Hay Help

[Amy27]

I am trying to figure out what is the best type of hay to buy per my bunny's preferences. Right now I am wasting a lot of hay because they are so picky. I recently switched to Kleenmama's hay and they seem to like it better then store bought hay. The problem is they eat a small portion and expect new hay to be given. They refuse to eat any soft pieces of hay. I use some of the softer hay for their litter box but there is more soft hay then I can use. I tried filling bags with the left over hay they won't eat but I had more bags then what I would ever use.

So far I have bought 2nd and 3rd cut Timothy from Kleenmama's. What is the best cut if your rabbit doesn't like the soft pieces? I thought the 2nd cut was better then the 3rd. So I am wondering should I stock up on 1st cut? Is that the best cut if they don't like soft hay? Any advice is appreciated asI am tired of throwing away so much hay. I would rather spend more money and get the type they like. Is there another brand that tends to have less soft hay?

Thanks

 

[Maureen Las]

LOL
What a waste
mine would eat it.....

I switched tokleenmama's hay and ordered X2 from her; I am used to oxbow which is not as soft as kleenmama's (although my last 2 boxes of Oxbow were softer than it has been) .
The Kleenamama hayI had was very nice and very soft; it actually concerned me a bit as i wondered if it was as good for grinding down teeth as 'harder" hay. I believe it was 2nd cut.

Ifyour buns like harder hay they might like oxbow oat hay which is long and flat (definitely a different texture. )I also needed to get some hay for a "fill in" until ireceived my order so bought a couple bags of kaytee.
i actually am using that now occasionally for Gloria whose lower incisors are not ovegrown but eventually could be. The kaytee is definitely the hardest.

Ihope that you get more responses, Amy. from people who have ordered from more places as I am sure the cuts are different depending on where you get it.

Usually a first cut would be the hardest so if kleenamamas has a 1st cut try that ...

I will say that kleenmama's has the softest 2nd cut that I have ever encountered.
you may want to try different places after getting more feedback

 

[Little Bay Poo]

I can't offer any advice, but wanted to say that my bunnies are the same way. We started with Kaytee brand which was horrible, then switched to Farmer Dave, tried a bit of Oxbow in between, and now Kleenmama's 3rd cut timothy. Regardless of what we give, there is always a huge waste of hay. I'd estimate we throw away about 80% of the hay that is put in their cages.

I can only assume that this is due to our spoiling them on pellets, because I noticed that when Ronnie was sick and was rejecting his pellets, he was eating loads of hay.

Ours both prefer the brown pieces of hay, which only makes up about 5% of the box. It's funny because I'll notice Billy sniffing for the brown pieces and then getting frustrated and giving up. I guess because he has to rely on his nose (which isn't as accurate as my eyes) he has some trouble finding the brown ones. Sometimes I will sit there and pick them out for him, at which point he sits happily and gobbles them all up

 

[BethM]

Little Bay Poo wrote:

Ours both prefer the brown pieces of hay, which only makes up about 5% of the box. It's funny because I'll notice Billy sniffing for the brown pieces and then getting frustrated and giving up. I guess because he has to rely on his nose (which isn't as accurate as my eyes) he has some trouble finding the brown ones. Sometimes I will sit there and pick them out for him, at which point he sits happily and gobbles them all up

We need to team up. None of my bunnies will eat the brown hay! They sniff through it, pull all the hay out of the hay rack, eat the green stuff, and leave the brown.

My bunnies refuse to eat any hayfrom the petstore. (Oxbow or Kaytee.) They have been spoiled on American Pet Diner hay, as we get it at a good rate through our HRS. I believe they do prefer the harder pieces first, then eat the soft if there's nothing left. TobiLOVES the seed heads, but the other two don't care for them. (Once, we ran out of APD hay and the HRS meeting was a week away, so I got a small bag of Kaytee to tide them over. None of them ate hay the entire week. They would go sniff at it, then turn their noses up. :X)

Mine are so picky, they waste a lot of hay, too. I try to use the brown stuff they won't eat, along with the smaller pieces (they won't eat the "crumbs" either) on their litter box, but there is much more of it than I can use.

 

[emilyasb]

Wow. Guess I better count my blessings because my buns can't get enough Timothy hay.
But I feed them Kaytee Timothy hay...this thread makes me wonder if it's a good brand or not....

 

[Amy27]

Thanks for all yhe suggestions. I really like how kleenmama's hay smells. It always seems so fresh. I am watching her website to see when the 1st cut comes available. I tried Oxbow and Kaytee. Maybe I will get some Oxbow and try to mix it with Kleenmama's hay and see if that helps.

Robin your post made me feel better. I don't think I waste 80% but probably 60%-70%.

Beth does Pet Diner have seem to have a lot of harder green pieces in it? I have never tried that brand.

Emily I use to feed Kaytee and when I switch to Kleenmama's they went crazy. I think they ate a lot more when I first started getting it, they loved it. Maybe they are getting to spoiled.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

I dont have any advice per say

But storm was the same way until I cut back to 1/8 cup of pellets and literally made him eat the hay. He still picks his favorite first but he eats it all I now have to fill his hay ben 4 times a day.

He is a little eat em up

 

[BethM]

Amy27 wrote:

Beth does Pet Diner have seem to have a lot of harder green pieces in it? I have never tried that brand.

I think the APD hay that I feed is 2nd cut. I haven't tried Kleenmama's hay, so I can't really compare it. It isn't super-soft, but it is certainly softer than the Kaytee stuff. The box I have now seems to have more stiff stems than other boxes I've gotten. Also, getting more seed heads recently.
Maybe someone who has tried both can comment?

I hear so many good things about Kleenmama here on RO, I have been tempted to try it. From the website prices, it looks like it would be slightly less expensive for me than the APD, too. However, my HRS purchases hay by the pallet, and makes a small amount of money from the sale of each box. (Though not that much, they're constantly giving people discounts, or giving away half a box, and stuff like that to anyone who can't afford the full price.)

When we adopted Nick and Amelia, they were described as "big hay eaters." They certainly are! I keep hearing that one box (25lbs) should last two bunnies several months. My two go through that much in 5-6 weeks, though. :shock: (Of course, they waste about 20% of it.)

 

[Maureen Las]

emilyasb wrote:

Wow. Guess I better count my blessings because my buns can't get enough Timothy hay.
But I feed them Kaytee Timothy hay...this thread makes me wonder if it's a good brand or not....

I use Kaytee inbetween orders. I have too many buns to feed it all the time; I don't think there is anything wrong with kaytee at all; my buns still like eating it even after eating the 'gourmet" hay
I got a new bale of farm hay which cost $3 a 1/2 bale.

They like this just as much as Kleenmama's , oxbow or kaytee but it doesn't look as good to me.
They don't think like us ; they don't necessarily like it because it's greener or softer.

 

[BethM]

angieluv wrote:

They like this just as much as Kleenmama's , oxbow or kaytee but it doesn't look as good to me.
They don't think like us ; they don't necessarily like it because it's greener or softer.

Could you please come over and explain this to my bunnies?

Mine went for a week without eating any hay at all, because they refused to eat the Kaytee I provided for them when I ran out of APD.

 

[Maureen Las]

BethM wrote:

angieluv wrote:

They like this just as much as Kleenmama's , oxbow or kaytee but it doesn't look as good to me.
They don't think like us ; they don't necessarily like it because it's greener or softer.

Could you please come over and explain this to my bunnies?

Mine went for a week without eating any hay at all, because they refused to eat the Kaytee I provided for them when I ran out of APDLOL

LOL I never ordered from APD ..
remind me not to because I have things good and easy this way

 

[Little Bay Poo]

emilyasb wrote:

Wow. Guess I better count my blessings because my buns can't get enough Timothy hay.
But I feed them Kaytee Timothy hay...this thread makes me wonder if it's a good brand or not....

The reason that I don't like Kaytee is that the bags contained short, broken pieces of hay and a lot of hay dust. For some reason the last bag we bought smelled like coffee :?

We were having trouble getting the bunnies to eat Kaytee, and after that coffee bag, I figured we should switch. I can't speak for the brand as a whole, but can say that we were not too pleased with it.

 

[Maureen Las]

I think some kaytee is betterthan other kaytee ; I have even heard that at the stores that sell it cheaper (like walmart) that it is thin and sharp and in pieces whereas some of the stores have good hay.

I have bought good kaytee hay ..long green and tasty
it depends...

 

[Spring]

I'd definitely go with the first cut. My guys are the same and they usually devour the stemmy first cut.


Although I bought,a pretty poor quality first cut bale recently, just terrible! LOTS of brown bits in it, and the bunnies are wasting half of it because they don't eat the brown bits. I hate that! Usually I luck out with good hay that the bunnies adore, but this time, they are ready to fire me.

I really wish I could find oat hay around here to try. I don't bag hay anymore, so don't get the variety from different hay types.

 

[golfdiva]

Hershey is just the opposite. Send me the soft parts, and I'll send you Hershey's uneaten hard hay! lol!

 

[Gordon]

Well, I'll tell you all something kind of funny. I searched the site here for the key words, "hay waste", and found this thread. Very good, informative thread. I decided to get up and dump the current basket of hay that Peter and Bugs have available to them, and they came galloping over and started eating. Goofballs. They do it all the time. If I start to get rid of what they're not touching, they act like it's their last meal.