• 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.

Bail of Hay and excel food

oldmcdonaldsfarm

Warren Scout
Hi all,

I buy a bail of hay from a farm which runs a food shop for pets. I get the saw dust from there and a massive bail of hay.

I've never really know if its ok for the bunnies. All i know is that its massive and lasts for months on end.

Is it likely that it is for horses, but do they eat it or use it for their bedding?

What should it look like if i am to know if its good quality?

Also, I feed them Excel compressed pellets. Which they go mad for. Again, I dont know if its the best stuff for them.

Thanks Again.

Mr McDonald. With a nay nay here and a nay nay there.....(altogether now....)
 
I get baled hay from a horse supply shop but I can't say they eat it, I just use it for their litter trays as I buy the hay for pets hay for their hay racks etc. that way I save money! :)

Excel is okay, as long as they don't have a load of pellets and have good solid poops and eat plenty of hay it doesn't really matter what food it is :)

Do you mean woodshavings rather than sawdust? Woodshavings can cause respiratory problems in rabbits (Poppy is still suffering now) and horse supply shops usually sell megazorb which is a much better alternative, also a lot more absorbent. I get an 85L bag for £6 and it lasts over a month to give a good depth of it in a 32L storage box which gets cleaned out daily and a large cat litter tray which gets cleaned out every other day.
 
I get baled hay from a horse supply shop but I can't say they eat it, I just use it for their litter trays as I buy the hay for pets hay for their hay racks etc. that way I save money! :)

Excel is okay, as long as they don't have a load of pellets and have good solid poops and eat plenty of hay it doesn't really matter what food it is :)

Do you mean woodshavings rather than sawdust? Woodshavings can cause respiratory problems in rabbits (Poppy is still suffering now) and horse supply shops usually sell megazorb which is a much better alternative, also a lot more absorbent. I get an 85L bag for £6 and it lasts over a month to give a good depth of it in a 32L storage box which gets cleaned out daily and a large cat litter tray which gets cleaned out every other day.

Yh sorry woodshavings.
Oh im worried now...... Respiratory problems? Is it best to remove it?

What do you mean by excel is "ok"? Is there something better for them? I want them to have the best
 
Last edited:
I buy baled hay and mine adore it, they go mad when I get the hay tub out and their poos are excellent.
 
Yh sorry woodshavings.
Oh im worried now...... Respiratory problems? Is it best to remove it?

I would, I use newspaper :) about 8 sheets. The indoors get megazorb too because the drink loads and pee loads! Woodshavings release something called phenols I think.. Either way I hate the stuff, Poppy has no end of problems and when I used it I covered it with hay, it still affected her though, totally my fault :(

Don't mean anything by excel being okay, it's fine, dandy etc :lol: it can make some buns poops runny/wet but if you have no problems then it's fine.
 
Last edited:
I would, I use newspaper :) about 8 sheets. The indoors get megazorb too because the drink loads and pee loads! Woodshavings release something called phenols I think.. Either way I hate the stuff, Poppy has no end of problems and when I used it I covered it with hay, it still affected her though, totally my fault :(

Don't mean anything by excel being okay, it's fine, dandy etc :lol:

They eat the newspaper and keep clogging themselves up :(
Same with cardboard. I have to keep taking it off them.
 
They eat the newspaper and keep clogging themselves up :(
Same with cardboard. I have to keep taking it off them.

Have a look for megazorb or auboise at this farm shop :) you can get it online or perhaps the farm shop can get some in for you if they don't have it :) there is this stuff called Fitch, it's basically carefresh only loads cheaper for a massive bale. £15 with delivery for a 20Kg bale I think :)
 
Thanks for your advice. I will swap it out asap.

Hope Poppys ok :(

She's fine :) just a sneezy thing sometimes, which are horribly chesty, I wish I found this forum sooner then maybe she wouldn't be such a 'test subject', I got everything wrong with her and now we're both paying the price :( ...she's still a nightmare though jumping on the bed at 4am ;):lol:

Some people use woodshavings with no problems but I'll never take that chance again!
 
I use baled hay, I think it's just as good as the hay in bags and it is for horses to eat not for their bedding xx
 
She's fine :) just a sneezy thing sometimes, which are horribly chesty, I wish I found this forum sooner then maybe she wouldn't be such a 'test subject', I got everything wrong with her and now we're both paying the price :( ...she's still a nightmare though jumping on the bed at 4am ;):lol:

Some people use woodshavings with no problems but I'll never take that chance again!

Stu loves it on the bed too. 6 years without an issue, then one day BAM! weeing on my bed all the time.

Ive been lining their hutches with shavings, Stu for 6 years.
But now i know this.....im taking it out

thank you
 
Also our latest bale of hay has been so so stalky I've been mixing it with the practically identical timothy and rye hay mehehehe:twisted: I think I've tricked them into eating it! Although they prefer it when the baled stuff is green and 'grassy', unfortunately for them my dad picks it up for me so doesn't distinguish stalky from green :lol:
 
Stu loves it on the bed too. 6 years without an issue, then one day BAM! weeing on my bed all the time.

Ive been lining their hutches with shavings, Stu for 6 years.
But now i know this.....im taking it out

thank you

:) I used lino in the old hutch and then lino in the shed, also carpet squares :)

Poppy looooves weeing on soft things ..but for the past 4 nights she's been getting on the bed and making herself comfortable/falling asleep :lol: no pee so far..!
 
:) I used lino in the old hutch and then lino in the shed, also carpet squares :)

Poppy looooves weeing on soft things ..but for the past 4 nights she's been getting on the bed and making herself comfortable/falling asleep :lol: no pee so far..!

I love it when a pets come to sleep on the bed.

They dont really need shavings then? Carpet tiles are ok?
They only need something to put in the litter tray?

cat litter any good?
 
I love it when a pets come to sleep on the bed.

They dont really need shavings then? Carpet tiles are ok?
They only need something to put in the litter tray?

cat litter any good?

Carpet tiles have been great with my pair and they love chewing everything, they can't grip them at all. You can also buy lino squares, usually find them in good sized packs at poundlands too :)

Cat litter is great as long as its wood based :) the normal cat litter can clump and lead to a very poorly bun if digested, I get the smaller bags from Asda for the cat and they're £3 (smart cat litter I think it's called) but you can get 2 massive bags from p@h for £10 or £15.. Something like that :) they're really big, I think 9kg maybe, not sure.
 
We use wood shavings in litter trays and they are fine with it.
The wood pelleted cat litters are also pine and it's the oils from the wood that is part of the problem and can irritate the respiratory system so I've never thought they were any better. If I was going to use litter I'd use a paper based dust free one like biocatolet. We use that for our rats as rats can be very sensitive to pine.
 
I use biocat as well which works well, and have also used yesterday's news paper based litter which i find more absorbent and a bit heaver (so less easily flung out of the tray b an eager Elmo :shock: )
 
I love it when a pets come to sleep on the bed.

They dont really need shavings then? Carpet tiles are ok?
They only need something to put in the litter tray?

cat litter any good?

You could use really course wood shavings and put hay on top in litter trays and feed Oxbow 'adult' or 'young' rabbit pellets, which is one of the best foods you can buy.
'Ings' hay from Hay4Pets is really good and you won't get any better, unless you want 'the' best, which is Oxbow Timothy hay, but it works out at £72 per bale - you would only use this in hay racks of course and not in litter trays, due to cost.
 
Back
Top