Can Guinea Pigs Eat Corn Husks?

Guinea pigs: every time you walk into the room, they greet you with excitement;

Notice me! Feed me! Give me all of the treats!

Whether you’re a new or an experienced piggy owner, you find yourself with a desire to slip new foods to them.

They’ll lock eyes with you from across the room, with the sole intent of squealing you into submission.

Much like the dog, they know you’ll break.

Eventually.

And face it: it probably works in their favor.

101% of the time, at that.

Then, it hits you at dinner time:

“Can guinea pigs eat corn husks? Will they make them sick? Are they a good source of nutrients?”





Taking Advantage of the Home Garden for Guinea Pigs: Feeding Cavies within Self-Sufficiency




Guinea pigs love to eat a wide variety of greens, especially from the home garden. By feeding our guinea pigs a wide variety of forage and roughage, we can significantly reduce our feed costs during the warm growing season. On a homestead, reducing the cost of feed is an important way to reduce expenses so that other projects and gardens can be invested in. One unique way of supplying guinea pigs with some fresh food is to feed them corn; not just the fruit of the plant though, there’s more: Can guinea pigs eat corn husks?

Believe it or not, corn is a grain. Most corn is of the sweet variety, making it too sweet to truly believe that it is a grain. This fact actually surprises many people. However, this grain is also a part of the grass family. This is a little less shocking; when you look at corn seedlings, they virtually look like tall blades of grass. And like many members of the grass family, the corn plant is safe for guinea pigs to eat.





Since Corn Is Safe for Guinea Pigs to Eat as a Treat, Can Guinea Pigs Safely Eat Corn Husks?


The corn husk is probably one of the safest parts of the plant for the guinea pigs to eat, aside from the leaves. The husk are actually high in fiber and low in protein. The high fiber is required by the guinea pigs digestive tract in order to function properly and provide the animal’s body with the nutrients it needs to survive and reproduce. Protein is important too, as it helps to build muscle and is an energy source for the animal. However, too much protein can cause many health problems, including obesity, which can be dangerous for the animal. Since the corn husks are not too high in protein, they are a great snack for guinea pigs to feast on as their hearts desire.




Corn kernels are not quite as innocent as the leafy, fibrous husks are. The fruit of the corn plant is very high in sugars, carbohydrates, and protein as compared to the needs of the guinea pigs’ diet. While guinea pigs absolutely love corn, the kernels need to be a restricted treat. Owners who allow their guinea pigs free access to corn, both fresh or dried, may find that their animals become overweight and sickly.

You can also feed your guinea pigs some of the leaves and they will enjoy those, too. The leaves will be similar in nutritional value to the husks.





Being Mindful of the Dangers of Feeding “Outsider” Corn to Pigs


In this post, we have been discussing corn that is grown at home. Many of us homesteaders do not like to use chemicals on our gardens, and many of us also do not grow genetically modified crops, or “GMOs“. Therefore, these concerns don’t exist for the typical homestead garden. However, this is not true for food that is found in grocery stores and in many farmers markets. Herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and other commercial chemicals, along with genetic modification, are believed to greatly increase production while protecting the crop up until harvest.




Most of us are very well-versed on the dangers of these practices, however they are still the most common practices associated with commercial farming in order to feed the masses. This means that the corn in your grocery store may be far dirtier than you would expect. I would not feed corn husks from standard, commercially-grown ears of corn from the grocery store to the guinea pigs. You can always purchase organic ears of corn instead. While organic corn may still have pesticides applied while growing, these chemicals are generally accepted as being far less harmful than conventional pesticides.