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hay?

binkyCodie

Mama Doe
so I'm very certain this has been asked multiple times, but does anybody have any suggestions for hay in the UK?

my girl Luna is pretty much a vacuum, I've not come across a hay that she wouldn't eat lol. my boy Snoopy is very, very picky. i think i'ved worked out that he will not eat yellow hay, it needs to be green. the type doesn't seem to matter, just as long as its green. and not so stalky. he really doesn't enjoy stalky hays. he prefers softer hays I guess you could call it.

we used to order from hay and straw but Snoopy has since gone off of it due to the fact that its no longer green, its yellow. he used to enjoy the meadow and timothy hay but since winter he's refused to eat it.

before I worked this out I tried many different hays, mostly heading back to store brought hays. wilkos, just about every one in pets at home, even tried a few from zooplus. but so far, he's just turned his nose up at most of them. so instead Luna is now just eating all of them as she doesn't care :lol: at least its not a waste of money.

finally I managed to settle him on Nature's Touch Wild hay. but the thing is, its £6 for a piddly bag of 1kg, it and it doesn't last long when I'm currently filling up a hay rack 3 times a day. (i've discovered both of them eat so much when I scatter some treats on the top. its a herb natural based treat so no added sugar or baked.) I'd much prefer to save some money and buy a big bag knowing its going to last me until the next month, and then I can stop being so broke after Snoopy's dental :lol: so now its a case of buying this £6 bag of hay every week.

I know him being fussy isn't because he has other foods to eat, so far I haven't been able to put them outside (pretty poop weather) so no grass, and they get 1/4 cup of pellets 1-2 a week, and some veggies of a night. but other than that he doesn't have anything else.

does anybody have any suggestions? we have no farms or anything nearby so I'm pretty stuck :?
 
You could try equestrian feed merchants or riding stables.hay meant for horses should be good. You can buy a big bale, it costs me £5.75 per bale, and my rabbits have always preferred it to pet shop hay. I would ask if you can take a little sample before you buy a bale though
 
I notice you're in the SE which is where I am as well :wave: maybe if you let us know a bit more where you are someone can recommend a place to get bales.

If it helps I'm near Dartford and I buy bales from Speedgate, they have two stores, one is in Chistlehurst and the other is near Brands Hatch. I know there is somewhere in Maidstone as well although I've never been there myself.

The only thing I find is bales can vary quite considerably so I try and give it a good look over before putting it in the car. Then maybe you could provide some of the hay Snoopy likes in a hay rack so it lasts a bit longer. That's what I do, I have baled in their litter tray and top up their hay rack with hay from timothyhay.co.uk as Imogen had that in her previous home.
 
You could try equestrian feed merchants or riding stables.hay meant for horses should be good. You can buy a big bale, it costs me £5.75 per bale, and my rabbits have always preferred it to pet shop hay. I would ask if you can take a little sample before you buy a bale though

that's the thing, I can't find anywhere to get the bales :( we don't have any equestrian places or stables in the area as far as I'm aware. there used to be one but since it shut down before I got the bunnies so I have no idea. there isn't any place that sell bales that I can go to look at, i have to do it all online

I notice you're in the SE which is where I am as well :wave: maybe if you let us know a bit more where you are someone can recommend a place to get bales.

If it helps I'm near Dartford and I buy bales from Speedgate, they have two stores, one is in Chistlehurst and the other is near Brands Hatch. I know there is somewhere in Maidstone as well although I've never been there myself.

The only thing I find is bales can vary quite considerably so I try and give it a good look over before putting it in the car. Then maybe you could provide some of the hay Snoopy likes in a hay rack so it lasts a bit longer. That's what I do, I have baled in their litter tray and top up their hay rack with hay from timothyhay.co.uk as Imogen had that in her previous home.

I'm in Surrey, probably should have said haha.

that's the thing, I can't so far find anywhere that sell bales closely, or anywhere I can go to look at before I buy unless its a pet store. there seem to be no suppliers or stables/equestrian feed centers.

they do waste hay, but i feel all bunnies do theres not a lot I can do when they wanna pull it in and poop on it lol. but its mostly eaten.
 
What about using a straw base for the bedding with some hay but mainly the eating hay in a rack, I use a couple of ikea plastic bag holders that I fill with hay. That way they soil the straw so the more expensive hay doesnt get wasted?
 
Could you just get normal meadow hay or similar and mix the nice hay into it... I tend to mix one handful to three handfuls and they normally end up eating the hay they don't particually like while trying to get to the stuff they do like.

Have you tried timothy hay from timothyhay.co.uk?

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What about using a straw base for the bedding with some hay but mainly the eating hay in a rack, I use a couple of ikea plastic bag holders that I fill with hay. That way they soil the straw so the more expensive hay doesnt get wasted?

oh no i wasn't complaining! they're indoor and have a blanket as a base as straw is too messy. and while the hay is in a hay rack, they pull it into the litter tray and end up pooping on it. most of it is eaten, however some is wasted.

Could you just get normal meadow hay or similar and mix the nice hay into it... I tend to mix one handful to three handfuls and they normally end up eating the hay they don't particually like while trying to get to the stuff they do like.

Have you tried timothy hay from timothyhay.co.uk?

Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk

that doesn't work with Snoopy, and then its also finding the nice hay. if I mix two together he just either tries to eat around it-or refuses hay at all. I tried to mix two together but he just ended up eating around it which was pretty much it. he has enough digestive issues as it is, i don't want to offer him hay he doesn't like for him to not eat it, and then end up with him being ill. he's done that to me.

I haven't tried from timothyhay.co.uk as when I looked at their site a few weeks back i got the impression they were no longer running lol. the site nor any social media was updated so I wasn't sure if they were still running persay, and then didn't follow up with anything due to being pretty busy haha.

today he's turning his nose up at this hay I did have, so I brought another type. :roll: he had a checkup today anyway
 
okay, I'll look into a sample from them :)

I've also been asking around and we've found some stores that may sell fresh hay, so I need to ask around them also.

picky brat lol
 
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