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Excel super forage- how much to feed?

Azraelm

Wise Old Thumper
I mentioned before that Audrey loves this and a couple of people said not to feed too much cos it's higher protein than hay...but how much is too much?
(it's kind of a dried grass, but looks more like haylike than a lot of dried grasses).

She really does love it and will happily munch two bowls a day that I give her currently. She much prefers it to normal hay, which she will eat but with not much enthusiasm- she also always leaves loads of it whilst she eats all of the forage.

I was wondering if they benefit she gets in terms of teeth wearing etc from the forage would cancel out what possible damage too high protein could do? (and what could that do?)

I've got some oat hay to pick up (thank you faye!) and I've asked the vet to also order some timothy hay herbage too....

What do you think? I e-mailed excel too to ask how much to feed.
 
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i've got 1 bag of timothy

Protien 8%, fibre 37%

1 bag excel SF

Protein14% fibre 20%

So it is higher fiber and lower protein. however, i can't seem to get sooty to eat much of anything else so i figured it was better than nothing and I try to sneak some timothy or medow hay in with it. His litter tray is also covered in a top layer of either medow hay or straw which he nibbles a little.
 
I don't know I'm afraid but I don't think it will be a problem with mine as they eat a bit then throw it around...that is lots of fun!
 
If Audreys coping ok as she is Mandy, I'd keep at two bowls a day. Jen and Rhia both have very delicate tummies and couldnt cope with it at all.
 
What problems did you notice? Strange poos etc?

Both started with really sticky poo's and excess caceotrophs (sp?!), then it just got worse and we were left with real sloppy poo. Vet gave us some stuff which didnt work, gave them blackberry leaves which did, but still cant get jens poo right :?
 
Thank you, its funny how some have more delicate tums isn't it :? Audrey's are perfectly fine- they're nice golden hay poos at the moment :lol:
 
Thank you, its funny how some have more delicate tums isn't it :? Audrey's are perfectly fine- they're nice golden hay poos at the moment :lol:

Lovely :lol: I've never had delicate tummy bunnies before and its a right pain, If I feed one stalk/pellet too much, I have a week of cleaning slop from everywhere!!! :mrgreen: Good job I love em!!
 
mine have a small bowl which i 1/2 - 3/4 fill with forage and then top up with a mix of various things (3 different bags of those naturals stuff ginko or something :? , rose petals, seed head things, pellets, carrot pellets, dried fruit etc) and that is for the 2 of them to share
 
What happens if you mix the hay and the forage together, does she notice the difference or would she sit and munch happily anyway?
 
What happens if you mix the hay and the forage together, does she notice the difference or would she sit and munch happily anyway?

She notices :roll: and picks out the forage :lol: But she must end up eating some hay by accident so maybe thats the way to go :lol: I'm hoping she might like the herbage as the vets is only next door to my work and they said they'll order it for me all the time. The only other place I've seen it on sale is P@H and I'd rather not give them money.
 
Buster prefers his Forage to anything else, he gets 2 handfuls a day and will eat this before touching his hay. He's not had a problem because of it, the vet said today he looks great, and he's got lovely teeth:D
 
i know it would be ideal but could you chop up her hay to the same size pieces as the forage? it might be harder for her to pick out the bits she likes? then if she starts to eat hay you could chop it less?? :?
 
i know it would be ideal but could you chop up her hay to the same size pieces as the forage? it might be harder for her to pick out the bits she likes? then if she starts to eat hay you could chop it less?? :?

I was wondering if she liked it cos it was short, good idea thanks!

I guess though if her poos are normal then its probably ok? I was worried high protein might cause liver problems or something? :?
 
I mix my forage and herbage up with my normal horse hay and they are fine with it. I also feed readigrass in their morning feed and a handful each at night too. :D
 
I stuff it in loo rolls and other such toys as a treat - makes it harder work to get at! They probably have 1-2 rolls per week, but that's me being stingy with it... they are all pretty good hay eaters. where do you get your hay from?
 
what pellets are they eating? Sooty had some soft poo when on excel SF but it stopped as soon as I switched over to a higher fiber pellets (Excel normal (16% fibre) and then diet (19%)) compared to the rubbish pets at home stuff he was on before.

How he's been neutered though he seems to be turning his nose up at even excel SF :( I've resorted to pretending to eat his hay to prompt him :lol: it seems to make him think it might be all gone if he doesn't eat some.
 
where do you get your hay from?

We have a local pet shop which I like, they don't sell animals, therefore is my petshop of choice. I will happily spend all my money either on line or in non livestock selling pet shops.

This pet shops sells bales or hay, they will deliver if you order in bulk (or make a charge). This hay is usually very nice hay particuarly when compared to the normal bags you can get from many pet stores.

I often get given compressed bags of hay when animals come in to us, they usually come from a large national retailer. In comparison this hay is such poor quality, it usualy looks dead and the pieces are so tiny and very dusty.
 
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