hay/grass/whats the difference?

[jamesedwardwaller]

someone told me to feed my rabbits hay...hey i said hay,,i feed grasses,,they did not know the difference,,hey i said,,does anyone know the difference ??.what do you feed and why??what the difference,,what is fiber,,,why should a rabbit eat fiber??-can,t you just feed anything you want,anytime??,,sincerely james waller

 

[Saudade]

Hay James (rrrrrr)! Good to see you again! Hay is just dried grass! Both are just as fibrous, different types of hay have different types of grass in them! Alfalfa is made from (You guesssed it!) Alfalfa, which we call lucerne in australia! It's a type of flowering pea!
Timothy hay is made from timothy grasses and orchard grass is from orchard grass!
Feeding your rabbits fresh grasses are fine! though I would imagine that they would need to be changed more often than hay!

 

[crystal]

I have also wondering what the difference is...

we have heaps of long grass in our back yard which I pick every day or two. it is free, unlike hay... but I don't always want to walk outside and pick grass, especially in the morning when the grass is wet and cold. so the hay is handy, I use it too.

I was considering making my own hay actually, has anyone else tried this? the grass is growing faster than I can pick it... so I thought maybe I could dry some out?

 

[kirbyultra]

james waller wrote:

someone told me to feed my rabbits hay...hey i said hay,,i feed grasses,,they did not know the difference,,hey i said,,does anyone know the difference ??.what do you feed and why??what the difference,,what is fiber,,,why should a rabbit eat fiber??-can,t you just feed anything you want,anytime??,,sincerely james waller

Hi James! we had this discussion on PM... nice post for everyone else to see

 

[MikeScone]

crystal wrote:

I was considering making my own hay actually, has anyone else tried this? the grass is growing faster than I can pick it... so I thought maybe I could dry some out?

Hay is just dried grass, so if your bunny will eat what you collect (whether dried as hay or fresh as grass), that's fine. Of course, that's only if you don't use chemicals on your lawn, and there's no wildlife around which might contaminate it.

That said, all grass is not the same. Timothy, brome and orchard grass are all "grass", just like lettuce, cabbage and kale are all leaf vegetables - or romaine, iceberg and endive are all lettuce. However, they each have their own distinctive flavor. Scone loves brome and orchard grass, but he won't touch timothy at all - and he won't touch the hay I cut, either. I have no idea what sort of grass grows around my pond, which is the only area I let it grow long enough to cut with a sickle bar and dry for hay, but whatever it is, Scone doesn't like it.

 

[Rosiesmom]

It's good to know that other buns are just as picky eaters as mine... Butter LOVES fresh long grass. But only certain kinds. I live on a dirt road with plenty of long grass that grows alongside the road so I walk and pick her a handful most every morning. Through trial and error, I've learned which she likes and pick that. She will eat Romaine lettuce, but snubs kale, spinach, cukes, basil, cilantro, radish tops, beat tops, and the lettuce I grew in my garden... three rows of my garden for her and she won't touch any of it! haha... uggghh... Rosie won't eat anything but a tiny bit of hay and rabbit pellets. And grapes, apples and pears. She will beg for those (given in small quantities) Since wild rabbits gobble up our garden as fast as it grows, I never expected our house buns to be so picky!!!

 

[LionsRawr]

Im gonna have to try both the fresh grass and hay from my yard, for Bubblegum and Sparrow. Of course im still gonna buy them hay at the store for now. But we don't treat our yard with chemicals and after mowing rake up the grass. It'd be nice if they enjoyed it.

 

[crystal]

MikeScone wrote:

crystal wrote:

I was considering making my own hay actually, has anyone else tried this? the grass is growing faster than I can pick it... so I thought maybe I could dry some out?

Hay is just dried grass, so if your bunny will eat what you collect (whether dried as hay or fresh as grass), that's fine. Of course, that's only if you don't use chemicals on your lawn, and there's no wildlife around which might contaminate it.

They love the hay I buy, and they love the fresh grass that we pick from our back yard. it is long, about a foot or so some of it. it's not really a lawn as such... we live in a semi rural area. We don't use any chemicals on it... I hadn't thought about the wildlife thing before. what kinds of animals can contaminate it and make it unsafe for bunnies? I think the main things that could go near it would be wild birds and our neighbours cat (although not at the same time for obvious reasons haha). are these a problem? I think we have wallabies and wombats nearby but as far as I know they don't go in our yard! oh and maybe the occasional echidna too.

LionsRawr, I am a little concerned because I think grass can be bad for bunnies if it is mowed with a lawn mower because of the petrol fumes... but if they don't like it anyway then I guess it won't harm them.

 

[Saudade]

Crystal we have Myxo and VHD (RCD RHD whatever you wnat to call it) VHD is the one that can be spread to your rabbits through the grass, it's passed on through faeces (poo), hair and any nasal secretions, it's very easily spread all over everything and is one of the worst things to witness happening to your rabbit.

I would suggest any grass that you get you wash thoroughly first even if you don't see any rabbits nearby. Also if there are rabbits that are nearby don't let your buns out on the grass if they've been near it.

The petrol will remain on the grass so don't feed it to your buns, though if you remember back in the 50s there were pushmowers that you moved along the grass by hand and they cut it. Well those are great for harvesting grass for the buns to eat. Electric versions of these will also work just as well.

 

[MikeScone]

crystal wrote:

I hadn't thought about the wildlife thing before. what kinds of animals can contaminate it and make it unsafe for bunnies?

That would vary based on where you lived, of course. Your rabbits in Australia are introduced European rabbits, the same as our domestic bunnies, and you have Myxo and VHD, which would be worrisome if you had any "wild" rabbits around.

Here in New York State, there is no Myxo or VHD, and our "rabbits" are really Eastern Cottontails, which are another genus entirely. There probably are some diseases of conttontails which could cross over to domestic rabbits, but I've not heard of any which are as disastrous as those two. What we'd worry about here would be raccoons - their feces carry roundworms, which can be a problem.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

webster says hay is:-grass,clover or the like,cut and dried for fodder,../.well, so remember todays grass tomarrows-hay-hey hey,..i just felt the term hay was too general/not specific-enough,.. do not order hay,,because that is what you will get,,,rrrrr,,rrr ,sincerely james waller

 

[crystal]

Saudade wrote:

Crystal we have Myxo and VHD (RCD RHD whatever you wnat to call it) VHD is the one that can be spread to your rabbits through the grass, it's passed on through faeces (poo), hair and any nasal secretions, it's very easily spread all over everything and is one of the worst things to witness happening to your rabbit.

I would suggest any grass that you get you wash thoroughly first even if you don't see any rabbits nearby. Also if there are rabbits that are nearby don't let your buns out on the grass if they've been near it.

The petrol will remain on the grass so don't feed it to your buns, though if you remember back in the 50s there were pushmowers that you moved along the grass by hand and they cut it. Well those are great for harvesting grass for the buns to eat. Electric versions of these will also work just as well.

It is possible that there are wild rabbits in my area, I have seen some over the years although never within my property. so I could wash the grass to be on the safe side but I think it's unlikely that any rabbits would have touched it. if I picked the grass from in the street I would wash it.

I know grass cut with a mower is bad... my dad recently got something that I think cuts with a brush or something. it's like a wiper snipper, which might be an aussie term that most other people won't understand? does anyone know what I'm talking about? he thought the grass cut with this would be fine for the rabbits... I can't remember exactly what he said but I think the fumes might go out behind him rather than near the grass.

 

[ra7751]

Interesting thread....hay is just dried grass....but commercially grown hay is tested by individual states (in the US) to guarantee nutritional content. While the grass in your yard would be a tasty treat (and a vehicle to bring in parasites)....it would not be as healthy as commercially grown hay. I feedgrass from my yard to my cottontails and squirrels. And as mentioned, raccoon feces do carry a particularly nasty nematode that is always fatal when introduced into a rabbit. Fortunately, raccoons generally use a "latrine" system and so they usually use one spot. Hay is essential for digestion system health (low protein, high fiber) and it is the primary method of keeping the teeth worn down. We offer a buffet of hays in order to allow a more natural feeding experience for our rabbits. We have different cuts of timothy, brome, oat , wheat, barley, fescue, orchard grass, etc. And grass hay should be fed free choice....pellets should be used only to maintain weight and body conditioning. I buy lots of hay from high end horse people....any hay that is safe for a horse is safe for a rabbit. High quality hay is essential for all metabolic functions as well as for controlling the teeth.

Randy