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Should I replace hay so often?

L

LionheadLuver

Warren Veteran
Hiya

I put new hay into their trays and bed twice a day, and I wondered if this is too often. They seem to eat hay that appears new, if you know what I mean.
 
I am a little confused by your post. You mention that you put new hay in their bed twice a day, you can do this as often as you want and this is perfectly acceptable. However you also use the word change, do you actually replace the hay twice a day, it is not necessary as any hay not eaten can be used as bedding.

The other thing that you mention is that they only eat hay that appears new, many rabbits will intitially eat the new hay however once this has gone will start on hay that has been around for longer.

It is fine to feed hay twice a day, however I would leave it and not remove it.
 
I TOP UP the hay twice a day, but only a handful at a time. The rest is used as bedding and gets changed either with the litter trays (once every 2-3 days) or during the big clean once a week.
 
I give mine a top up of fresh hay once a day (or more often if they've scoffed it all!) I find if I "fluff up" the hay that's already in their hutch they become interested in it again.
 
I top the hay up every day and the some of left -over hay is put on top of the fresh megazorb in their litter trays so they can chomp at it while they go.
 
i empty and clean all their litter trays once a day and then i put loads of hay in, but only once a day
 
I completely remove it and replace it with new hay. The problem I have is that it has been soiled on, so to keep the hutch as clean as possible, I replace it completely once/twice a day. If the hay has been soiled on, does it need to be replaced?
 
I replace soiled hay twice a day. But by soiled I mean, really wet/poo mashed in:shock: stuff. I tend to shake any dry poo off the majority of the hay and change the paper underneath so it's not wet. The loose poo I chuck on the garden or in the bin.
 
I put hay for eating in one place in their hutch. What is left over at the end of the day goes into bedding in another part of the hutch.
I then use a litter tray with shredded paper on the bottom, and old bedding hay on the top for a loo which is outside the hutch in their run.
This way I get most use out of their hay! When the loo needs changing the lot goes into the garden composter.
Fortunately my buns do not loo on their eating hay or their bedding.
 
LionheadLuver said:
I completely remove it and replace it with new hay. The problem I have is that it has been soiled on, so to keep the hutch as clean as possible, I replace it completely once/twice a day. If the hay has been soiled on, does it need to be replaced?
Click to expand...

Can you not have a small amount in the litter tray where they can mess on and hand some up in a container above the litter tray for them to eat hay from as well. That will save the amount of wastage that occurs.

My hay racks I use are made from bird fat feeders simply stuffed with hay, they are easy to reful, can hold lots of hay, the hay remains clean and try and can be fixed from either the top of the hutch or run or from the wire or from the sides of the hutch. If you scroll down this page you will see the bird fat feeder which I am talking about http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=64827&highlight=feeder they are available from many good garden centres.
 
I don't see anything wrong with topping up hay twice a day. Changing hay twice a day would be wasteful though.

I kept a hay manger right next to the litter tray. That way any hay can easily drop into their tray to be used as litter.
 
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