Switching from Alfalfa to Timothy Hay?

[jasonl82]

Our little holland lop Barnaby is over 6 months old now. We read somewhere when we first got him that he should be fed only Alfalfa Hay for the first 6 months and then after that switch him over to Timothy Hay. Well we got the timothy and have been trying to ween him onto it. I used to have to fill his hay basket like every other day because he would gobble up the alfalfa so fast, now he just picks through the timothy for the alfalfa and eats almost none of the timothy hay. This has been going on for a good two to three weeks now.

Should I be worried? Will he eventually learn to like the timothy hay? I know his diet should really consist of a ton of hay and I'm worried he's not getting enough right now since I only put in some alfalfa...

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Alfalfa has a stronger smell (and I assume taste), so you'll probably have to take him off the alfalfa, cold turkey. Switching hays should not cause digestive upset, so I'd just take away the alfalfa and offer just timothy or other grass hay.

 

[missyscove]

You really might have to go cold turkey on the alfalfa to get him to eat the timothy. You can try misting the timothy with a little apple juice too to encourage him to eat it. Right now he's probably holding out for the alfalfa, but once he learns that he's not going to get any, he should take to the timothy.

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

He may just like the alfalfa better I have rabbit over 6 months and feed them alfalfa hay no problem. all the judges say they are in great condition and I haven't had any health problems. knock on wood.and they dont seem to stress like other rabbits. idk if thats just them, the hay, home water, or the feed I feed but they like it and it keeps them content and calm especially where our fairs are in the summer. good luck

 

[elrohwen]

Can I also ask what quantity of pellets you're giving him? If he's still on a high amount of pellets, because he's young, he may be filling up on that. I found that my rabbit increased his timmy hay intake dramatically when I reduced his pellets around 8 months.

I agree with the others that you will probably have to take away the alfalfa so that he's forced to eat something else. You can also try buying him some other grass hays to see if he likes them better than timothy - brome, orchard, and meadow (timmy with herbs, I think) are popular and have the same nutrition as timmy.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

when we switched ours over we did it outright after first seeing that they all would just pick out the sweeter alfalfa. We also had to cut out the pellets for a couple of days with two of our bunnies as they wouldn't eat hay at all when they first came to us.