Please recommend hay sources "just for bunnies"

[Thumperina]

I have some kind of hay problem.
Our feed stores have usually 4 types of hay - brome, alfalfa, prairie and straw (which is probably not a hay).
Alfalfa I bought there is really good (bunnies love it!) but the problem is that we need to wean from it.
Unfortunately, they don't eat prairie hay (which is a mix of our native kansas grasses, timothy and something else. I guess this is what I am supposed to give them, if they would eat it). I myself don't like how it looks and smells - doesn't look like a quality hay. I ended up using it for bedding.
I have tried timothy and orchard grass from pet stores - totally ignored. Haven't tried oat from pet store yet but knowing my rabbits, I can predict they would ignore it.
I know there are some online sourses that cell by pretty large amount and claim that "this hay is just for bunnies, bunnies love it!"
"Crazy tasty" seems to be out of stock.
Any other suggestions? I really don't know what hay to feed.
2 bunnies are 5 months old (they still can have alfalfa I guess), 2 bunnies are 11 months old

 

[MiniLopHop]

Any hay marketed as horse quality is good for rabbits. I get bales of Timothy/Orchard mixed at my local feed store that the buns love. They won't touch pet store hay now. They do like the crazy tasty or oxbow, but it is a lot more expensive so I use it more as snacking hay (a handful a day) and then unlimited of the baled hay.

 

[Thumperina]

Any hay marketed as horse quality is good for rabbits. I get bales of Timothy/Orchard mixed at my local feed store that the buns love. They won't touch pet store hay now. They do like the crazy tasty or oxbow, but it is a lot more expensive so I use it more as snacking hay (a handful a day) and then unlimited of the baled hay.

I have tried what my feed stores offer. It didn't work (except for alfalfa)

 

[missyscove]

If you're weaning them off of alfalfa, they may just think all the other types of hay aren't any good until they realize there isn't going to be any more alfalfa. For example, when I adopted my buns they were on an alfalfa based pellet at the shelter. It took them 3 days to decide the oxbow timothy based pellets I was offering were okay and now they bolt out of their cage for me to hand feed them their pellets as treats.
Oxbow does get cheaper if you buy it in large quantities (e.g. they sell 50 lb boxes. Still incredibly expensive compared to bales of hay from a feed store, but cheaper than tiny bags).

 

[Imbrium]

not sure what you found from oxbow in 50 lb boxes, but the biggest thing they sell of oat hay is only 9 lb... and it's like $27.

someone mentioned this site earlier today; the prices are quite good considering they include the shipping cost - http://www.sierravalleyhay.com/Orders.html ... you can get the timothy and orchard in an 80/20% blend of one of those + 20% alfalfa which might be more tempting than the grass hay by itself. you could also try a small bag of oat hay from the pet store and then order a big thing of it if they like it - mine won't eat ANY grass hay other than oat (they're pissed off about getting weaned off alfalfa). just be warned that with oat hay, you need to pick out all (or at least most) of the stupid oats, as the excess carbs are no good for bunnies. it's a real pain in the butt - I'd kill to get mine to eat something other than oat!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We get orchard grass in 50+ pounds from Fosters and Smith. Peter wouldn't touch hay when the alfalfa got phased out and only ate pellets. So, I eliminated pellets for 3 days and he's one of our best hay eaters now.

 

[missyscove]

Drs. Foster and Smith have the 50 lb oxbow boxes. I added one to my cart and I think it was going to include free shipping.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=17281

I order my Oxbow through their Oxbow University program for vet students which means I get most of my stuff essentially half off with free shipping to the representative's house and I get to pick it up there. I pay $11.75 for my 9 lb boxes and would pay $43 for the 50 lb boxes if I ordered those. Based on the fact that store prices for all the pellets and such are roughly twice what I pay through the program, I'd say Drs. Foster and Smith have pretty good prices on the hay.

Still, lots of people think it's insane to pay over $1/lb for hay and it may or may not be worth it to you.

 

[Imbrium]

oh, they've got orchard and timothy in 50 lb boxes, but not oat