Reasons not to feed hay??

Kora · Mar 1, 2023

I go down a lot of rabbit holes on the internet, and somehow I ended up on a mini plush lop breeder in Colorado’s website. This breeder has an entire tab on their website saying why you shouldn’t feed your rabbit hay. Personally, I think the reasons are, to be frank, dumb and extremely easy fixes. I also think that by adding this tab, the breeder is potentially spreading misinformation to the people that buy their rabbits. I have lots of opinions I could list about this, but I’d love to know y’all’s.

Blue eyes · Mar 1, 2023

Sounds like they're reaching for excuses. I have heard of some breeders who do not feed hay for whatever reason but I don't see any justification for being so opposed to the feeding of hay that one so adamantly discourages it.

Messy? If something is actually good for a pet, any pet, is the potential for mess a reason to avoid it?

Hay carries mold, ear scale and ear mites? So could pellet feed. This is a dumb argument too since feed can get moldy too. Anecdotally, I've had rabbits on and off since the 1980s, yet never did I have moldy hay and never did my rabbits ever have ear scale or mites. To suggest that feeding hay will cause ear scale or ear mites is just patently false.

Hay is smelly when wet, causes yellow feet? Nope again in either case. (I'm attaching photo of some of my white-pawed rabbits to show their clean fur.)

Hay makes manure hot? Perhaps he's referring to the process of composting which would begin to occur if one left the hay and litter together for weeks on end -- eew! Composting always generates a certain amount of heat. I can go a week before emptying a litter box (twice/week if 2 rabbits are sharing the litter box) and can attest that the poos in the litter box are not ever hot. This is true even though I happen to live in an extremely hot climate. If extra heat were being generated from the litter box in our home, we would definitely know.

Hay causes malnutrition and starvation? Absolutely not. The long strands of hay are excellent for gut health. For more on the nutritional benefit of hay, I'd refer to rabbit expert, Dana Krempels, PhD :
https://hare.as.miami.edu/diet.html

Preitler · Mar 1, 2023

Most "arguments" are either wrong in some way, apply only under rather specific situations or are about the interests of the owner, not the rabbit.

No, the manure doesn't get "hot", hay mixed with thir poop goes straight into my vegetable garden.

No, they don't starve on hay, that is nonesense. Malnutrition - well, it depends. Hays can differ a lot in nutrational value, that might be something to consider when you by your hay directly from the farmer like I do.
Personally I do think a rather diverse diet - with hay as the staple food - is preferable.

Yellow feet? So what, the owners vanity is of no use to the rabbit.

Mites? Nope. More likely carried in by living things.
Mold can be an issue with most feeds.

Messy - well, he's got a point there, but that depends mostly on your setup, but again, this does not bother the rabbit in any way - I know.

There are several good ways to feed rabbits, not just one, you can do it right several ways depending on your resources. You can definitly feed a rabbit without hay - mine don't eat close to none through summer when fresh forage is available - hay is just the conserved form of that forage.

Kora · Mar 1, 2023

Blue eyes said:
Messy? If something is actually good for a pet, any pet, is the potential for mess a reason to avoid it?

I agree. In general, most pets are messy in some way or another. If you don't want to deal with the mess, don't get the pet.

Blue eyes said:
Hay carries mold, ear scale and ear mites? So could pellet feed. This is a dumb argument too since feed can get moldy too. Anecdotally, I've had rabbits on and off since the 1980s, yet never did I have moldy hay and never did my rabbits ever have ear scale or mites. To suggest that feeding hay will cause ear scale or ear mites is just patently false.

Exactly! It really makes me wonder where they were getting their hay from...

Blue eyes said:
Hay is smelly when wet, causes yellow feet? Nope again in either case. (I'm attaching photo of some of my white-pawed rabbits to show their clean fur.)

I've seen rabbits get yellow feet from owners not cleaning their litter boxes often, so by them saying that, I think they're basically outing themselves. Adorable and very clean buns btw!

Blue eyes said:
Hay makes manure hot? Perhaps he's referring to the process of composting which would begin to occur if one left the hay and litter together for weeks on end -- eew! Composting always generates a certain amount of heat. I can go a week before emptying a litter box (twice/week if 2 rabbits are sharing the litter box) and can attest that the poos in the litter box are not ever hot. This is true even though I happen to live in an extremely hot climate. If extra heat were being generated from the litter box in our home, we would definitely know.

Further proof they're outing themselves as people who don't clean their rabbits' litter boxes often! I also live in a hot climate and don't have a problem with hot litter boxes. If they're in Colorado, though, what's their excuse?

Blue eyes said:
Hay causes malnutrition and starvation? Absolutely not. The long strands of hay are excellent for gut health.

If it did cause malnutrition, I haven't the faintest clue as to why every expert says it's supposed to make up 80% of a rabbit's diet. I fed my rabbits solely hay for a while, and they maintained a healthy weight.

Kora · Mar 1, 2023

Preitler said:
Most "arguments" are either wrong in some way, apply only under rather specific situations or are about the interests of the owner, not the rabbit.

Yup! All of the arguments this breeder listed seemed due to their personal preference.

Preitler said:
No, they don't starve on hay, that is nonesense. Malnutrition - well, it depends. Hays can differ a lot in nutrational value, that might be something to consider when you by your hay directly from the farmer like I do.
Personally I do think a rather diverse diet - with hay as the staple food - is preferable.

Oh, agreed! I don't think rabbits get everything they need from hay nutrition-wise, but to say a rabbit will starve because of hay is ridiculous, in my opinion.

Preitler said:
Messy - well, he's got a point there, but that depends mostly on your setup, but again, this does not bother the rabbit in any way - I know.

I don't have many problems using a litter box with high sides, so it doesn't get too messy besides an occasional strand my rabbit drags out with her. Regardless, that's the breeder's preference, which I don't think shouldn't get in the way of how to take care of their rabbits.

Preitler said:
There are several good ways to feed rabbits, not just one, you can do it right several ways depending on your resources. You can definitly feed a rabbit without hay - mine don't eat close to none through summer when fresh forage is available - hay is just the conserved form of that forage.

I have seen rabbits go without hay, though most of the time, they're not the healthiest. It all depends on how knowledgeable the owner, is I suppose. Similar to how people feed their dogs raw as opposed to kibble. I just think that the arguments this breeder posted are incorrect in most aspects and harmful to the people they're selling to.

AshAndMaple · Mar 2, 2023

Surely yellow feet comes from standing in their own pee, not the hay!!

All the arguments are bs or ridiculous. Hay is messy? Bunnies are messy! If that's an issue for you then don't have pets

smh honestly