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RWAF advice: feeding v bedding hay

keletkezes

keletkezes

Wise Old Thumper
From here: http://www.rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk/hop-to-hay/ Seen on Twitter today.

I feed baled 'farm' hay. It's cheap (for a city!). I don't actually use hay for bedding specifically although I'm happy for my rabbits to pull it out and use it as such. They have a massive litter tray which fills their tiny hutch so I don't bother in there, and in the playhouse they've plenty of soft places to snooze (they like the carpeted windowsill best) but also seem happy to sprawl out on the bare lino.

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong: my two are great hay eaters (they've both got shocking badly-aligned teeth but nothing's developed) and they do pull it down to sleep on and eat in their trays. The advice feels overly-complicated to me: surely any hay is great in great quantity?!
 
Well my first thought is try telling rabbits which is hay to be eaten and which is to be used for bedding :lol:

I can't see you're doing anything wrong either. My rabbits actually will eat hay ONLY if it's bedding (about a third of the shed floor is covered in hay) or in their litter trays. They ignore it if it's in any hay container.

I'm interested in this though and will have a more in-depth look later today. I'm aware that different grasses (and therefore different types of hay) will have slightly different nutritional quantities, but I'm not aware that there's a lot of difference in the fibre content. So when we cut fresh grass for them to eat, are we supposed to be selecting certain types of grass? I couldn't see anywhere immediately obvious on that site what they consider the difference between the two types of hay is.
 
The cynic in me thinks that Burgess are just trying to push their own products here, although I appreciate the overall sentiment. My two are on normal farm baled hay and use it for feeding and then spread it all over the floor for further investigation. They get some Timothy too just for a bit of variety.
 
Its more talking about making sure you feed green fresh hay to rabbits and not the awful chopped up brown dust that is often sold in shops.
 
I am also confused. I use bales of hay. It's a mix of different grasses. The rabbits eat it and have it as bedding. If it's not good enough for eating, it doesn't get used for bedding, either. Makes life much simpler (and cheaper).

I can understand if they are trying to get owners to provide hay where they would usually only have straw bedding - straw is an excellent insulator for bedding, but poor nutritionally. But 2 different sorts of hay just for the sake of it??
 
I only skim read through it, but I only feed baled hay now. I didn't used to, but I ran out of the expensive pet shop hay once and gave them baled hay that I fed the goats, the rabbits preferred the baled stuff and ate way more of it so that's what I've fed since. Frosty doesn't eat hay if it hits the floor or his tray! He eats it out of a hay tower (actually a cd rack) which he can eat from his litter tray at low level or from his platform on the trunk! I do feed grasstastic (fescue chop) in a bowl for variety though
 
keletkezes said:
From here: http://www.rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk/hop-to-hay/ Seen on Twitter today.

I feed baled 'farm' hay. It's cheap (for a city!). I don't actually use hay for bedding specifically although I'm happy for my rabbits to pull it out and use it as such. They have a massive litter tray which fills their tiny hutch so I don't bother in there, and in the playhouse they've plenty of soft places to snooze (they like the carpeted windowsill best) but also seem happy to sprawl out on the bare lino.

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong: my two are great hay eaters (they've both got shocking badly-aligned teeth but nothing's developed) and they do pull it down to sleep on and eat in their trays. The advice feels overly-complicated to me: surely any hay is great in great quantity?!
Click to expand...


Ah yes I see what they are getting :)

For the likes of us, who know about rabbits and what they should be eating, it sounds confusing. I think it's to make Joe Public aware that rabbits need to actually eat hay. Sometimes people put hay into hutches because that's what they think rabbits need to lie on. They don't as we know - they love lying on lino or bare concrete in warm weather and blankets, carpets or other stuff when it's colder.

Rabbits =hay = hutch in a lot of peoples' eyes.

Rabbits of course will pull up clean and good tasting hay wherever they find it and no one can tell them otherwise! :D

(Can anyone ever tell a rabbit anything anyway? :?)
 
Mine have baled hay too



The hay types vary depending on the time of year. I also feed readigrass. Mine all turn their noses up at 'posh' hay but they eat TONS of baled hay.

So I too find the article a bit :?
 
I think it's more for non savvy owners so that they give their rabbits good quality hay. Things like readigrass and excel herbage are expensive, I definitely wouldn't be using them as bedding so if I was an average rabbit owner I probably wouldn't bother using it at all, and just cover the hutch in the cheapest hay I could find.

I use hay for pets (http://www.hay-and-straw.co.uk/), it's good quality, long strands, minimal dust, a mix of different types and lots of green bits. It's also cheap enough to use as bedding. If my rabbits didn't have access to fresh grass I'd probably buy readigrass
 
the distinction between feeding & bedding hay seems a bit silly, in the words of FHB, any hay they will eat. Until recently mine always thrived on baled hay, they just get posh hay at the moment as it comes in smaller amounts & storage is an issue, albeit temporarily
 
joey&boo said:
the distinction between feeding & bedding hay seems a bit silly, in the words of FHB, any hay they will eat. Until recently mine always thrived on baled hay, they just get posh hay at the moment as it comes in smaller amounts & storage is an issue, albeit temporarily
Click to expand...


Temporarily?

Can't you see them hands on hips if/when you decide to go back to baled hay? :lol:
 
I think it's a good message to promote. I think far too often people buy any old baled hay with no thought to the quality of it. You can get some really wonderful quality baled hay but you can also get some truly awful stuff - and I would hate to think of bunnies being forced to eat manky stale brown hay.
 
I'd not push the two different types of hay I think: I'd go along the lines of 'if they can burrow into it and make tunnels in it, it's good for everything' :) That also gets across the idea of quantity. Something about the smell would be useful too: that's my major marker for good and bad hay :)

My two much prefer 'brown' hay to green. If it's yellow-brown and stalky, yummy! If it's green and soft, nope, they leave that and would rather sit on it :lol: Don't suppose they want to be sat on brown stalky stuff!
 
Mine seem to prefer the dirty hay I have just put in a bin bag when cleaning them out, rather than the nice, fresh stuff I have just filled their trays with. They are weird like that. They don't have separate hay - it is all in their litter trays - they have three in their hutch. I have only fed baled hay for years as it is so much cheaper and smells lovely.

I am hoping to buy one of Catherine's bales when my current bale runs out though as that sounds much nicer :)
 
Mine get three types of hay because the batches vary so much.

I provide it in baskets where they pick out the bits they like, then I take what's left from the baskets (most of it) and turn it upside down and use it for the litter tray. Then they can pick out any nice bits from the bottom.

Still end up throwing tons away, feels like a huge waste.
 
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