Guinnea Pigs

[Theorysparky]

Patch

Is Haylage ok for use with Guinea pigs ????? bedding mainly

its cheaper than pets at home stuff......

it seems to make them thirstier and when cleaning them out today there seems to be a white deposit where they urinate ?????

they still have their appetite and are still alive

Cheers

 

[Andy™]

i think SL will be the expert for this question

 

[Theorysparky]

I know

i bet he replies first......

 

[Apache]

I knowi bet he replies first......

You bet who replies first - me or SL?

 

[Theorysparky]

you !!!!!!

 

[Apache]

My answer is no - Haylage is not suitable as a bedding due to its higher moisture content. Being moist it won't wear the teeth as well as hay.

I would suggest you get a bale of hay, it may have gone up in price but a bale should do a guinea pig for a winter and will cost ~

 

[Andy™]

well, no-one has actually answered the question yet, so it could still be SL!

EDIT: scrap that, patch pushed in

 

[Theorysparky]

Thanks Patch

Well i have a bag of it which has partly dried out so will mix it with other hay

as for the teeth,,,,,they look ok at the mo

 

[Apache]

Maybe not so bad then. Just make sure it doesn't get mouldy and musty. This is the other problem with Haylage, it is designed to be opened and used. The higher moisture content than hay promotes fungal growth and loss of feed quality.

Teeth ware problems can be slow to manifest but problematic to treat.

 

[batty]

What is haylage?

 

[steptoe]

a stoopid new thing instead of silage,

its ( IMHO ) a poor excuse for farmers that didnt catch the hay before it got damp!!!!!!!

its not even proper hay either, or silage, its a no-bodys child that nobody wants TBH,

 

[batty]

I must admit haylage did make me think of silage its good to learn.

 

[Apache]

a stoopid new thing instead of silage,its ( IMHO ) a poor excuse for farmers that didnt catch the hay before it got damp!!!!!!!

its not even proper hay either, or silage, its a no-bodys child that nobody wants TBH,

Hay is grass that is dried to a moisture content of around 10% (90% dry matter) and relies on the low moisture content to prevent spoilage.

Silage is grass that is wilted but its moisture content when made is 50-70% (30-50% dry matter) and the air must be excluded. Anerobic fermentation causes a production of lactic acid that lowers the pH and in simplistic terms pickles the silage and preserves it.

Haylage falls somewhere between the two with a moisture content of 30-40% (60-70% dry matter) and also relies on lactic acid to reduce the pH and preserve the forage.

The moist feeds have better feed value because the process of making hay (regular turning) causes losses in quality. Cattle and sheep tend to be fed silage but it's a bit too acidic for horses so they tend to be fed haylage.

In very simplistic terms if you took the same field of grass and cut it (assuming dry soil and good weather)

Silage would be baled and wrapped the next day

haylage would be left 2 or 3 days

hay would be left 5 or 6 days

Once it's exposed to air it starts to go off and lose feed quality.

Does that explain?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Our G-pig gets right grumpy when his bedding starts getting to damp...

He likes it dry!!!

You have to be carful as some farm bails can have mites and other nasty stuff that can cause skin irritations and rashes:|

Quite a few years back now we'd been using some farm supplied bail stuff and two of our pigs both got very nasty skin problems..

bald patches, weeping scars etc...

Vets bills & medication cost us more than the ruddy pigs did in the first place.

That was assumed to be something from within the bedding material.

Anyway.. stopped using that stuff and not had those problems since. :x

 

[Apache]

The lice and mites the guinea pig suffers from tend to be specific to the guinea pigs them self. It's very unlikely the bedding was the source.

I would say the problem went away because the problem was adequately treated!