I am not sure the budget you are working with when you say ‘good value’. So far I have only used hay from three different companies. The first is Farmer Dave’s Organic Timothy 2nd cutting. It was beautiful hay as it was very green and long stranded. The shipping is pretty expensive though. I decided to try others because my buck just wasn’t eating enough of it for my liking. I tried Oxbow’s Timothy and my guy wouldn’t eat it. I actually ordered a sampler box of Small Pet Select and I found it a great way to see what they like. It ended up that my guy loves their oat hay and 3rd cutting Timothy. For some reason the softness of their 3rd cutting was more comparable to Farmer Dave’s 2nd. I decided to stick with the Timothy and both of my bunnies like it. My only complaint is that it is very short stranded and extremely dusty. My buck didn’t care for Small Pet Select’s second cutting at all. I find their prices to be extremely reasonable.

I don’t buy Kaytee so I couldn’t tell you anything about them. I did buy Oxbow’s Botanical Blend and Small Pet Select’s Orchard Grass Medley and they both have things added. It’s good for them to have variety. I am not sure about hay with the additions you mentioned though. For my bunnies I would honestly just buy those things separately as a treat instead.

Fay’s Pet Hay on Etsy. Bunnies and guineas go crazy over that stuff! It’s from a nice family in New York with very fast shipping and friendly service. I get a 10 lbs box each month for $36.

You’re welcome! From what I have read most feed adult rabbits timothy and then orchard grass seems to come in second. Interestingly the orchard grass in the sample box was the nicest looking hay but the only one my rabbit wouldn’t even try. When I smelled them I could tell why he might not have liked it. It didn’t smell nearly as nice as the timothy. With that said I decided to splurge on the orchard grass medley because I want them to have a nice mix and bunnies normally love clover. I figured it didn’t hurt to try and see if the clover helps entice them to try it. I haven’t given it to them yet. Even though the oat hay was the biggest hit out of the sample box he only really ate the seed heads and from what I read that is a good way to have them gain too much weight. It also seemed to prevent him from eating the important parts of the hay. I watched a video on Oxbow’s facebook page and the vet on the video actually recommended getting a container and just mixing a variety of hay so they get a variety of taste and texture. I really like that idea.

Like with a lot of things you’ll see different opinions, but like you I have also seen a lot of people say timothy is the best for them (of course young rabbits are different since alfalfa is recommended for them). Some say any hay is good, except alfalfa, for adults. A lot really is going to boil down to what your rabbit is willing to eat. Some people are also limited on what they can give due to allergies. For me I know oat hay can only be a treat and since they won’t eat the regular orchard grass I am limited to timothy at this point. I would love to get my rabbits to eat the harder stalks of timothy but they know what they like. Small Pet Select has some nice descriptions of the hay types and their differences. The important aspects of hay is the fiber it gives them and also it’s impact to their teeth of course.

Posted By borya on 1/11/2019 12:22 AM

Hey thanks a lot! Hey so I did see some offerings where it’s like a variety of hays. I had thought about that so I could see what he himself enjoys! But I kept reading that timothy is the healthiest for a bun. Do you know if the other types of hay are ok as well? I had never heard of Farmer Daves or Small Pet Select, I’ll look these up!

Other types of grass hay are just as good as timothy. Australian rabbits can never have timothy hay because it doesn’t grow there. So Aussie buns usually get oat hay. Orchard hay is another good choice for American buns. All grass hay that’s good for horses is good for rabbits, but adult rabbits shouldn’t have legume hay (alfalfa and clover). 

If you have a feed store near you, buy a square bail of horse feed hay (grass hay). Where i live, one large square bail is about $6. And the hay in square bails is usually much less dusty than hay in bags, bc the dust just falls out. Bedding hay is even cheaper, but is so full of sticks that you have to buy 2 bails to amount up to 1 bail of feed hay, so its really not worth it.