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How much hay do yours eat and how much is best?

Azraelm

Wise Old Thumper
For a bunn with no physical problems eating hay (eg. teeth probs) how much hay should they really be eating each day? (I know someone's going to say unlimited, but just to give me an idea of what amounts good please.)

And how much do all yours eat? eg) handfuls?
Is it actually all gone in the morning??

I would like to get my fosters into good hay eating habits now in the hope of preventing teeth problems when they're older. They do eat hay, but there does not seem to be a huge 'dent' in the hay pile each day.
 
It's recommended that they eat their body size in hay. I cut Squidgy's up for him, and try to make sure he has two bowls a day.
 
ooh thank you.
Well they defiently are not eating their body size in hay :?

Any suggestions please anyone? They're nearly 6 weeks old and i do give them ALOT of pellets each day, so perhaps I should cut down but was told they need as much as they'll eat :?
 
They definitely don't need as many pellets as they will eat. Mine would eat a huge bowlful of pellets each day if they could, and probably no hay. I'm in the process of cutting mine down on their pellets still more to ensure that they eat more hay.
 
Have you tried different types of hay? Mine have at least three different types on the go at any one time, and they're not overly keen on eating it out of the hay racks. I fill boxes with hay and they quite happily sit in them and munch hay. Try filling plant pots and willow balls with hay too.
 
Oh and something else I've found with mine; for some reason they tend to only eat hay in certain places! The best places I've found are in the 'bedroom' part of their hutch, and the front of their litter trays.
 
SarahP said:
They definitely don't need as many pellets as they will eat. Mine would eat a huge bowlful of pellets each day if they could, and probably no hay. I'm in the process of cutting mine down on their pellets still more to ensure that they eat more hay.

its because they're so young that they need as much as they'll eat- only 6 weeks! If they were adults I'd feed about 1/3 bowl.
 
Yup, baby buns need to be free-fed pellets. As for the hay, how are you feeding it? Could you make it more interesting? Some rabbits prefer hayracks, others piles, some like it in things like wicker baskets, cardboard boxes, or toilet paper tubes. As a treat, I mix oat hay (their fav) with a little alfalfa and put it in a paper lunch bag which is tied closed with twine. I've found these hay toys make my buns much more interested in hay.

And because they are so young you can mix a little alfalfa into their grass hay. It might get them more interested in it.
 
thank you will try more interesting serving dishes! (ATM the hay is next to their pellets in a clean litter tray).

Unfortuantely, although they are fosters I am paying for all their food and cannot afford very expensive hays like oxbow but the stuff they do have is lovely, fresh and green, not vaccum packed dusty petshop stuff. (I did have a small amount of oxbow left actually and they didn't seem any more interested in that than the normal hay.)

I have been giving them redigrass and alfalfa and they seem to like it.
I also just mixed a few pellets in their hay to encourage them to pick through it.
 
Hay doesn't have to be particularly expensive. I get mine from different farm shops in the are, and I buy the broken hay cubes from Bunnybasics and a couple of different types of hay, and just give them a handful of each in their normal hay. It just adds a bit of interest. Mine love forage/ readigrass too.
 
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