Early transition from alfalfa to grass hay??

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This topic has 8sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 7 months ago by Wenny.

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- 04/22/2021 at 3:16 AM
  Wenny
  Participant
  27 posts
  <p class=”p1″>Hi guys,</p>
  <p class=”p1″>so sorry for making several posts in a few days, it’s been a bit stressful in the bunny household recently lol. So basically, I don’t know what is going on with the alfalfa hay around my area but I’ve been either finding small white mold spores on the hay, strange coloured bugs crawling inside the bag, or the hay smells really sour, all from the different hay sources accessible to me. Charlie’s always been on half oaten and half alfalfa, and he’s currently 5.5 months old. I was wondering if I can wean him off now (or is it too early) and if so over how many days. Currently the only alfalfa hay I have smells sour and I don’t know if I should continue feeding it to him while I wean him off. I don’t want to feed him that hay but I also don’t want to make too much of an abrupt change and cause stomach upset.</p>
  Below is a photo of a piece from another bag of hay that smells ok but I think there are mold spores (they feel quite fuzzy), I swear its visible when u look closely
- 04/22/2021 at 3:31 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16966 posts
  You are very welcome to make several posts, of course 😃
  
  You can wean your bun off alfalfa now. Normally the recommendation is 6 months, so 5.5 months will be fine. The problem with weaning a bun of off alfalfa is that grass hay isnt as tasty, so that’s why its recommended to do a slow-ish transition. It’s great that your bun has had oat hay as well as alfalfa, that should make the transition a lot easier. If your alfalfa hay is bad quality, I’d stop it right away.
  
  I cant say if there are variants of alfalfa that have velvety leaves naturally. Maybe someone else here can!
- 04/22/2021 at 5:01 AM
  Wenny
  Participant
  27 posts
  He’s a very picky bun when it comes to food but I think oaten hay is rather sweet for his palate. From the beginning he’s never had too big of a preference between oaten and alfalfa, and right now I’ve chosen to just feed him the grass hay. He’s eating it just fine but I think the sudden transition is making him a little stressed (or maybe its his hormones as he is not neutered yet) cause he’s been chewing and eating everything he can find (like cardboard, wood, fleece etc) today and he’s been quite restless. I don’t see any digestive upset so thats good? As always, thank you for your advice!
- 04/22/2021 at 5:48 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16966 posts
  Keep an eye on his poop. (Just so you see that he keeps producing poop). If you suspect some minor gastric upset, you can give him 1 ml of simethicone baby gas drops. You can give him 1 ml every hour for 3 hours, then more infrequently. Simethicone is not taken up by the body, it just comes out with the poop.
  
  Rabbits can get more restless when they hit puberty. They often start to pee-and poop mark their area.
- 04/22/2021 at 8:15 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  I can’t really tell from the picture, but I agree if you have concerns about the safety of the alfalfa, it’s fine to switch to 100% grass. Buns don’t usually have as many issues switching hays as they do with pellets or veggies. As long as he is eating the grass hay well you should be good to go, but of course keep an eye on his poops as Bam said!
  
  The behavior could be hormonal for sure!
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
  - 04/23/2021 at 1:29 AM
    Wenny
    Participant
    27 posts
    I’ve completely switched him to grass hay yesterday and he’s still been consistently pooing like normal. The only thing is that his poo is wetter than usual but is still completely consistent in size, colour, and shape. It might just be because its peed on (today is the one of the days where I clean his litter box so all the litter is soaked through and covered with poo/pee) but in general it’s always been a little wet when fresh. I always wondered if that’s normal. As always, thank you for your advice!
- 04/22/2021 at 5:27 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17027 posts
  Alfalfa can be fuzzy on the undersides of the leaves, so I wouldn’t be worried about that necessarily. The smell is more concerning for sure. I agree that it will probably be fine to just stop feeding since he’s already eating at least some grass hay.
- 04/23/2021 at 2:12 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16966 posts
  Any dietary change will cause some changes in the overall appearance of the poop. It’s nothing to worry about as long as there is a good amount of nicely formed poop.
  - 04/25/2021 at 2:43 AM
    Wenny
    Participant
    27 posts
    It’s been about two days now and the main problem is still the poop being wetter than usual. It is nicely formed but the wetness makes it crack open super easily and become mushed. I know it’s nowhere near diarrhea because the mushed feces are just chewed up hay, but I would like to know if this is normal and if not how can I firm the poop up a bit more. For some reason I can’t attach a photo to this post lol so I can only describe it.
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