Hay

[mitsy]

What kind of hay should bunnies get? I know lots feed their bunnies hay and is a big part of their diet, but we give our pellets and not a lot of hay manly because we didn't do a lot of reasearch on them, and zi didn't choose on getting them my parents did so I didn't do much reasearch on them either. I was little when we first got our first bunnie.

Now that i'm older I pay more attention to the pets needs and diets. I am cureently in hight school but I am going to college in june to study to be a veterianarin adminastrative assistant. I think before I go to school there I should at lest pay attention to the pets I have now and learn about them.

I have rats and hamsters and they are me decission to get so I did lots of reasearch on them. If I decided to get the bunnies and my parents let me when I wantted them then I would know more about them and the guniea pigs like I do with the rats and hamsters.

 

[Blue eyes]

Rabbits under 6 months of age can have alfalfa hay or a mix of alfalfa hay and some other grass hay like timothy.

Alfalfa hay is not a grass hay but a legume.

After 6 months, any grass hay will do... timothy, orchard grass, brome, meadow, oat hay.

Mine have unlimited timothy hay 24/7. It is very important for good digestive health. It is also essential for helping to wear down their constantly growing teeth.

Many on this forum buy hay by the bale since it much more economical when feeding lots of hay.

 

[Imbrium]

As a rule, legume hays like alfalfa (aka lucerne) and clover should only be fed to rabbits under 7 mos old (1 year if a very large breed) and pregnant/nursing does.

For normal adults, ANY horse-quality grass hay is suitable. Hay that's sold specifically for cows is allowed to have nasty stuff like mildew in it that would make a horse or bunny sick, but what's clean enough for a horse is clean enough for a rabbit. With "cereal" type hays (oat, wheat, rye, etc.) the seed heads (oats, for example) should be removed before the hay is given to a bunny, as the excess carbs and calories in the seed heads are unhealthy for them and can potentially cause health issues (including GI stasis).

My general hay-buying advice:
Buying hay at the pet store is the biggest rip-off EVER. For one medium-sized bunny, a year's supply of hay from the pet store is around $300. A year's supply of hay for the same bunny if the hay is purchased by the bale from a feed store is around $12. Yeah. Over a 10-year lifetime (which is about average for a bunny), you'll save damn near $3000 by buying hay by the bale.

A bale can be stored for a year or more as long as it's kept clean, dry and insect free. I bought two half-bale bags from http://www.tackwholesale.com/bale-bags-c-11.html (I went with that instead of a full-bale bag because the half-bale bags are easier to move around and can be stacked to take up less space). Alternatively, you can use a rubbermaid type storage bin or even unscented large plastic trash bags. If you bring bags/containers to the feed store, they'll typically split up the bale and package it for you free of charge.

While you're at the feed store, I recommend grabbing a bag or two of wood pellets (they're usually kiln-dried pine) - they come in 40 lb bags and typically cost around $5-8. If you live in an area that actually has winters, an alternative is to buy wood stove pellets from a hardware store (same size bag/same price range) as long as they don't say that they have an accelerant added to them. Wood pellets are the cheapest option as far as buying litter box litter and tend to do a great job at odor control.

If you can't find a feed store/livestock supply store nearby or don't have the means to transport and/or store an entire bale of hay, another option is to call any stables in your area (places that board horses, give horseback riding lessons, offer trail rides, anything that involves having horses - and therefore hay - on the premises).

Explain that you're trying to find horse-quality grass hay for your pet rabbit and ask if they would be willing to sell you a few flakes (flakes are smaller units of hay that comprise a bale). Any place with horses will go through a ton of bales and it's often possible to sweet-talk them into parting with a few flakes for little (or even no) money - after all, one horse can eat in a day as much hay as a medium-sized bunny would eat in nearly a year, so they won't even miss a couple flakes .

 

[pani]

Bunnies should have access to unlimited hay, it should make up around 80% of their diet! Like Blue eyes said above, alfalfa hay (also known as lucerne hay in some areas) can be fed to young buns, however using a mix of alfalfa and a normal grass hay is a good idea, because it will make it easier to wean them off alfalfa when the time comes. Alfalfa hay is a bit sweeter so many buns prefer it, and will refuse to eat plain grass hay when their beloved alfalfa goes AWOL.

The remaining 20% of a bun's diet should be made up of pellets and fresh vegetables. Pellets are normally given by weight of bun, so it will vary based on each person's bun, but for example I'm currently feeding my 10-week-old ND 1/4 of a cup of pellets per day (twice the recommended adult amount for a bunny weighing 1-4 pounds). I use Oxbow's brand which most people on this forum tend to speak highly of, as far as I've seen. They do make a type specifically for young rabbits with a better formula for growing buns, but unfortunately it can't be shipped here due to my state's quarantine.

There's a number of vegetables that buns like to eat, and it's important when introducing them to do it slowly. Some bunnies may not do well with certain vegies, so it's good to know how the bun's digestion will handle any given veg so it can be removed from their diets if they don't react well.

More information from a quick Google search found here and here. :wave:

 

[mitsy]

ok, thanks everyone! You just helped me solve my problem. I have to different kinds of hay here and was told by another bunnie owner that they need alalfpha hay. I have guniea pigs as well that need unlimited hay which is also timothy hay.

 

[Imbrium]

Timothy works just fine for rabbits... however, if you're buying pet store hay for your piggies (which I'm guessing may be the case since baled timothy isn't particularly common in feed stores and GPs are much smaller/eat a good bit less hay than bunnies), that gets pricey in a hurry with rabbits (as I mentioned in more detail above, buying baled hay instead of pet store stuff could save you as much as $6,000 over the lifetimes of two bunnies) since they typically eat their own body volume (or more) in hay each day. Like rabbits, guinea pigs can have ANY grass hay - it doesn't have to be timothy... meaning they could eat from any bale purchased for your bunnies, saving you even more money. The best part is that feed store hay is equal (if not *better*) in quality than the stupid pet store hay which costs 25+ times as much.

One thing I forgot to mention in my first post... if you haven't really been feeding your bunnies hay, they may be pretty reluctant to eat it. If they mostly ignore it, keep supplying it anyway (and refresh their supply 1-2x a day so that it smells more appetizing); you can also try different methods of serving/offering it or even different types and/or cuts of hay. The vast majority of bunnies (that are unaccustomed to hay/reluctant to eat it) will eventually warm up to it if it's constantly available, though it may take as much as a few months.

Since you haven't been feeding hay, I assume they've been getting (a lot of) extra pellets to make up for it... bunnies should get around 1/4-1/2c pellets per 6 lbs body weight each day (depending on weight/metabolism and veggie intake/variety), but you don't want to drastically cut their pellet portions. Instead, reduce the amount you give gradually until you reach the recommended serving size for your bunnies* (which will hopefully encourage them to gradually increase their hay intake).

I strongly recommend splitting their daily ration of pellets into a *minimum* of two servings (preferably 3-4 when you initially start limiting pellets) simply because rabbits need to be "grazing" constantly throughout the day and night - you don't want to serve all their pellets at once unless you KNOW they'll steadily munch away on hay if they finish off their pellets long before it's time for the next day's serving.

*When reducing their pellets, make sure you're also keeping track of their hay-eating habits - cutting back CAN prompt them to eat their hay, but some rabbits are stubborn enough that they'd rather starve while holding out for pellets than cave into the pressure to eat a new kind of food. Adjust their pellet portions if need be to ensure that they don't give themselves GI stasis or become underweight... or better yet (if/when you've got them thoroughly introduced to a few kinds of leafy green veggies), increase their veggie serving(s) to get them extra nutrition and roughage until they learn to be good hay eaters.

Diet info:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Food/Food_main.htm

 

[Imbrium]

Like Blue eyes said above, alfalfa hay (also known as lucerne hay in some areas) can be fed to young buns, however using a mix of alfalfa and a normal grass hay is a good idea, because it will make it easier to wean them off alfalfa when the time comes. Alfalfa hay is a bit sweeter so many buns prefer it, and will refuse to eat plain grass hay when their beloved alfalfa goes AWOL.

*mutters something unintelligible under her breath that appears to be derogatory and directed towards her own bunnies*

Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way. I tried FOURTEEN grass hays (ie different brands, different cuts, different types, etc.) from all variety of sources (pet stores, feed stores, online sources) before I *finally* found a grass hay that my girls would eat a decent amount of... and it was an 80%/20% mix of orchard and damn alfalfa, which is presumably the only reason they caved to it. I eventually got them weaned onto pure orchard, but they made it difficult as hell. I have to order hay online because feed stores in my area don't carry orchard by the bale; it costs me around $1.50/lb after shipping. Better than $3-8 a lb for bags of pet store hay, but nowhere near as good as feed store prices of approximately 8 lbs per $1.

 

[pani]

*mutters something unintelligible under her breath that appears to be derogatory and directed towards her own bunnies*

Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way. I tried FOURTEEN grass hays (ie different brands, different cuts, different types, etc.) from all variety of sources (pet stores, feed stores, online sources) before I *finally* found a grass hay that my girls would eat a decent amount of... and it was an 80%/20% mix of orchard and damn alfalfa, which is presumably the only reason they caved to it. I eventually got them weaned onto pure orchard, but they made it difficult as hell. I have to order hay online because feed stores in my area don't carry orchard by the bale; it costs me around $1.50/lb after shipping. Better than $3-8 a lb for bags of pet store hay, but nowhere near as good as feed store prices of approximately 8 lbs per $1.

Oh my goodness! Sounds like you've got some stubborn buns on your hands. I'm really lucky - I recently started introducing a different type of hay, new Oxbow pellets, and even a few treats to Felix's diet, and he's happy to eat all of them. Didn't realise how lucky I was until now!