Hay.. How Much Do You Buy?

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Tomsmum

Tomsmum

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So far we have had our two GP's for not quite two weeks and have gone through one bag of Pets at home short hay (we all hated it esp the GP's!) and one bag of pet shop meadow hay. Does that seem a lot? I currently use hay as bedding and in a hay ball thing and also stuff it in their sleeping house. I change it every day is that right?

Going to the farm shop in Tuesday to see if their hay is suitable
 
I buy absolutely loads but then I have 14 pigs and they have a variety of hay. That doesn't seem a lot to me. Hay is the biggest part of their diet.
 
Loads of it and we don't use it as a bedding.

As a rule we get through one big bag a week and a 425g bag of Timothy Hay too.

Best to experiment with hays to find the ones the fussy blighters like :)
 
I have used 1 and a bit massive bags! Like 10kg bags I think... And I don't use mine as bedding I use straw, which sometimes gets a little nibble, it seems to keep them warmer! They eat loads, 80% of their diet:tu: I have had mine for 5 months!
 
I use 2 big bags (a big bigger and wider than a pillow size and quite compressed) of local meadow hay , which is by far their favourite, lovely and green. The pets at home hay is absolutely terrible ! and so so so expensive , its disgraceful. They also get a handful of readigrass mixed in once in a while , they go mad for readigrass. We use fleece bedding so all is just to eat between 7 piggies and a rabbit :)
 
At the moment 9.5 Kg is lasting us about 4 weeks for 8 piggies. We don't use it as bedding but they do once we've provided it for eating! They pull it out of the hay racks and nest in it - very sweet. We buy ours from hayforpets online.
 
Funny you should mention Hay , l was just opening anorher 9k5 bag Alfafa King from Viovet, (good prices, fast delivery )
my guys get through about 1 bag every 3 weeks , they adore it over all the other hays ,
l do also have a stock of igns ,but they have gone off that ! they sre so fussy
 
:) there needs to be a hay exchange, it's a pity post is so expensive now!

I am not sure how much mine eat but it's always available so I have to presume enough for their needs and I do hear them chomping away at it, veggies definitely preferred though
 
I have 10 guinea's. I buy a 9.5kg bag which lasts about 4 or 5 weeks for 8 of the piggies and buy two of them a different bag of hay because they don't seem very keen on the Ings.

Hay for pets are used by a lot of people on the forums. £18 for a 9.5kg bag.
 
absolutely loads! their main hay i get a 9.5kg bag of ings hay from hay4pets and a 10kg bag of timothy hay from timothyhay.co.uk. these last about a month. then i buy other smaller bags of other hays aswell to mix in. basically the more hay and more variety of it the better :)
 
biscandmatt said:
absolutely loads! their main hay i get a 9.5kg bag of ings hay from hay4pets and a 10kg bag of timothy hay from timothyhay.co.uk. these last about a month. then i buy other smaller bags of other hays aswell to mix in. basically the more hay and more variety of it the better :)
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Mine will only eat the hayforpets Ings hay - wish I could persuade them to eat a variety of hays but they never have any of it when I buy the others sorts from there or buy hay from anywhere else. Gone are the days when we first got them and they would eat the meadow hay sold by the Range!
 
PiggySmitten said:
Mine will only eat the hayforpets Ings hay - wish I could persuade them to eat a variety of hays but they never have any of it when I buy the others sorts from there or buy hay from anywhere else. Gone are the days when we first got them and they would eat the meadow hay sold by the Range!
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ings is definitely a favourite will mollie and benjie but thankfully they will eat alot of different ones but only the more expensive ones of course! :))
 
I get a 20 kilo bag from my local pet supplies place, ( Pet food suppliers | Pet food online | Pet food wholesalers | GJW Titmuss ). Costs me about £10 and so far i am half way down it in 3.5 months with 4 piggies. It is green and fresh, but u do have to check for thistles that are in there on occasion. I use it in 3 litter trays and in their sleeping area as bedding. I change all of that every day. If you don't have a local supplies place (I don't mean pets at home) you could try asking at a local farm whether they do it or where they get theirs from for their livestock. Much much cheaper than buying small bags at pets at home and the hay will be greener and fresher.
 
So it's not just me then, they really are fussy! They won't eat timothy. They won't eat the pet shop's own hay- the stalks were too short i think. They have a really expensive one that costs €5 for 1kg and comes in a nice paper bag and a cheap one from a titchy shop round the corner from some fields near here i think. Long stalks with the flowers attatched seems important. I've had my 2 little girls for a month and adopted a big fat boy last week. They eat a LOT more hay now than at first and barely touch the pellets any more. Maybe big fat Anton told them!
If it carries on this way maybe 3kg per month. Some gets chucked away on the litter trays every day.
 
:DI have 9 guineas and buy 9.5 kg of Ings hay £18 from Hay for Pets. One bag lasts about 6-8 weeks, though the bottom quarter of the bag is just chaff and only suitable for bedding - if that!
 
We use the horse hay, the girls are loving the new batch we have in as it's green, soft and smells so good I might have a nibble!
Go to a farming or agricultural store like Wynnstay, Titmuss, Mole Valley etc the readigrass will be a huge amount cheaper, as will shavings/wood pellets/Aubiose etc etc etc, and they will be able to tell you of farmers in the area selling bales of hay.

A bale costs us (East Mids) £4 - 5 and comes in a twine tied bale approx 3ft x 1.5ft, and is made into slices (approx 10 in a bale) so it is really easy to store. We give ad lib hay and use about a slice a week with 3 piggies x
 
Thanks, I just got a bale from the farm that does my veg box. £5 and its huge! But not sliced so storage is going to be a bit of an issue. Hope the girls like it :)
 
Tomsmum said:
Thanks, I just got a bale from the farm that does my veg box. £5 and its huge! But not sliced so storage is going to be a bit of an issue. Hope the girls like it :)
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All farm bales that are rectangle and bound with bale twine have slices. Cut the strings - some the slices will just fall apart, others you have to tease all the slices apart. Slices vary by bale and are approx 1-3" thick depending on the baler used.
 
Cavy_lover said:
All farm bales that are rectangle and bound with bale twine have slices. Cut the strings - some the slices will just fall apart, others you have to tease all the slices apart. Slices vary by bale and are approx 1-3" thick depending on the baler used.
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Ah thanks, will investigate once I find something big enough to fit the thing Into!
 
For my 18 I go through over 20kg in hay a month.

I buy two 10kg bales a month and often still have to buy more. Only one pair is now bedded on hay the rest fleece, so most of this is actually eaten.

Try hay for pets, which is where I buy most of mine. The meadow hay seems reasonable quality. You can get taster bags too.

x
 
I have seen somewhere posts from people storing/transporting hay bales in old duvet covers.
 
My 4 piggies go through 9.5kg of ings hay every 5 weeks from hay for pets. They have a medium size litter box that I refill twice a day and a hay roller that I refill once a day :)
 
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