Pet Habitat South Africa

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04 Oct 2014

Review of Hay In South Africa

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Nutrition | Guinea Pig Food | Timothy Hay

The latest feeding recommendation for rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas is a diet of 80% grass hay and/or fresh grass. But why are there so many pet owners reluctant to do this? Maybe there is a fear that their beloved pet will starve to death. Or how do we know if our hay in South Africa is good enough? It has been proven that only a diet of hay provides them with good digestive health as well as physical and mental stimulation.

Concentrated food such as pellets, nuggets or dry food mixtures (also called muesli) must constitute only 10% of the diet because they don’t contain the right type of fibre. Failing to provide adequate portions of the right kind of fibre can rapidly lead to illness or death.

Because grass/hay does not appeal to humans, we have decided to feed more concentrated foods. Many people today are becoming more and more conscious of what they putting into their bodies. This is why we always look at the nutritional information on the back of food. So why don’t we do the same for our small furry animals. We know the protein or fat content of our muesli mixes or pellets, but what about our hay.

Most hay sold in pet stores in UK has nutritional analysis information on packaging, but why don’t we have the same here. As with most foods, different types of hay are not identical in structure and nutrient content. We are often left to the sight, smell and touch of hay to make general assumptions about its quality.

Would'nt it be nice if all hay in South Africa was tested in a laboratory? Different areas of South Africa have different availability of minerals in the soil and thus result in hay that may or may not meet the requirements of your specific small pet. Knowing the nutritional content of your forage allows you to better tailor additional dry food supplements to meet the needs of your guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla. With this information, you can put together a proper balanced diet for your small pet.

So whilst buying hay might at first seem a straightforward and simple action, having a little knowledge about what you’re spending your hard earned Rands on will both ensure the best forage for your rabbit, guinea pig or chinchilla and mean that you get the best value for your money as well.

Review of various hays in South Africa

At Pet Habitat we have a great concern for the welfare of small animals in South Africa, because we feel they have been neglected for too many years, when it comes to quality nutrition. This is why we collected various hay samples from various farms and pet stores in South Africa and submitted them for nutritional analysis testing. There are many laboratories in South Africa that perform these tests, but to ensure quality analysis we used a laboratory that is certified by SANAS.

It was disappointing that no laboratory in South Africa offered ADF and NDF tests which are a very accurate tests to determine the amount of digestible energy in hay. Acid Detergent Fiber (or ADF) tests measures the amount of digestible fibre present in hay whilst Neutral Detergent Fiber (or NDF) tests measures the amount of indigestible fibre. One laboratory did mention that they can forward the samples to their branch in Australia at cost of R7000 per sample, but the waiting period for results is 6 months. Fortunately for us, Burgess in England does these two tests all the time on their timothy hay products.

Midfeeds in Kyalami

They provide horse feeds to 55% of the horse community in Gauteng. We tested Eragrostis hay from them. We like our hay to be green in colour, but that should not be the only criteria for judging hay quality. The hay was light brown with a little green and it had a fine, soft texture. Holding it very close, it had a faint fresh smell, but not much.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	7.6%
Crude Fat	1.3%
Crude Fiber	26%
Moisture	14.%

Crude Ash	3.5%
Calcium	0.4%
Phosphorous	0.1%
Vitamin C	<10 mg

Download Lab Test Results pdf

Milmac in Fourways

They provide horse feeds to 40% of the horse community in Gauteng. We tested Teff hay from them and it had slightly brown colour with no green at all. It had soft, fine, dry texture and there was no smell.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	5.0%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	26%
Moisture	15%

Crude Ash	5.0%
Calcium	0.3%
Phosphorous	0.1%
Vitamin C	<10 mg

Download Lab Test Results pdf

The Farm Barn in Pretoria East

They provide horse feed to a small amount of people in the east of Pretoria. We tested Teff hay from them and it has light brown colour with a tint of green here and there. The texture was also soft and fine, with faint fresh aroma when keeping it very close.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	6.4%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	25%
Moisture	16%

Crude Ash	4.7%
Calcium	0.3%
Phosphorous	0.1%
Vitamin C	<10 mg

Download Lab Test Results pdf

Inja Orchard Grass

This hay bought from pet shop had brownish colour, with hardly any green to it. It had a course texture and a very faint aroma when kept closer to your face.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	6.0%
Crude Fat	1.4%
Crude Fiber	31%
Moisture	16%

Crude Ash	6.0%
Calcium	0.3%
Phosphorous	0.1%

Download Lab Test Results pdf

Pets Choice Eragrostis Hay

This hay from a pet shop, surprisingly had a slightly nicer aroma than all the other hays, but it was very dry and brown in colour with a very fine, soft texture.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	6.5%
Crude Fat	1.6%
Crude Fiber	30%
Moisture	16%

Crude Ash	3.8%
Calcium	0.3%
Phosphorous	0.1%

Download Lab Test Results pdf

Marltons Lucerne

This is a legume hay bought online from Takealot and is high in protein, energy and calcium. It was a lot greener in colour, which means higher Vitamin A and it did have a lovely, sweet aroma, the best smell from all the local hay samples. The texture was much more coarse and fibrous than the other samples. From physical appearance alone, this should be the most nutritious sample.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	15%
Crude Fat	1.1%
Crude Fiber	30%
Moisture	14.%

Crude Ash	9.5%
Calcium	0.8%
Phosphorous	0.2%

Download Lab Test Results pdf

Burgess Excel Herbage with dandelions and marigold

This Timothy Hay is imported from New Hay farm in England and the first thing that gets your attention when opening the pack, is the wonderful aroma that comes from the dried grasses. It is so strong, you can even smell it at arm’s length. None of our other samples had this sweet fragrance. This long fibre hay has also a more course, rough texture, much similar to Lucerne, but not as soft as teff or eragrostis hay. It is slightly dry with a lot more green than our other samples.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	12%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	35%
Moisture	12%

Crude Ash	8.0%
Sodium	0.1%
Beneficial Fibre	63%
Vitamin C	150 mg

Burgess Excel Forage Meadow Hay

A delicious, complementary food made from barn-dried grass harvested straight from the field. Excel Forage is an excellent source of good quality, long fibre. It also has a wonderful, sweet fragrance when you open the pack.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	10%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	28.5%
Moisture	12%

Crude Ash	7.0%
Sodium	0.1%
Beneficial Fibre	55%
Vitamin C	150 mg

Burgess Excel Herbage with Chamomille

A sweet smelling Timothy Hay with Chamomile that's high in Beneficial Fibre. Timothy Hay is an excellent source of good quality, long fibre. This delicious hay and calming Chamomile are grown and harvested together. Chamomile is known for its calming properties. Dust is extracted to prevent respiratory problems.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	10%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	35%
Moisture	12%

Crude Ash	8.0%
Sodium	0.1%
Beneficial Fibre	63%
Vitamin C	150 mg

Burgess Excel Herbage with Birch Bark

A sweet smelling Timothy Hay with Birch Bark that's high in Beneficial Fibre. Timothy Hay is an excellent source of good quality, long fibre. This delicious hay is packed with birch bark which Fibrevores love. Birch Bark is known for its antiseptic properties and is great for wearing down teeth. Dust is extracted to prevent respiratory problems.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein	12%
Crude Fat	1.0%
Crude Fiber	35%
Moisture	12%

Crude Ash	8.0%
Sodium	0.1%
Beneficial Fibre	63%
Vitamin C	150 mg

Conclusion:

Teff and Eragrostis are perhaps two of the more widely used hay varieties in South Africa. The major disadvantage of these hays is that the nutritional value can range from good to extremely poor quality. The quality will ultimately depend upon stage of growth when cut, fertilization, and environmental factors. Please bear this in mind when evaluating these test reports. Use it only as a guideline.

First of all, I think that all the hay samples we collected were all good and had some nutritional value, even the ones bought from pet stores. A good quality hay has a protein content of 5 to 12 %. Hay purchased directly from farms seems to have a better protein content, even though they did not have much green colour, with Midfeeds the highest protein level of 7.6%. This is very impressive. Midfeeds hay also had a slightly higher fat and calcium content. All three hays from the farms had a low Crude Fibre of 25-26%, where it should be more around 35% and this is probably due to soft texture of Teff and Eragrostis hays.

There is also nothing wrong with hay bought from pet stores because the protein levels were good. However they did have more Crude Fibre and slightly higher fat content, which is better. The more fibre in the hay, the better it is because we need a combination of both soft digestible fibre as well as rough, course indigestible fibre.

Marltons lucerne has a beautiful, lush green colour and even a stronger aroma than all the other local hay samples, but the lab tests revealed the protein and calcium levels are too high. Even the Crude Fibre for this lucerne sample is considered to be poor at 30%.

These tests prove that sometimes hay in South Africa have different nutritional values than hay in other countries. You cannot simply take results from nutritional information for hay in USA and Europe found on the internet and use that to work out a maintenance diet for your pets in South Africa. The quality of hay, even lucerne will depend on region and climate conditions.

My recommendation is to purchase hay from different farms and pet shops, and mix them. If you can add some dried flowers and herbs, it will increase the palatabilty and stimulate your furries to eat more and more hay, which is exactly what they need.

How do our local hay compare to imported timothy hay?

Well in my opinion, the protein from hay bought from farms is very good and comparable to timothy hay and will probably have a good digestible fibre measurement. Unfortunately we were unable to do ADF tests to confirm this. Teff and Eragrostis hay is soft kind of hay similar to meadow hay from UK, whilst Timothy Hay is long fibre hay with a dry, course, fibrous texture and will definately have a higher indigestible fibre measurement (NDF tests). Timothy hay has therefore the right combination of both types of fibre which is perfect for guinea pigs, rabbits and chinchillas and is also highly palatable. This means your small furry will probably consume less timothy hay to get ideal maintenance, whilst you may have to feed a lot more of local hays to get the same maintenance.

Latest Scientific Research

A recent scientific study on rabbits, conducted by The University of Edinburgh has shown that feeding muesli or any dry food mixtures, with or without hay, is linked to abnormalities that can lead to painful dental and digestive problems that require expensive veterinary treatment. The excuse by some pet owners and breeders, and the reason why they still feeding muesli or dry food is that it does not apply to guinea pigs and chinchillas because the research was conducted on rabbits.

What they fail to understand is that the research did not focus on which food brand is better, but rather on the effects of fibre in the diet. Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas may have different vitamin and mineral requirements for their daily maintenance, but they all have the same, unique dental physiology and digestive system due to an evolutionary adaptation to a plant-rich diet.

One of the main reasons we feed hay is because it is high in fiber and low in fats and proteins. This is critical due to their unique digestive systems. The research revealed the importance of fibre in their diet. The more concentrated foods you feed your guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla, they less hay they consume and their water intake reduces, thus beginning a process of slowing down their gut motility.

Why you must feed hay

In the wild these small animals will eat grass, weeds, shrubs, bark from trees, vegetation that is quite fibrous and dry, not lush and juicy. Inside each tiny cell of these plants are even smaller, abrasive particles called phytoliths (plant stones). As they graze, they grind and break apart the plant cells, releasing the phytoliths, and exposing their teeth to the abrasive particles, This chewing action wears down their teeth much the same way as sandpaper.

The biggest mistake many pet owners do is feed concentrated dry food mixtures (muesli) that is labeled “complete” or “balanced.” From a nutritional standpoint, this is excellent, but from physiological standpoint, concentrated foods are not enough, because they do not contain enough phytoliths to properly wear down your pet’s teeth. You can place wooden chew toys in their cage, but it will only help with front teeth, and not the back molars. Your pet’s teeth will continue to grow, just as they were designed to do, regardless of diet. Without hay in the diet, there is nothing to wear the teeth down, leading to dental disease that can impact their overall health and well-being.

Burgess Excel Nuggets have been designed to compliment a diet of 80% long fibre. This is why their nuggets is labelled "Complimentary Diet" and there are different nuggets with different nutrional vitamins and additives developed by vets for different dietary requirements for guinea pigs, chinchillas and different life stages of rabbits.

It is also recommended to feed some fresh, leafy green vegetables daily, which is a great source of all types of vitamins, especially Vitamin B1 (Thiamin).

What is a Fibrevore?

This new scientific study demonstrated that fibre is so vital to health of guinea pigs, chinchillas, degus and rabbits, that they are now referred to as a group of animals known as fibrevores. They need an enormous, no massive amount of fibre, a great deal more fibre than you can ever imagine.

Daily fibre intake is essential to maintain normal:

gut function

dental wear

fermentation in the caecum.

Fibre comes mainly from plant cell walls. And plant cell walls containing lignin, cellulose and phytoliths which are important for salivation and dental health.

Fibrevores need both digestible and indigestible fibre in their diet, together we call this ‘beneficial fibre’. Timothy hay provides all this fibre for your little furry friends.

Digestible fibre is derived from a young, growing plant cell with primary cell walls that contains fermentable or digestible fibre. This fibre supports caecal fermentation and gives your pets the essential nutrients that they need.

Indigestible fibre is derived from older plants with secondary cell walls, which consist mainly of cellulose and lignin. This keeps their digestive system moving effectively.

Crude Fibre (CF) – only represents 20-90% of the lignin and 30-100% of cellulose depending upon the plant. It is generally considered a poor measure to use when trying to make a complete diet for fibrevores.

The Importance of Digestibility Factor

The reason why Timothy Hay is so popular is because it has a high digestibility factor. Let's say for the sake of comparison, that you are feeding your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig a portion of a 2nd cutting hay that was cut when the plant was relatively immature, the nutrition and digestibility are high, and the cellulose content is low. Your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig would be able to digest more of the nutrients out of this hay and would achieve maintenance or weight gain depending upon the size of the servings and amount of exercise he is able to do in his environment.

If this same field of hay had been allowed to grow for another week, for example, the indigestible portion of the plant would have increased, making the hay less nutritious and less palatable, and the amount of digestible energy that your fibrevore is able to extract from that hay is decreased. It would now become necessary to feed a larger size portion of this more mature hay to achieve the same maintenance levels for your pet.

This digestibility factor is the determining factor as to how much "good" your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig will get out of a particular type of hay. You can feed a large volume of hay that is low on the digestibility scale and keep the rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig at his ideal body weight, but if feeding a highly digestible hay (high in nutrients) one would obviously need to feed a smaller amount to maintain the rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig at his ideal body weight. Within the confines of each cutting (1st, 2nd, 3rd) it is possible to have varying percentages of "digestibility" depending upon the stage of maturity of the plant at the time of harvesting.

A few more reasons why timothy hay is great…

Timothy hay has very little dust which makes it great for any of your fibrevores who have respiratory problems. It’s also good if any of your family members suffer from asthma. It can be tidier too when you’re cleaning out your pet's cage. Dust from hay really can get everywhere if you’re not careful!

My pets won’t eat hay, can I give them something else

All fibrevores need to eat hay, but they can be fussy, so you just need to find the one that they like and make sure they’re not filling up on other dry foods. A common problem with all fibrevores is that they love to eat and nibble on things, and will always choose tastier things than hay given the chance. Make sure they have access to grass as this is also good for them and acts in a similar way to hay. If they don’t currently eat grass, wean them onto it slowly to avoid upset stomachs. Don’t feed them grass from lawnmowers as the way it’s chopped causes it to ferment, which is bad for their tummies, and only feed grass that hasn’t been treated with pesticides or near traffic fumes. Cutting down on pellets and dry food will encourage them to snack on hay. Try feeding pellets for breakfast and just provide hay throughout the day.

Warning: Slowly reduce the amount of regular dry food you give them if they not used to eating hay. If you suddenly take away their main food source, it could be dangerous.

What to look for in a good quality hay

Once you’ve seen top quality timothy grass hay you’ll never mistake it for a poor quality one. However, the challenge for many pet owners is to find good quality hay in the first place, as much of what is sold at pet stores can be very much sub-standard.

But undoubtedly the one thing that will tell you the difference between a sub-standard hay and a top quality one, is the way your fibrevore eats it! Once you’ve seen how voraciously a guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla munches into a pile of the best timothy hay, you’ll never want to feed him anything other than this. Not only does he enjoy it, but you’ll see a huge difference in the amount of wastage – because they won’t leave any of it!

And this is possibly one of the most important aspects of buying good timothy hay; because the last thing any of us want is to waste money on what we purchase. So even if the initial cost of buying a top quality hay might be expensive , in the long run you actually save money because what you have to throw away is minimal. Not to mention the satisfaction you get from providing your pet with the very best nutrition possible.

Tags : Review of Hay In South Africa , Teff Hay South Africa , Eragrostis Hay South Africa , Timothy Hay South Africa