What brand of hay do you recommend?

[Cristina]

Hey Guys!

I got my new bun Toby 3 weeks ago and am having a little trouble getting him to eat his hay. He does eat his hay, but it takes him 3 days to finish eating what is in his hay rack. My first bun ate 2 of them a day! I’d really like to see him eating at least 1 full hay rack a day, since this is really good for him. I am ordering some hay toppers for him this week from BB to mix in his Timothy Hay. I’m hoping it will encourage him to eat it more. 

Right now I have a big bag of Kaytee Timothy Hay that I am feeding him. But I’m thinking of possibly trying out another one to see if maybe he just doesn’t like this brand… Can anyone suggest a good brand? Or possibly some good tips to get him to eat more hay.

[peppypoo]

How old is Toby? If he is under 6 months old, you could try giving him alfalfa hay. However, it’s not very suitable for older buns because of the high protein content. Orchard grass hay is also pretty popular. I don’t think the brand of hay matters as much as long as it is good quality and not stale.

[Monkeybun]

I personally don’t have any “brand” to recommend,…. except that Kaytee is miserable. its always dusty and stale in my opinion. I use a hay mix that is found at local farms. Very fresh, and all the buns love it.

[TH004]

My rabbit will only eat Oxbow brand hays, and then only Orchard Grass or Botanical Hay. When you buy hay, make sure it is very green and has a very strong smell. Your buns may be sensitive to stale hay (mine is!).

[Moon_Bunny]

I buy a 25 lb box of Oxbow Timothy hay at a local feed store. It is the highest quality I have yet to find! Just the right amount of stems and leaves. It actually smells good and fresh! Very low dust content as well. The buns seem to thoroughly enjoy it.

[Cristina]

PeppyPoo- Eeek! I’m from Texas too! haha And Toby is 3 months old. So he is still in the age range where he can eat alfalfa. I’m just not sure if he’ll like it since he has never had any.

MonkeyBun- haha I’ve actually been trolling the forums on here and noticed several other people really dislike the Kaytee hay and some of the products too. This particular bag I have smells pretty good to me, but since I’ve never used another brand, what do I know? lol The breeder I got Toby from actually fed him hay from a local farm too and not Timothy Grass. Is there a particular type of hay? She told me it was cheaper and fresher. I do not at all mind going that route I just wnat to make sure I don’t buy something that will potentially harm him. =/

TH004- I’ve noticed a lot of bun parents on here swear by the Oxbow brand of hay. I may try to order a bag of it along with the hay toppers and see what Toby thinks of it. I have no idea where the Kaytee brand is made,s o who knows how old it is by the time you get a bag home from the pet store. I’ll see if I can find the Oxbow hay you are talking about on BB and order this weekend. Do they make the Botanical hay or is that another brand?

Thanks everyone for the invaluable tips!

[Monkeybun]

The hay I get is a mix of timothy, orchard grass, oat and rye. The boys adore it The girls only get the oat and orchard, as smudge is allergic to timothy. But its great definitely check out local farms. Its nice and cheap too.

[Cristina]

MonkeyBun- will a local feed store have it or do I need to contact a farmer?

[peppypoo]

Yay Texas! Seems like there are a lot of BBers from Texas .

Local feed stores will probably have hay, and you can ask what type it is. If it’s in bulk, you might even venture to ask if you could take a little bit to let Toby sample, to make sure you don’t end up with a bunch of hay that Toby won’t eat. I recall saying that you were familiar with the Houston rescue…most rescues will also sell bulk hay (as well as litter, pellets, and other supplies) for a reasonable price. Plus, it supports the shelter!

[TH004]

Oxbow makes many kinds of hay, including the Orchard Grass and Botanical Hay that my buns eats. I think it’s crazy my buns can tell the difference between brands! Also… this may just be my buns… but I can’t buy the big bags. It goes “stale” in my rabbit’s mind. I have to buy the smaller bags. It is more expensive that way, but at least nothing goes to waste. Just a thought, in case your buns is that picky too!

[Deleted User]

I love the BB hay. I’ve tried Oxbow and Kaytee. They are a bit dry and dusty in my opinion. And my bun seems to like the BB hay more. She’ll jump into the hay box to eat it if I have taken too long to fill up her hay containers.

[CocoaB]

Another vote for Oxbow here. I’ve always had good luck with it. I hate to admit it, but my last bun loved the Walmart brand of bunny hay. I think it’s the Walmart brand, I’ve never seen it anywhere else, just straight timothy in a green bag.

[LoveChaCha]

Cristina, I get my hay from a feed store/tractor supply store that is in a nearby city. I got a 55lb bale for $15. Sizes will vary at stores like that, but you will get what is good for your money I would google up locations.

[Cristina]

Peppy- YAY!!! Texas Twinkies! haha I never thought to check with the shelter. It’s an hours drive going up there, and another back. So for now I’ll check locally at a feed store. Plus that way I can hopefully take a few handful’s home to let Toby try it out and see if he likes it. But next time I’m up there at the doctor I’ll make a run out to the shelter and stock up. I never even thought of that. And I like that it doubles and supports them too. Great idea!

TH- What I have right now is a 53 oz bag of Kaytee. Gus will eat it but Toby is not too fond of it. I’m sure it being a really big bag isn’t helping matters any. Everyone seems to LOVE the Oxbow so I’m gonna give it a try. I’ve been looking at them on BB here and I am surprised at how affordable it is. MUCH cheaper than at Petsmart. I’m for sure gonna get Toby the Botanical one. Even I think I’d eat it! haha I’m gonna try to mix it with another hay. For now I’ll order one on here but next week I’m gonna shop around the feed stores here and try to mix it with something local. Hopefully it’ll be REALLY fresh and Toby will like it.

Skipper- Which one on here do you get? I was looking at maybe buying the mini bale of hay and mixing it with the Oxbow Botanical Hay. Do you buy the mini bale or another one?

ChaCha- Oh my word! That price is AMAZING!!! I am quickly becoming a fan of feed stores. haha The lady I got my bun from turned me on to them. I got Toby’s food there in a 50 pound bag for $12!!! I was flabbergasted! It’s super fresh, tripple bagged, and locally made. Toby refuses to eat any other pellet too. I’ve tried but he is in love with this one! haha She suggested getting a good hay there as well and I didn’t listen. But now that I’m finding out how much cheaper it is I’ll have to run out there and check the prices on it.

Thank you everyone for all the info! It’s be extremely helpful! It looks like Oxbow Botanical and BB hay are clear winners. I’m gonna try those out in between going to find a good one at the feed store!

[Toady]

Down in Australia we don’t have a big range of the pre-packed stuff as a small 1lb bag of oxbow is $18… so not a cheap way to feed more than one bun! Thankfully I discovered a 20kg (40lb) bale of oat hay for $18 from a feed store and I’ve been feeding two bunnies with it since the end of May and still have about 1/4 left, it’s still fresh and the bunnies love it. I’m a big fan of feed stores too, although it is hard sometimes because 95% of people who own horses in this area feed their horses lucerne/alfalfa hay and sometimes the oat hay is more like dry old straw, I’d get some of the other stuff and if you find some good cheap hay use the more expensive stuff as ‘treats’.

Good luck!!

[tobyluv]

Oxbow is certainly a good brand of hay, and I’ve been using it for years. It can be variable like any hay, but this past year, my bunnies have not liked the Timothy as much. The last bags I got had stiffer, thicker strands of hay, which I’m sure is great for fiber, but my bunnies weren’t eating it like they had before. I’m now using American Pet Diner Timothy Gold. It’s a softer, second cutting Timothy, which they really like. I’m still buying Oxbow Organic Meadow Hay and Orchard Grass for them, along with some occasional Botanical Hay.

BB store sells the small bag of APD Timothy Gold, but those are small bags and fairly pricey. I have also bought some of the BB hay and it is good. I buy the 5 pound box of APD Timothy Gold from Drs. Foster & Smith.

[Deleted User]

I have purchased the Timothy Blue Blend, Orchard Hay, and Timothy Hay. My bun really likes the Timothy Blue Blend. I’ve been waiting for the Mature Oat Hay to come back in stock to buy. The only Oxbow hay that I really like is the Oat Hay.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I feel like recommending a brand of hay is like recommending a brand of lettuce. It’s a grown, not a produced or manufactured product.

Instead I’d recommend types-alfalfa for young bunnies, mixes and grass hays for older. Use your judgement when looking at the package, is it tough, shredded, dark, light, yellow? Does your bunny like it and eat it?

The brand I don’t think is as important as the type and if your bunny will eat it You can get a terrible yellow batch from any ‘brand’ and switching to get a better bag of hay is no big deal; so buy what your bunny eats and what looks good. For a young bunny buy alfalfa or alfalfa mixes, buy green, and long stemmed hay; it should smell -wonderful-when you open the bag. Your bunny should love eating hay. Experiment and find what is available and what your bunny likes.

[Cristina]

Toady- I am totally with you on the feed stores. I love that they offer fresh items and at a reasonable price! I’ve been shying away from buying hay there, even though this is what was suggested to me. Mostly because like you, I am afraid of buying hay for my buns that could be bad for them. Mostly due to my lack of knowledge. As of tonight I have 3 buns though, and it just isn’t econimcal for me to keep buying $8 bags at the pet store. Especially since I will probably be going through 2 to 3 bags of it a week. I’ll just have to make sure when I go to the feed store to ask lots of questions and take a list of what the buns can have and what they can’t!

TobyLuv- I have a Toby too!!!! haha I actually picked up a bag of the Oxbow botanical today when I trekked out to a neighboring town that had a pet store. I was hoping to get Toby started on it while I wait to go to the feed store and pick a fresher hay for him. I was disappointed that there was a LOT ( in my opinion) of dust in the bottom of the bag. But since the Botanical has flowers and other things in it I am thinking that may be normal for this particular type of mix.

Skipper- I was actually going to purchase the Timothy Blue and the Botanical and mix them!!! hehe

Thanks so much to you guys for the awesome suggestions! I went to a petsore today and snagged Toby a bag of Oxbow Botanical hay. It smelled heavenly and had great ingredients. Heck, even I would eat it! As soon as I reached into Toby’s cage with a handful of it, he started eating it before I could even put it down. He grabbed the whole handful and ripped it from my hand and chowed down on it. YAY!!! It is a total sucess! For now I am going to mix it with his Kaytee hay until I can find a good fresh hay at the feed store that he will like. I’m also planning on investing in some of the BB hay toppers. His poo is pretty soft and sometimes almost mushy. I’m sure this is due to his not eating enough hay and getting good fiber that way. I’m so glad that we found a hay he ilkes! Eeek!

[Deleted User]

The Timothy Blue is actually Skipper’s favorite besides the mature oat hay. =]

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