yet another hay question

My little ones are 10 weeks old now and have just had there myxi injection,have slowly been changing there feed from muesli to pellets,so far we are up to 3 spoons of muesli and 1 spoon of pellet.I was orignally feeding 5 spoonfulls each but vet told me to cut it down.Hay i have been giving timothy,alfalfa,botanical,orchard,readygrass all mixed together.Each morning take out the hay what's left and mix it with the new hay and put it back.At some point would it not be better to change the hay completely,putting all fresh hay instead of putting back some what is probably weeks old,they seem to prefer the leaves as opposed to the stem and the stem being the highest in fibre all plant parts are obviously not created equall.My OH thinks they are starving there dishes are always empty in a morning and i must say i do feel guilty they are only babies and so much of the information say's feed ad-lib,can i just ask what every one else does do you leave any remaining hay in there racks,bed,etc or do you replace with fresh every day
amanda

How big is a spoonful?

Don't feel bad, your OH doesn't realise that buns are very good at pretending to be starving! :lol:

Lots of people use an egg cup as a good measure, one egg cup each

Are you slowly cutting out the muesli and replacing it with the pellets?

As long as the hay is still fresh and hasn't been weed on or anything, it should be fine. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to just clear al of it out once a week and start a fresh.

slightly bigger than a teaspoon,in fact they are a teaspoon but more rounded so fit a little more on than an average teaspoon.Have been changing there food for over a week now a few at first and gradually built up to a spoon mixed in with the rest.They have had this for a day will do another couple of days like this then will add a few more or maybe 1 and a half pellets and 2 and a half muesli,does that sound ok,they have both been fine on it the buck a little more hesitant than the doe if he leaves any then i factor this back into his daily rations,oh i feel so cruel!

5 Teaspoons between them doesn't sound too much, it's probably a very similar amount to two egg cups

There's no need to pause for a day or two between the increments of upping the pellets, this can be done continuously just so long as the complete change is done over approx 10 days or so

Your OH should see my buns, their dishes are not only empty in the morning but 3 mins after feeding time too! :lol:

it's 4 teaspoons each sorry i did'nt make myself to clear they are seperated till they are neutered,spayed.No veg yet before i introduce that i wanted to get them fully over on to the pellets and wait a few weeks till they were about 16 weeks,thanks for your replys don't feel as bad now
amanda

I wouldn't personally put back any uneaten hay as it mnay have saliva on it which could contain germs & infections such as EC. I change mine twice a day and anything not eaten gets scattered on the litter tray.

if I were you I'd take out the alfafa completely as it is very high in protein and calcium so isn't a good hay to have (it' actually a bean not a grass).

Also keep reddi grass to a minimum as again it is very high in protein.

Start giving them only small handfuls of the expensive grasses and increase the amount of cheaper meddow/timothy hay that you give them so you feel less guilty about wastage. You should find that as you take out the alfafa and reddi grass they will eat much more hay. Refresh the hay twice a day, giving them about their body size each time....you should only have a bit left which I usually chuck in the litter tray.

That's a good point about EC, I had not thought of that :thumb:

I also put any left over bits of hay in the litter tray at end of day, but it really is hardly anything as they are pretty good hay eaters

they have quite a large hayrack wich i fill and not much disappears i also put a handful in there litter tray and have a cardboard tube stuffed with hay.I mix the alfalfa and readigrass every other day,i thought alfalfa was ok for baby rabbits.The majority i give is the timothy and orchard grass by oxbow but only seem to like the seed heads and discard the rest,fussy little things.
amanda

alfafa is good for bunnys is an old myth....like giving them mashed potato....Most pelleted rabbit food is alfafa based unfortunately but there's not much you can do about that...unless you feed Oxbow T or just have a hay and veg diet which many people do on this forum. I like to give mine some pellets though as treats. Hay should be 80% of their diet, if they aren't eating that much hay then the usual culprit is too many calories/protein from other stuff.

ok thanks for that i am currently changing there feed to pellets it is the oxbow but the 15/23 which is alfalfa based.I will have to carry on with this i think at this young age to much change would be detrimental will give them a few months then change to the oxbow t.Have done quite a bit of research on feed etc and very difficult to judge, out of everything i read about pellets hay etc decided to go along this route i know the alfalfa contains more protein calcium but read this is what young rabbits should have due to there growing bones and obviously just growing.I believed that the 15/23 and alfalfa hay fulfilled dietary requirement of baby rabbits,now i feel dreadfull, would you leave it a few months before i switch to the oxbow t or try sooner,the alfalfa hay have only been giving them a small handfull every other day so i can cut that out,the same with the friendly readigrass just a small handfull every other day this does'nt seem to have to much calcium and the protein is 12% fibre 28% is it because it fills them up more compared to the other hays
amanda

no I'd keep on the alfafa pellets until 6 months. It does say on the oxbow packets that it is for adults. The alfafa that most buns get in their pellets is fine as it is only small quantities, but what you don't want to be doing is giving them another dose on the hay front as well.

Trouble is alfafa is like bunny Mcdonalds. Once they've had a taste it's very hard to ween them off it as they love the stuff Lots ofpeople here give redi grass to their buns as a treat but it isn't their staple hay. A handful at most once a day between the two should be sufficient.

thanks for that feel a bit better now,there is so much conflicting advice on caring for rabbits,i have found this forum to be a hive of information so glad i found it
thanks