Hay only diet

[Essentia]

Does anyone here feed only hay? I know that some vets say chins actually do well on this diet. My chins LOVE alfalfa hay. I give them a smidgen once a week because I don't want to overdo it on the calcium or protein.

I was thinking, would it be possible, since they are on an alfalfa based pellet, to just cut out the pellets and give them alfalfa and timothy hay? Please realize this is not something I am planning on doing, I am just curious about it since they like the actual alfalfa hay just as much, if not more than the pellets.

What would be the disadvantages/advantages of this type of diet?

 

[tunes]

Crysta - Did you read the question and answer by Angie here? http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1648

That might give you a little insight.

 

[Essentia]

That did help a bit (it was actually where I got the idea from). In that it states that their diet should mostly consist of grass hay, which I completeley agree with. Their pellets are alfalfa based though. Would it be counter productive to cut their pellets down to one tablespoon a day/or none at all, and give them a small handful of alfalfa a day instead, while still giving them unlimited grass hay of course. Are there vitamins and minerals in pellets they would lack by doing this?

 

[furmommy]

When my Baby Luv had diarrhea from eating Mazuri my vet told me eating only Timothy hay is just fine. (I occasionally give a little orchard grass or other variety for interest). She had me feed hay only awhile and now I only feed a small portion Mazuri to him and as long as he doesn't get too many pellets (I was only feeding the recommended 2 Tbs a day when he got the problem, and now he only gets about half that) he is fine. I am waiting anxiously for Oxbow to come out with organic chin food so I can switch. I am still very suspicious of the GMO soy they use in Mazuri (and I'm sure other chin foods) having been a contributer to my chin ^Chloe's^ cancer of her digestive tract.

 

[Classic Chinchillas]

A while back a rancher had told me about how they had an all hay diet (I do believe it was alfalfa) however due to poorer quality of the hay they went to pellets. If you had access to good analysis of the hay it could be done but you'd have to be very careful to ensure the nutritional needs are met. It would require lots of testing and probably not worth it on a small scale.

The purpose of pellets is to ensure the vitamin and mineral needs are met.