Hay dust

Cait_lin

Cait_lin

Junior Guinea Pig
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but does anyone have advice on how to get rid of excess dust from hay? I use Oxbow hay and it says it's dust-extracted but there is still a lot of dust that comes off of it and I'm worried about it causing problems for my piggies. I do have an air purifier running in my room most of the time so hopefully that filters out some of the dust in the air, but a lot of it still ends up in the cage. I've seen people suggest spraying hay with water, but I've also seen people say that this can cause mould.
 
Cait_lin said:
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but does anyone have advice on how to get rid of excess dust from hay? I use Oxbow hay and it says it's dust-extracted but there is still a lot of dust that comes off of it and I'm worried about it causing problems for my piggies. I do have an air purifier running in my room most of the time so hopefully that filters out some of the dust in the air, but a lot of it still ends up in the cage. I've seen people suggest spraying hay with water, but I've also seen people say that this can cause mould.
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Hi

Unless your piggies actually have a sensitivity and react with more than just the odd temporary stuffy nose, I would strongly recommend not to worry.

The more sterile you keep the environment, the more strongly the immune system is going to respond to any nuance because it is not regularly desensitised. The problem usually happens when commercially mass bred piggies come from a fairly sterile environment into a much more complex pet home with all new better quality food their immune system struggles to cope with. Some can react unfortunately very strongly with an over-sensitivity (real allergies in guinea pigs are extremely rare).

I do not feed dust extracted hay. The only persistent case of sensitivity in the ca. 100 piggies that have passed through my life was when I switched from pet shop hay to not dust extracted but much nicer farm hay a dozen years or so ago - I had to put the sow in question and her group on a table cage above the other piggies and continue feeding her pet shop hay for the rest of her life or she would develop respiratory symptoms that resembled a throat infection. The strongest reactions seem to happen with industrially mass produced dust extracted hay, actually.
But tellingly, not a single one of my other adopted piggies from all kinds of backgrounds has ever had a problem with dusty small scale farm hay or respiratory infections. I just shake the bag so the worst of the dust stays at the bottom and goes into my compost heap or garden bin (in bad weather). It's been quite an eye opener.

The only one in this house on year round hayfever tablets is me... whatever the hay. Since I would also develop hives (urticaria), the quality of the hay doesn't matter for me.
 
I don’t feed dust extracted hay either - I buy farm bales of meadow hay and just give it a shake when I take some off if it is a particularly dusty bale
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Unless your piggies actually have a sensitivity and react with more than just the odd temporary stuffy nose, I would strongly recommend not to worry.

The more sterile you keep the environment, the more strongly the immune system is going to respond to any nuance because it is not regularly desensitised. The problem usually happens when commercially mass bred piggies come from a fairly sterile environment into a much more complex pet home with all new better quality food their immune system struggles to cope with. Some can react unfortunately very strongly with an over-sensitivity (real allergies in guinea pigs are extremely rare).

I do not feed dust extracted hay. The only persistent case of sensitivity in the ca. 100 piggies that have passed through my life was when I switched from pet shop hay to not dust extracted but much nicer farm hay a dozen years or so ago - I had to put the sow in question and her group on a table cage above the other piggies and continue feeding her pet shop hay for the rest of her life or she would develop respiratory symptoms that resembled a throat infection. The strongest reactions seem to happen with industrially mass produced dust extracted hay, actually.
But tellingly, not a single one of my other adopted piggies from all kinds of backgrounds has ever had a problem with dusty small scale farm hay or respiratory infections. I just shake the bag so the worst of the dust stays at the bottom and goes into my compost heap or garden bin (in bad weather). It's been quite an eye opener.

The only one in this house on year round hayfever tablets is me... whatever the hay. Since I would also develop hives (urticaria), the quality of the hay doesn't matter for me.
Click to expand...
Thank you, this was really informative and reassuring to read. I never would have thought that changing to better quality food and non-pet shop hay could affect them like that, but it does make sense.
 
Cait_lin said:
Thank you, this was really informative and reassuring to read. I never would have thought that changing to better quality food and non-pet shop hay could affect them like that, but it does make sense.
Click to expand...

To be honest, there is good quality UK farm hay available locally or online in this country that works out better in quality and cheaper than any pet shop hay. Personally, I prefer to support UK farmers as much for the nicer hay as far for environmental reasons. Have a look around and don't fall into the trap of wrapping your piggies in cotton.

It doesn't matter so much which base hay you feed, meadow, timothy or orchard or two or all three in turn or as a mix. Timothy is most easily digested while meadow hay contains a range of grasses and therefore keeps a wider range of gut microbiome busy. Softer hay is better for romping and sleeping in than harder timothy hay which you may want to flatten and use for feed only rather than added enrichment purposes. Other speciality or enriched hays should be seen as a occasional enrichment treat.

We have just recently updated our Hay Guide: A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)

Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
 
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