How much calcium is too much for hay? (Alfalfa vs Timothy)

[Tweetiepy]

Well I found someone who supplies hay to horse stables and he can bring me a bale of hay - I'm not sure if he has timothy - the translation he gave me seems not right but he can get me a 50-60 lb bale for $5. But I don't think it's even timothy from the name he's giving me - he said something that leads me to believe it's corn.

The thing is, he says that there's alfalfa & clover in it - now the clover I don't mind, but the alfalfa he's not sure of the percentage of that in there (he says it's just a field and some other stuff gets in there) How much is too much when it comes to alfalfa hay & calcium? Will it be too much for my bunnies (my older bun goes crazy for the alfalfa bits now that he can't have any anymore - he gets a strand or two as a treat once in a while) What if it's - 50-50 Timothy-Alfalfa? Would that be too much calcium? But he's not sure of the % so do I take a chance? I don't want sick bunnies - I can tell the diff between both if they're in their respective bags, but mixed up in a bale, I couldn't pick that out.

Here's my woes on trying to find a bale for a decent price: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=63006&forum_id=48

But for $5 I think that maybe I could take a chance and if it's all alfalfa, I could just toss it or use it for something else. It's just it's gonna be a logistical nightmare trying to orchestrate the pick up or delivery of this thing, I'm wondering if it's worth it

 

[Sweetie]

50-50 sounds a bit high. I would go with 90% timothy and 10% alfalfa. Too much alfalfa hay for adult bunnies can lead to problems.

Since you are uncertain I would not get this hay from this guy and it sounds like he isn't sure about the hay himself. I would try to get the hay somewhere else from someone who is sure about their hay and what goes into it.

$5 for a 50-60 pound bale of hay is a wonderful price. I wish I could get hay at that price and it be very good hay, meaning no flies, ticks, fleas, etc. That is why I always pay the petstore prices because their hay is packaged.

 

[Tweetiepy]

That's my problem too, I may have to pay for a 10 lb bale or two but those are back ordered too

 

[Runestonez]

Usually hay that is sold to horse farms is a better deal.
Horses and rabbits have very similar digestive systems.

Cattle hay is generally higher in alfalfa...
Whereas horse hay will have some alfalfa in it...the later season cuts seem to have more...
but it will probably be a better grassier hay.

We buy ours from a horse stable...it is comprised of timothy, orchard and brome...
and this time of year a bit of alfalfa is in there as well. But not enough to cause any issues!

Give it a try...if it is no good to you you're only out $5.
But chances are good it will be a good hay for the bunns!

I know around here the hay farmers feed there cattle is about 40-50% alfalfa, and the horse hay is about 10% alfalfa.

 

[Flash Gordon]

ur buns will prob pick out the alfalfa and leave the rest...and i know u think u wont know the difference between hays when their mixed but i guarantee u will in a bale...alfalfa is wayyy dif...its got thicker stems and chunks of leaves...everything else is kinda grassy...most of the time when they mix hays its got very little timothy in it if any at all...and norm they mix alfalfa with a cheaper fields like bermuda...
i bought a bale that was mixed and i had to manually pull out the alfalfa cuz thats all they would eat out of it...it wasnt that bad it was veryyyy messy tho....

 

[Maureen Las]

My friend with rabbits uses a farm hay that is a grassy mix; it contains no alfalfa but it does contain a lot of clover; I have tried it... but to be honest (no matter what anyone tells me ) I cannot feed my rabbits as much clover as there is in this hay.


She doesn't free feed hay like I do; she feeds a few handfuls a day to her rabbit. SinceI free feed hay I just am not comfortable feeding them that much clover.
it is impossible to pick it out as all I could possibly do is pick out the clover heads as the hay gets drier and it is too great a task for me to take on... just too much of it.

I am just ranting

Ispend hundreds of dollars on Oxbow hay ( 9 rabbits and 2 guninea pigs)and there is hay 20 minutes from here that I am afraid to use ...
My husband is afraid that I will bring mice and mites in the house with the farm hay but my friend has never had that problem.

When spring comes I am going to look for better hay in this area. There are horse farms butI just don't know where they are.