What is it about Hay in particular that is so good for them and turns them into little barrels?
I thought lettuce and cucumber and the like would be too high in water content and cause diarrhoea but things like Romaine lettuce won't cause them any problems? And literally just those 4 things are safe to have daily? What about things that are safe to have every other day? I could do with someone's help to write a daily/weekly menu for them so I don't kill them.
Also I have tried some bell pepper on them and they were scared of it. I think it was the smell.
Their natural diet is grass, and hay is obviously just a dried grass. We feed hay because we wouldn’t be able to provide enough grass to meet their needs. It is how their gut is designed to function and is vital for correct dental wear. They spend a lot is time foraging and grazing and it makes up three quarters of their daily food intake. This is why if they stop eating enough hay they will quickly lose weight.
Lettuce and cucumber are perfectly fine for piggies. I give a larger chunk of cucumber in summer to help with hydration in hot weather.
However introducing any new veg must be done slowly because any food item has the potential to cause diarrhoea and a tummy upset if introduced too much in one go.
Those four items are balanced in nutrients to provide what they need, they can just be fed with no other veggies ever added. Leafy greens and herbs are good for them.
Most owners will not write or use a set weekly menu as we feed those four main things, but it’s also about what you’ve got spare and what you buy for yourself.
The guide would be to feed those four main veg daily and then once or twice a week you can give them something else for variety if you’ve got it in. For example, there’s probably not much point in buying a bag of kale if you don’t eat it yourself. The piggies can only have a small amount once a week so most of the bag would probably go to waste. But you might routinely buy broccoli so give them a piece of that instead. Mine love cauliflower leaves so even though I wouldn’t give them the cauliflower florets (we tend to use it all ourselves) they do get the leaves on occasion.
I tend to feed mine differently to most though as I don’t feed pellets daily. That then gives me more leeway in terms of calcium intake to give them things such kale, parsley or spinach with less concern about calcium intake. Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and drinking water (their water is filtered).
They have a rather wet diet (which helps with keeping the bladder flushing through) getting more than one cup per pig per day and in summer being in the lawn grazing and eating weeds for 12-14 hours a day. They consume very large amounts of hay also.
The diet guide I linked in previously explains everything
