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Feeding cubes: read the FAQs :'(

250g of timothy hay. Well thats interesting.

So my 10Kg bag of hay should go in 40 days.

So why does it go in approximately 18-21 days?

As i stated when these were brought up a few weeks ago, its another product that makes them money and makes people not worry about their rabbits welfare as they believe they can get away with throwing one of these in every day. :thumb:

I agree, great for those rabbits who currently don't get hay, but if they dont get hay, why would those people go and buy these?
 
I feel particularly sorry for (hypothetical) bunnies whose owners conclude that because they don't like the cubes they don't like hay. Ada is not keen on most Excel hays, but devours certain other kinds like crazy. I'm sure she's not the only one.
 
Vita said:
I feel particularly sorry for (hypothetical) bunnies whose owners conclude that because they don't like the cubes they don't like hay. Ada is not keen on most Excel hays, but devours certain other kinds like crazy. I'm sure she's not the only one.
Click to expand...

Mm, Buckley can't stand the excel hays. They don't even smell tasty.
 
GrahamL said:
250g of timothy hay. Well thats interesting.

So my 10Kg bag of hay should go in 40 days.

So why does it go in approximately 18-21 days?

As i stated when these were brought up a few weeks ago, its another product that makes them money and makes people not worry about their rabbits welfare as they believe they can get away with throwing one of these in every day. :thumb:

I agree, great for those rabbits who currently don't get hay, but if they dont get hay, why would those people go and buy these?
Click to expand...

Because you have two rabbits, so by your calculations they are eating about 250g each per day ;)

Seriously though, I don't mind the product but don't like the advice they are giving out alongside it. I think these could be good given alongside unlimited hay

Have they even tested if the mashed up hay inside the cube is providing the same wearing function as whole, long strand hay? I doubt it. :evil:
 
I don't believe it takes an average sized rabbit 2 days to eat one of these cubes, mine could easily go through a whole bale of excel hay a day and they get much more than the reccomended 'egg cup' of pellets. Also the box advertises '4 cubes 1 week' which I'm assuming is for single rabbits, no mention of how rabbits should be kept together. If you do have a pair that means buying loads of boxes at once or two every week, and yeah great for rabbits who don't usually get hay, but it's only going to encourage people to ignore their rabbits, chuck a cube in, done.
 
I might buy some as a treat and a treat only, it wouldn't be a substitute to the normal feeding regime.

Knowing my rabbits they would probably look at it then hop off :lol:
 
These things remind me of those nasty things breeders feed their bunnies as it's fast and convenient and means spending less time on them :(
 
catherine09 said:
Because you have two rabbits, so by your calculations they are eating about 250g each per day ;)

Seriously though, I don't mind the product but don't like the advice they are giving out alongside it. I think these could be good given alongside unlimited hay

Have they even tested if the mashed up hay inside the cube is providing the same wearing function as whole, long strand hay? I doubt it. :evil:
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing out my inadequacies :lol:
 
GrahamL said:
Thank you for pointing out my inadequacies :lol:
Click to expand...

Maths has never been my strong point either :lol: :D

Mind you, I bet you put way more than 500g of hay in each day, just in case they want to eat more! That's the way it should be. If they leave it, then they've obviously had enough :thumb:
 
catherine09 said:
Maths has never been my strong point either :lol: :D

Mind you, I bet you put way more than 500g of hay in each day, just in case they want to eat more! That's the way it should be. If they leave it, then they've obviously had enough :thumb:
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I top up their two litter trays about 5 times a day :) With enough hay to make about 3 bunny sized piles :)
 
GrahamL said:
I top up their two litter trays about 5 times a day :) With enough hay to make about 3 bunny sized piles :)
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This is Buckley's litter tray. Before I started filling it like this he didn't eat a massive amount of hay. Now that I fill it like this he's always munching. I can't see how these cubes can provide the enrichment they claim to provide :( They don't promote natural rabbit behaviour like digging.

DSC_0405.jpg


I fear these are not about the welfare of the rabbits so much as the convenience for the owners :(
 
I'm a little confused by the feeding guidelines as it says a 4 pack is a week's supply, and mentions that a bunny will eat a cube in 2 days but then goes on to say that, if you feed a cube per day, that your bunny will be healthy. So, is it 1 per day or every other day?

Going by Gray's estimates, 2 bunnies consume around 10kg of hay in ~ 20 days, which is 500g per day. If they ate one of these cubes each per day (500g) that would equate to the same amount of hay that they're currently eating. If they're only fed the lower amount, they would only be eating around half the current intake.

It says that it's compressed strands of long fibre hay, so I would be interested to see the actual product. I don't think I would feed it instead of hay (as I probably couldn't afford to for starters :lol:) but I think it could be a good addition.
 
KarenM said:
I'm a little confused by the feeding guidelines as it says a 4 pack is a week's supply, and mentions that a bunny will eat a cube in 2 days but then goes on to say that, if you feed a cube per day, that your bunny will be healthy. So, is it 1 per day or every other day?

Going by Gray's estimates, 2 bunnies consume around 10kg of hay in ~ 20 days, which is 500g per day. If they ate one of these cubes each per day (500g) that would equate to the same amount of hay that they're currently eating. If they're only fed the lower amount, they would only be eating around half the current intake.

It says that it's compressed strands of long fibre hay, so I would be interested to see the actual product. I don't think I would feed it instead of hay (as I probably couldn't afford to for starters :lol:) but I think it could be a good addition.
Click to expand...

Mm, I definitely think it could be a good toy but I don't think anything can replace a pile of loose hay. Especially for digging, and snuggling, and burrowing. Buckley just loves burrowing in his pile of hay! I don't think it really enables people to fulfil the five welfare needs; "the ability to express normal behaviour" is a pretty important welfare need I think. And I think digging and burrowing and foraging are key parts of normal rabbit behaviour.
 
I can see it would be possible to compress all the hay/dry food a bun needs into a cube however, what I don't like it the potential effect on behaviour that has. They say 'Cube shaped for enrichment', as far as I'm aware, cubes have no magical enrichment properties. Putting everything together in a cube cuts out massively the range of enrichment opportunities you can provide - scatter feeding, treat ball, digging through hay, food parcels, foraging. The bun just has to sit in one spot and munch. reducing mental and physical activity.

It might be a plus if a bun that won't eat hay will eat this, but for the average rabbit I'd say only a treat.
 
I was looking more from the feeding side, as in whether a cube would be enough to eat, but I agree they wouldn't give much enrichment at all on their own so, if anything, I would offer one occasionally as an extra activity.

The only owners/rabbits I can see this product benefitting is those who are currently fed a huge bowl of low-value muesli type mix and no/very little hay - at least with the cubes they would be getting the right nutrition in the right proportions although, with the high price of the cubes, I'm not sure many would make the change. :? And, far better for those bunnies, would be for the owners to realise that they should be feeding much more hay, far less pellets and also using food as a source of entertainment.

Perhaps food manufacturers would be better focussing on getting that knowledge out there instead of coming up with products that skirt around the issue a little......
 
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