Ok to give Alfalfa everyday?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Pikaia

Pikaia

Gonna keck your butt ;)
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
1,504
Location
Ohio
Hi guys,

Chichi is a smaller sized chinchilla (525-550g). She is rather skinny looking, but she does eat. Her kids, Tribble and Tia, are very round in shape and weigh around 650g.They are really healthy looking.

I have been giving Chichi loose alfalfa during playtime. She really goes to town on it. I'm hoping it helps her pickup some weight. My question: Is it okay to give her this loose alfalfa daily? I have searched the threads and it seems alfalfa has a bad rap but that there isn't a real danger to it.

I also give Tribble and Tia alfalfa during playtime, but they only eat a little bit. Chichi is the one who really loves it.
 
I have fed loose alfalfa since day 1 11 years ago to 19 chins, never had a problem. Alfalfa is fed more often daily than you think, those of us that do just don't want to argue about it.
 
I feed loose alfalfa and the chins do exceptionally well on it. I tried to give a variety by offering some timothy and it just caused a lot of bloat in my growers that had never had it before. My chins like the alfalfa and they do very well on it.

There are a lot of myths that circulate the internet, some even make their way on here. Definitely do your own research and don't believe everything you read. A lot of people believe excessive alfalfa will cause calcium or phosphorous based stones to develop in the urinary tract. Research has shown that genetics and low water intake play a much larger part in the development of those stones than diet.
 
I also feed loose alfalfa daily and have done it for a few years. I got tired of buying timothy hay that the chins just wouldn't eat. I still live by the creed that the best hay is the hay a chinchilla will actually eat. In my case, it's alfalfa. I still start with orchard/alfalfa on the new chins in the rescue but they usually leave the orchard and eat only the alfalfa. I have yet to have an issue with a stone in the urinary tract.

To answer Pikaia, it should help her gain weight. I had a chin here who would hover around 500. When he started actually eating his hay (alfalfa) he started to gain. Now he hovers around 625 and hasn't gone back to the skinny guy he once was.
 
I have alfalfa cubes in the cages all the time and I can't imagine that the loose would be any different. You really should give timothy or another grass hay along with it, but it shouldn't be a big deal to give your chins extra alfalfa.
 
It's funny, because I was at Petsmart the other day, buying Oxbow hays (botanical, orchard, alfalfa) and got into a conversation about chinchillas with the employee there. She was quick to point out that alfalfa is not good for chins because of its high protein content. I told her I am trying to get one of my chins to gain weight. I trust you guys 100%, so I won't stop giving alfalfa. I like to give plenty of variety.
 
I have fed loose alfalfa since day 1 11 years ago to 19 chins, never had a problem. Alfalfa is fed more often daily than you think, those of us that do just don't want to argue about it.
Click to expand...

hehehe i agree. i feed 2 chins exclusively alfalfa every day. it is all they will eat so why waste the timothy. once in a while i will toss in a couple strands of orchard grass,

i feed most my others timothy, but i will often put a little bunch of alfalfa to encourage eating more.

alfalfa is a little more "rich" than timothy but like crysta said the best hay is the hay your chin with eat!
 
It's always been stated here and on CnQ that if you feed a timothy based pellet, give alfalfa; if you feed an alfalfa based pellet, give timothy. Some people in this thread have also posted that in the past. I tended to err on the side of caution, as my first mentor who is a judge and a vet suggested, and gave timothy with an alfalfa based pellet, though I did use alfalfa hay cubes every once in a while along with that.

Recently, I started giving nothing but alfalfa loose hay because I absolutely refuse to keep paying the ridiculously high prices that places like Oxbow and Kleenmama's charge. There is no way it costs them anywhere near the amount that they charge for their hay, and I feel that they are screwing people over. I can buy a 1500 pound bale of timothy or alfalfa straight from a farm for $80.00, so paying $35 or $40.00 for 50 pounds just makes me irritated beyond words. I can now go down to the local TSC or Bomgaars and pick up a VERY nice 50 pound bale of alfalfa from Standlee for $12.00 and my chins are doing great on it. There has been some weight gain, but as far as I'm concerned it's all to the good as the chins are healthy, happy, and look great.
 
I have never given my chin alfalfa because I know it is bad for the adult rabbits so I figured it was the same for chins... I get big bales of local grown timothy grass mixes and I have seen Ash eat that so I guess he likes it fine...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top