Different Types of hay

[Katie94]

For the last month or so I have found that hay quality in the uk is a bit problematic ( I know that hay is affected by various weather conditions when grown so it's hard to control). I usually feed a mix of soft cut and coarse cut Timothy hay but my bunnies are not liking it so much at the moment. I purchased some samples from a different supplier for Timothy, meadow, oat, rye and orchard hay but I don't really know much about these alternative types. Out of all the samples it looks like oat hay got eaten the most. I was wondering if this is a nutritionally good hay to be feeding at least for the moment while the hay cuts are not great.

Thank you

 

[Blue eyes]

Oat hay, if harvested before it sets seed, is an excellent hay. If it is harvested later, it would be recommended to shake the seeds off as much as possible because of the high starch content in the seeds. The remaining stalks may be lower in nutrition at that point too.

 

[Katie94]

Thank you that's good to know