Hay vs. Readigrass / Graze On

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sophiew (EAGPR)

sophiew (EAGPR)

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Hi

Having had a nasty lot of hay lately, I'm considering what Vedra advised, which is no hay at all but just feeding Readigrass / Graze On. I seem to remember being told on here that one of them is high in something - calcium?

Is Readigrass or Graze On sufficient to keep the teeth down, like hay?

Also, does anyone use this with outdoor (in shed) piggies - if so, how do you keep them warm, without hay to snuggle up in? I can see it working for the indoor piggies, but I don't know what to give the outdoor ones as bedding (they're on Megazorb) if no hay.

It's such a bad year for hay!

Sophie
x
 
I am considering cutting out hay and using Readigrass instead, as advised by Vedra. But I too am concerned about the lack of burrowing as they love to snuggle. I was considering both, but then that defeats the object of cutting out the hay. And yes, does Readigrass keep their teeth in check like hay does? I don't know what to do either.

Charlotte x
 
my vet is saying hay quality/cost is problematic round here too. I feed a mix of excel forage/naturals meadow hay cookies and also have readigrass.
 
ive bought a nice looking bag of excel timothey hay for my pig to eat out of a hay rack, then used the bad quality wilko's hay as bedding. she preffers to eat the timothey hay (expensive taste!) so it works out ok for me. so the good quality one lasts longer than my cheap poor quality wilkos hay. but dont know if it'll work for lots of piggies.
cross your fingers that we wont have such a wet summer this year and we can have some good hay this year!
 
Watch out for the wilko hay as bedding. Lots of complaints about thistles in there and even rubber bands and bottle tops!

Charlotte x
 
Charlotte said:
Watch out for the wilko hay as bedding. Lots of complaints about thistles in there and even rubber bands and bottle tops!

Charlotte x
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ive found a few big twigs in there and bailers cord before.. but shall look out for thoes. i went a bit mad when the hay was on offer and bought a few bags.. so using that up. found some nice hay in a local pet shop that I'm going to try next. id love to get proper farm bale of hay, but i have no where to put it! :(
 
The only hay I can get at the moment isn't fantastic but the piggies are happy to snuggle up in it as bedding. I'm feeding readigrass every other night as they aren't eating much of the hay. I'm sure I read somewhere, cant remember where, that readigrass is very good for keeping teeth down but I've noticed that all my piggies are getting a little fat (you probably noticed this Sophie :(|)) so maybe I'm giving them too much. I'm not sure how much they're supposed to have ?

Teresa x
 
Oh Teresa, your piggies are plumptious! I'm not sure how much to feed either - I tend to do a good handful per pig per day, but they're still getting hay at the mo. They would eat it until the cows come home!

Sophie
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Hi my piggies are on cardboard bedding and extremly soft straw i stopped the readigrass as they were getting fat and i blamed the readigrass rightly or wrongly. they get the hay to eat and fresh grass daily.

sokel where you get your hay having bother getting some as cant find a reliable farmer or supplier can you give me any info?

thanks

karen
 
I feed my two Scratch and Newton and Readigrass every day. Readigrass is a bit fatty and keeps Bertie's weight up so it's a win-win situ for us. It's by far their favourite and it is cheaper than Scratch and Newton at the moment. (2.50 against £3.99) I get the Readigrass from some local liveries (only supp;ier on Wirral according to website). The only downside is that the smell is quite strong and can give me the heaves and set Maxy's asthma going... But as long as my pigs like it, they'll have it.
 
Yes I find it sets my wheezing off too! Smells funny to me, as does Graze On.

What I'm interested in is whether by itself (i.e NO hay) if Readigrass or Graze On are sufficient both diet-wise and teeth-wise?

My indoors ones have been on just GrazeOn this week, lots of veg and dry food as normal but no hay. However I wouldn't want to continue long term unless I was sure this was ok

Sophie
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Oh, I see... sorry I didn't really answer your question.

ermmm, mine are happy not having anything else. Their teeth are in good condition. With the amount of time I spend at the vet's, you'd think they've noticed something wrong by now. They only nibble at the S&N - which they like for bedding - when the other stuff runs out.

I would add that it's a right bu**er to get out of the vet bed... I have to hang the vet bed to dry first before brushing it off, I usually then end up looking like I've been up to no good in the hay attic with some random farmhand :)):)):)), before putting it through the wash. I find the smell of washed Readigrass really sickly (maybe it's the hormones... ?/).

Hope this helps Sophiew.:)
 
I usually then end up looking like I've been up to no good in the hay attic with some random farmhand
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:)) :)) :))

Yes, there is the mess to consider too! I feed mine in a large heavy bowl but they still manage to scatter it.

Hmmm, well - all interesting, thank you! Will try Readigrass and see if I prefer it to Graze On. Graze on costs less but is very dusty

Thanks!

Sophie
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I am now off to the equine shop to buy a bag of readigrass and a bag of graze on. Never tried either, but I'll let you know my verdict! Because of the burrowing, I'm going to still have to use up the hay I've got left. I don't know what to do when that runs out. The whole point of me switching was so that I could ditch the hay, full stop. It's a tough call!

Charlotte x
 
It will take you a long time to get through a bale of Graze On - they only sell it in horse-size amounts! I'd just try Readigrass first if I was you - it's much nicer, bigger bits and you can usually get it (sometimes called 'Friendly Grass') in guinea-pig sized bags.

I'm off to get some too!

Sophie
x
 
Okey dokey! Fuzzypeg needs to be fattened up a bit so I shall enjoy watching him chomp his way through it!

Charlotte x
 
The hay I am getting at the moment is lovely. I give a handful of readigrass every other day but I think it is too sharp for them to have as bedding.
If the problem is the hay being poor quality, maybe until it is better it wouldn't do any harm? main thing is to try it and see how the pigs are on it, or try half the pigs on it and half on hay and see from there!
 
sophiew said:
I'd just try Readigrass first if I was you - it's much nicer, bigger bits and you can usually get it (sometimes called 'Friendly Grass') in guinea-pig sized bags.
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ReadiGrass is the new name for FriendlyGrass. The bags we buy are I think 1 kg each and for our 2 who get 2 helpings a day it lasts 2-3 weeks.

Charlotte, If your piggy needs fattening up, this is the right stuff! We ran out about a week ago and they were on S&N only for one day and Bertie's weight went down 20g or so... Maybe it was because he couldn't walk with his bladder infection? who knows...
 
Well I've just bought three of the small, friendly bags and my pigs wasted no time tucking in! I have 5 pigs though so I don't expect the bags will last long.

It doesn't seem to be any good for burrowing bedding though does it? Still at a loss for what to use as an alternative to hay...

Charlotte x
 
Just bought a big bale of Readigrass and everyone loves it. It's better than GrazeOn, longer stalks and much less dusty. They've got a good handful each and are happily munching.

Still think they'll miss the hay though, as they do love it when it's put in fresh and they can run around in it.... for now have bought some timothy hay (a lot of money for a small bag!) and will have to think about options.

Sophie
x
 
They had run out of readigrass so I've bought a big bale of 'just grass' instead. Never used it before but it looks fine and the piggy population here seem to love it :) Guess they'll get even fatter if I'm not careful - especially poor Daphne - it goes straight on her hips ! (and her tummy and everywhere else actually)!

Teresa x
 
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Last month I had my eight on Readigrass exclusively for about a week (when I ran out of hay...). They did fine on it - darker poops than normal, but otherwise I saw no other difference.

However, for the sake of knowing that they are getting 'real' roughage and the best possible normal dental wear, I do like to feed some long-stranded hay. I find the short stranded stuff seems to give less of a dental workout, so even just a few strands of proper hay each day is preferable to none, in my mind. Plus Readigrass is very rich and can take a short while to wean piggies onto it.

And I'm allergic to it. I thought I had a cold until I removed the Readigrass, as I'd not reacted as much to it before. :))
 
Hey Sophie,

It seems that only Norfolk is getting the bad hay this year! Down at my part of Norfolk it's just ridiculous the bad hay. And it's expensive too!
I bought a bale last week but had to burn it as it was so damp, dusty and had bottle tops and string, even thistles. pow-pow.

I've used recently some bedding hay and readigrass.
This bedding hay is actually really good quality hay but in slightly shorter strands. They sell it in 5kg bags, really cheap too.
 
I've just finished decanting a large bale of Readigrass into smaller hessian sacks (that the Dust Free Hay comes in) and a breathable wooden box. Also got a sack I'd already filled with it in the bedroom for the boys. And it really does seem to set off my sinus/ allergy issues. However, it also seems good stuff, and the piggies seem to like it.

I get my hay from www.dustfreehay.co.uk, seems the best standard hay around, but even so the quality has been a bit variable recently. Some of the sacks have been brilliant, others much less so. Can only be down to the poor harvest, and it's still better than Pillow Wad, supermarket hay (which seems to be low quality bedding hay rather than feed) and the various others I've seen. Big bonus is the sacks, which can be used for breathable storage, something to kneel on when working on the car, bin bags...

I paid around £11 for the bale of Readigrass, I've seen similar if not the same stuff in small bags for around £3. So as long as there's suitable storage (dry and breathable) and room I reckon that's the way to go. Still want them to have other hays too though as the Readigrass is maybe a little rich for a constant supply in the cage.
 
I'm having big problems with excel herbage - the last two bags I bought were just awful quality and the girls hated it and wouldn't eat it :( there poo's turned black and I was really worried about them. I have been feeding my girls readigrass on it's own for now - I am worried though that I should get some better hay also - does anyone use the scratch and newton hay with the dandelions in?
 
sophiew said:
Just bought a big bale of Readigrass and everyone loves it. It's better than GrazeOn, longer stalks and much less dusty.

I've tried both with my piggies too-they loved the Readigrass & dived straight into it every time & squabbled who was going to get first chomp! I've just bought some GrazeOn & have had it for almost 3 weeks now & have only used about a quarter of a bale (?!) - they aren't at all fussed on it & only eat it when there's nothing else left. It's more hay-coloured than the bright green readigrass & is dustier. The Readigrass smells more 'edible' too. Won't be buying GrazeOn again - Readigrass for my lot every time!
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