenty of hay is available is important.

Are you weighing her daily? It’s important you do that to monitor her eating.

I mostly only pick enough for a day from my own garden so don’t tend to store it. If I go to my parents and pick grass then I do seem to get a bit more and do feed it the next day but it is stored flat, make sure it isn’t wet and that it isn’t warm to touch. If it feels warm then it is fermenting. Shouldn’t happen if it is kept properly for the next day (eventually and if left in the sun that would make hay and wouldn’t ferment).

Fermenting happens when it’s chopped into small pieces, sugars are released, it’ll start to heat up. This is why mower cuttings should never be used. Fermentation starts to happen within a couple of hours in this way.
 
Thats really good to know. I wish I'd asked sooner.

Right now she's doing really well. She seems to eat the most hay after giving her a small handful of fresh grass. Today she's even eaten some romaine and bell pepper.

Does bloat happen straight away or after a few days. I'm going to start giving her less grass now that she's eating more hay on her own. I've also ordered some Orchard hay in the hopes that would excite her to eat even more hay.

Her poops are excellent, and now giving a very good quantity. I weighed her today and she has put on an extra 0.33kg since Thursday. She's due back to the vets after the Bank Holiday weekend for a review so I will ask them to look for any indication of early signs of bloating. But for now, she isn't showing any symptoms so I don't really want to mess with the plan if it's working.
 
HEvan said:
Thats really good to know. I wish I'd asked sooner.

Right now she's doing really well. She seems to eat the most hay after giving her a small handful of fresh grass. Today she's even eaten some romaine and bell pepper.

Does bloat happen straight away or after a few days. I'm going to start giving her less grass now that she's eating more hay on her own. I've also ordered some Orchard hay in the hopes that would excite her to eat even more hay.

Her poops are excellent, and now giving a very good quantity. I weighed her today and she has put on an extra 0.33kg since Thursday. She's due back to the vets after the Bank Holiday weekend for a review so I will ask them to look for any indication of early signs of bloating. But for now, she isn't showing any symptoms so I don't really want to mess with the plan if it's working.
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Is that 33g or 330g since Thursday? It’s good if she is maintaining it putting on weight.
 
Siikibam said:
Is that 33g or 330g since Thursday? It’s good if she is maintaining it putting on weight.
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33g, she's putting on 10g a day. She was at a specialist vet for a different chronic issue few weeks before and weighed 900g, then when I noticed wierd poos and took her to her local vet she was 800g :( but she's putting it back on slowly, and her eating is getting better and now needing less critical care. I'm still giving between 15-20 mls for a high fibre and extra fluid untill she's back eating hay as normal.
 
eileen said:
I agree with piggieminder,i keep grass in the fridge.i pick alot of grass when i go for a walk.12 piggies eat alot !
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I popped some fresh grass in the fridge this morning :) luckily, she's eating more hay today so I can reduce the grass. And her poos are very good and pooping lots! I'm keeping a chart of what she's eating/refusing, fluids and how many poos she's doing haha
 
HEvan said:
Hi,

One of my sows went into mild gut stasis secondary to uti and had 2 days at the vets for syringe feeding of critical care, subcut fluids and gut motility meds. She's home amd very much on the mend (yay).

She's back to her usual self, but to get her eating more herself the vets gave fresh grass from thier garden which she loves. To ensure she is eating plenty I'm giving her grass as well as hay. However, she much prefers the grass! So I'm always topping up on the grass to ensure she eats plenty.

I live in a flat so don't have my own garden but a friend will be giving me a bag of grass in the next few days. I went to a big, natural field and picked lots of grass and She's loving it. But how long can I keep fresh picked grass for before it starts to ferment? I dont want to upset her tummy after she's just getting over it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
when i go on holidays, i pick about a washing basket full of grass for 3 pigs, and they love grass. if its goes gross, they wonr eat it. they know
 
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