Hay change with bloat?

[PiggyPack]

Hi!
For those who know about Bea’s situation, I want to thank you again, she’s put back on 100g and is eating more than our other two combined! A hay rich diet really is helping her.

But I noticed today, our usual hay supplier has really been letting us down, it’s Helmes Hay if any of you UK folk are familiar. The sheer amount of dust is shocking and for a company that literally in big bold letters advertises ‘DUST EXTRACTED’ on the front, they are not at all doing their job.

So I’m really anxious to switch as I’ve noticed my piggies doing the occasional sneezes, I’ve been check on their noses and breathing and there’s no runniness or wheezing, so for now, I’ve concluded it must be the hay, but I’ll be continuing to check them in case and URI’s are brewing.

I’ve been looking to try dustfreehay.co.uk for ages now and I’m just wondering which one should I get. And would it be wise to switch with a debloating pig with a sensitive tummy?

Thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I am glad that Bea is doing better.

You can never predict how a piggy with a sensitive tummy will react to any new food. With hay, it would however only happen when switching to a noticeably richer hay and hay based tummy upsets are much, much rarer than with fresh foods.

I cannot say how the dust free company are doing now but some years back, quite a number of members had problems with their dusty hay and switched to other providers. This year has been very challenging, climate-wise.
For current recommendations from members with dust-sensitive piggies of their own, you may want to ask in the food section as to which is currently the best UK brand. It does seem to change around quite a bit.

 

[eileen]

I've used the soft hay from dust free recently and it was very dust free.lovely and green.

 

[PiggyPack]

Hi

I am glad that Bea is doing better.

You can never predict how a piggy with a sensitive tummy will react to any new food. With hay, it would however only happen when switching to a noticeably richer hay and hay based tummy upsets are much, much rarer than with fresh foods.

I cannot say how the dust free company are doing now but some years back, quite a number of members had problems with their dusty hay and switched to other providers. This year has been very challenging, climate-wise.
For current recommendations from members with dust-sensitive piggies of their own, you may want to ask in the food section as to which is currently the best UK brand. It does seem to change around quite a bit.

Hi! I did post this earlier this week in the food section but didn’t get a reply! What type of hay would you personally reccomend?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi! I did post this earlier this week in the food section but didn’t get a reply! What type of hay would you personally reccomend?

I use meadow hay bales from a local farm and the Timothy Blend from Haybox (I used to only use the soft Timothy from hay box but they’ve finally now decided the blend (specifically the coarse stalkier parts) are actually quite nice!).

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I did post this earlier this week in the food section but didn’t get a reply! What type of hay would you personally reccomend?

It depends on what yours prefer. Keep in mind that the recent hard cold spell before Christmas has meant increased heating and less airing in order to save money; the drier air in the room could be the culprit rather than the hay.

Mine treat stalky timothy hay as not edible and I had to cast around for some nice soft meadow hay after my local independent pet shop with a local supplier (who sadly doesn't sell to private people) was sold to a pet shop chain who only offer lower grade stalky meadow hay now, which resulted in three hay pokes in just the first month and lots of uneaten stalky bits literally everywhere...
I have thankfully found a good new supplier for nice green soft meadow hay which they love to dive into and hoover it up again by ordering directly from Nature's Own.

There is however still some dust/small bits at the bottom of the bags, which is inevitable but it is not causing any major issues with any of mine. I didn't use dust extracted hay for the last 10 years but with around 50-60 piggies that have lived with me during that time, I never had any issues except one piggy with a sensitivity right at the start (I keep her group on a table cage above the others and kept her on her usual pet shop hay until her death, which did work out for her). Apart from the one time when dampness got into the hay at the suppliers and made it go badly fusty.
But it really depends on what you are specifically looking out for and you may want to order some trial boxes - which many independent UK providers offer - to find exactly what suits your own piggies best.