• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Hungering bunny to make it eat more hay?

Tonya

Tonya

Alpha Buck
Have you tried this? What is the minimum amount of dry food for a 1,7 kilo bun in order to stimulate it to eat hay without gut damages?
 
Erm...difficult one and it will depend on your bunny to be honest.

2 of mine get pellets sporadically, on the days that they get them they eat hay, and I guess the days that they don't get them they may eat slightly more hay, but the key with mine is they are already brilliant hay eaters so I don't worry about stasis etc.

Other bunnies might go into stasis if you remove pellets, as they aren't as good hay eaters. I think it's just up to you knowing your bunny and it's eating habits and making a call.

I give only a very small handful of pellets between them every other day, they have a range of treat and meadow/timothy hay and I always make sure the hay I buy is of very good quality (I would hate for them to be forced to eat bad quality hay because there is nothing else!)
 
Personally, I would just gradually reduce the pellet amount (starting with a very small amount), and carefully watch the output (size, amount and colour). If the output shrunk, then the intake is too little, but if it stays the same, or gets bigger and more golden, then potentially you can then reduce a bit further.

You might also want to try different hays and stuff as well to see which tempt your bunny the most.

Each bunny is different, but I have some around that size (and bigger- biggest is 3kg) who, in normal weather, survive on two junior pellets a day (one am and one pm) and the rest of the diet is hay. Others need a small handful, or a large handful or a few. It's about knowing and reading your bunny.
 
Mine get a LOT of hay. I provide them with fresh hay twice a day. They get an egg cup of pellets in the evening and that seems to be fine for them.
 
reduce the pellets slowly, watch her weight and poos. My rabbits have been on a hay only diet in the past but that was because of gut issues
 
I used to only feed pellets every now and then - and they didn't eat much hay, now, I give them 25g each of pellets every day (at the same time every day - 7.45pm) and they eat soooo much hay!!! pellets have appetite stimulants in them - so by giving regularly they eat more hay :D
 
Rupert & Tia said:
I used to only feed pellets every now and then - and they didn't eat much hay, now, I give them 25g each of pellets every day (at the same time every day - 7.45pm) and they eat soooo much hay!!! pellets have appetite stimulants in them - so by giving regularly they eat more hay :D
Click to expand...

I didn't know that.

Learn something new every day! :lol:
 
Angie B said:
I didn't know that.

Learn something new every day! :lol:
Click to expand...

My vet told me, I didn't realise either :D Mine definitely eat more hay since having regular pellets - but they never have more than 25g a day (well sometimes have a couple extra pelelts as treats) they weigh 2.43 and 2.47 kg
 
As Sky-o and Georgey said :thumb: you have to be very careful and do it gradually and monitor buns weight and output. 3 of my buns are on 15g pellets a day, whereas Pebs is on 60g a day, as he won't eat hay, and reducing his pellets down just a fraction puts him into stasis and makes his molar spurs grow. I feed him separately so I know exactly how much he is eating.
 
Rupert & Tia said:
My vet told me, I didn't realise either :D Mine definitely eat more hay since having regular pellets - but they never have more than 25g a day (well sometimes have a couple extra pelelts as treats) they weigh 2.43 and 2.47 kg
Click to expand...

Your bunnies are about the same weight as mine. I've never actually weighed the pellets they have. Out of curiosity, I'll do that tonight. 25g you say? Is that deemed the normal amount for such a weight of bunny in general good health do you know?
 
Angie B said:
Your bunnies are about the same weight as mine. I've never actually weighed the pellets they have. Out of curiosity, I'll do that tonight. 25g you say? Is that deemed the normal amount for such a weight of bunny in general good health do you know?
Click to expand...

My vet thinks so yeh, the bag says 50-75 but if you weigh that out and look at the pile, its looooooads!! I read somewhere recently that it should be 25g per kg of weight, but again, that seems like alot to me.

My vet (and the two before her) all agreed that the amount I give is perfect - they get unlimited hay (they have a 30 x 15 hay rack and I stuff it full twice a day, and they eat it all), plus they have a basket which is filled once a day (they eat almost all of this too) as well as their poo tray hay that they eat.... they have a couple of small pieces of chopped curly kale (literally a couple of small pieces), a tiny bit of brocoli, and two grapes (one by hand and one in their bowls) each per day. A fenugreek crunchy at bedtime, and dried herbs (a bag of dried herbs such as burgess excel or dandelion delight) lasts us about 3-4 days - depending on if they bunny nap and rip the bag :lol:

Rupert has had bloat twice - once was caused by apple snack treats (burgess ones) and once by a piece of swede. I now don't give them anything new - well, apart from the plants they eat in the garden :roll: and grass.

They have grass morning and night while out in the summer when its not wet.

They also get apple tree sticks when I can get them.... They did have small spurs on the teeth, but ings and apple sticks have got rid of this.

I buy 9.5kg bags of ings, and it lasts me 2 months (plus an extra week) - thats with VERY little wastage.
 
My bun doesn't eat hay, or eats very little. I've tried all the possible sorts we have here, I want to try her on readigrass but no one is willing to send it to Bulgaria:evil:
SInce she is a dental bun and currently her poop looks brilliant I tought I can try that. Before I was pretty much afraid that once I drop the pellets, dental/gut issues will occur. Now I am thinking about it-I'll be there the weekend so i can watch her . I found some grass pellets she digs but I bet hay will make her chew and wear down her teeth more.
 
To get mine to eat more hay I fed the hay before the pellets and gave those later so they started chewing on that first. I also tried loads of different types of hay till I found one they particularly loved!
 
Tonya said:
My bun doesn't eat hay, or eats very little. I've tried all the possible sorts we have here, I want to try her on readigrass but no one is willing to send it to Bulgaria:evil:
SInce she is a dental bun and currently her poop looks brilliant I tought I can try that. Before I was pretty much afraid that once I drop the pellets, dental/gut issues will occur. Now I am thinking about it-I'll be there the weekend so i can watch her . I found some grass pellets she digs but I bet hay will make her chew and wear down her teeth more.
Click to expand...

Have you tried mixing her pellets with hay? or does she just pick thru the hay for the pellets? Don't reduce it hugely straight away - take away a few pellets to start with
 
I weighed the pellets and in fact give them about 40g in their bowl, so that's not too far off the 25g each, so I'm happy with that.

They obviously have unlimited access to hay and grass when they're out in the garden(whether it's wet or not - or, as of late, covered in snow!).
 
Sky-O is correct, it depends on the bunny. I haven't got my bunny's diet right yet, but am hopefully getting there slowly! So far he has gained weight, but only eating slightly more hay. I've cut his normal pellets down, but he also gets pro-fibre pelletsto help his sluggish gut.

Good luck with your bunny's diet changes. :wave:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Shop Bought Hay With Damaged bags
Replies
3
Views
230
Shimmer
S
Binky&Bellamy
How Much Should a Bunny Weigh
Replies
13
Views
606
Binky&Bellamy
Binky&Bellamy
Happy Hopping
my Rex bun has gained weight to 2.6KG from mostly eating hay
Replies
11
Views
1K
Happy Hopping
Happy Hopping
Back
Top