Are fresh grass, herbs, and weeds a good substitute for hay

[Beau Bunny]

Hi everyone, Beau barely makes a dent in his hay. He gobbles lettuces and herbs and grazes in his play area on fresh grass (Don’t worry, no pesticides or fertilizers). He also gets fresh herbs from the garden.

Are these (fresh grass, weeds, and herbs) good substitutes for hay or he still needs to be eating ample hay? If the latter, should I decrease the herbs and lettuces? He gets about 2 cups a day.

His poops are fine.

Also, it’s worth noting I have a delivery of Alfalfa on it’s way. He will actually eat straight alfalfa over the timothy blend, just thought it might be an easier transition in a few months (he’s 3 months old).

Lastly, the woman I adopted him from sold me a huuuge box of hay for 10 bucks. It’s still vaguely green, but pretty dry and course. Anybody know a good source of hay either online or in the greater Orlando area? Thanks!!

[Bam]

Fresh grass is an ok substitute for hay. Hay is various dried grasses. Fresh grass has the fiber a bun’s teeth and tummy needs. Herbs and weeds are more to be considered as greens and vegetables. They’re healthy and good, but they dont wear the teeth like grass does and they dont have as much fiber as grass, and the bunny tum  as you know, needs lots of fiber. I suggest you continue with grass, weeds and herbs but with emphasis on the grass. I had a bun who refused hay, but was willing to eat fresh grass. This worked excellently for him, but it was of course a bit impractical for me who had to go out and cut grass for him all year round 🤣

Alfalfa is good for young buns up to the age of 5-7 months. Alfalfa is a legume, it is high in protein and calcium. Young buns need the extra protein and calcium for their growth, whereas adult buns don’t. Alfalfa is a lot more yummy for a bun than grass hay, so it can be difficult to wean the bun onto grass hay when it’s become used to alfalfa.

I’m sorry I dont know any good sources of hay in the Orlando area, hopefully other BB members do and can give you some tips!

 

 

[Beau Bunny]

Thanks Bam! I feel better knowing fresh grass works. I guess that is a dumb question since hay IS grass…but in Florida we have Saint Augustine grass which doesn’t seem very…hay -like. If that makes sense.

Some of the weed, namely the Florida Betony is very grass like. Beau eats the the whole stalk/stem, plus the leaves and flowers. When I was doing some research online there was a gentleman with some property who would dry it from mowing and feed to his buns year round, which I thought was pretty cool.  Here’s some info for any interested Floridians: http://www.eattheweeds.com/florida-betony-150-a-pound/

I really thought it was a genius move to mix the hay and alfalfa up…so it’s easier when he’s older….but alas. He’s not ignoring it completely, but doesn’t make a dent where it ever seems I should refill it. I tried dumping it and putting new hay and he still turns up his nose. Just got his alfalfa delivered today, so he should start munching that again whenever he wakes up. Little loaf.

 

[LBJ10]

St Augustine grass is considered a forage grass for ruminants. It has less protein than timothy and about the same amount of fiber. It does contain a small percentage of oxalates though.

I’ve never heard of Florida betony, but I looked it up. Apparently people eat all parts of the plant. It is in the mint family.

[Beau Bunny]

Thanks, good to know! What about Cat grass for buns? I saw a post on reddit where someone had planted some garden boxes with it for their concrete patio.. I thought that might be a good idea since you can get those seed packets everywhere.

I didn’t know it was related to mint! The roots are pretty tasty. Did you see the thing about Betony selling for $150 a pound? Wow, I could be sitting on a virtual goldmine.

[Bam]

Cat grass is often grown from rye, oat or wheat, sometimes it’s orchard grass. It’s fine for bunnies and not the same as catnip. I have grown cat grass for my bunnies, they tend to like it a lot.

I must look up betony!

[Author]

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