Botanical Hay?

[Deleted User]

    Has anyone tried this yet?

http://www.oxbowhay.com/Shop/showProduct.sp?PRODUCT_NO=85

It looks like it might be a really good for bunnies once in a while, I don’t think this is meant to be a staple hay, though I cant really tell…

[barbara elliott]

I just got some of the botanical hay this week. I was really excited when I heard about it, but it seems dissapointing. Apart from a few (key word: few) flower blossoms, it pretty much looks and smells like Oxbow’s regular timothy. I really like the idea, though, so I was considering researching bunny herbs and buying some dried organic ones to offer as a treat. Anyone have ideas for bunny-friendly herbs?

Speaking of Oxbow hay, has anyone else noticed a change in Oxbow’s timothy hay? Usually their hay is wonderful, delicious-smelling, but my last shipment seemed to have more brown grass and be less… sweet. Perhaps it’s a seasonal thing, or an bad harvest . . . ?

[BinkyBunny]

I am so glad this was brought up about the Botanical Hay.  I was wondering about that.  It looked like such a great product.  I was going to order it to test it out.    Did your bunnies like it any better or ?????

My bunnies favorite herbs are rosemary, mint and basil.     Other great herbs to try are sage, peppermint, oregano, thyme.   This link is great – It gives you a whole printable PDF file with pictures of greens and herbs (herbs start on page 9)

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf

 

I have a stock of Oxbow Hay that must be from a previous harvest.  Anytime I get the green stuff, I stock up because sometimes, especially during the winter, it can not be as good.   There are several season cuts, and they do vary, but if you have brown hay, and if it smell dusty or musty, then it is actually a bad batch that I would return.     But as long as it still smells like hay, and it’s not too dusty, then it’s probably just a seasonal thing.  

[Ester Yeh]

does everyone buy straight from the oxbow site? How is shipping calculated? I couldnt seem to figure it out…it only says something about shipping prices for orders over 200 lbs.

[Deleted User]

I buy it from either from a small pet store that sells oxbow products or this rabbit rescue place I found out about recently really close to me that sells busy bunny and oxbow things.  I cant believe I didnt know about RabbitEars.  It is a small rabbit rescue about 5 blocks from my parents house!!!  I sorta feel horrible that I got Cassy from a petstore when there was a rescue right around the corner from my folks….but i will 100% got there to bond her later!!!!

[barbara elliott]

Binky Bunny:
In all honesty, I can’t say whether they like it better or not, I’ve been mixing it along with the regular Oxbow timothy–and they’re just happy it’s not the lower-quality stuff from our local pet store! Thank you for the advice on the hay. . . what would you say if there was *some* brown hay that smelled a little off, but the rest of it looked/smelled good–though not terrific? Is this a situation to worry about mold? I thought with Oxbow, I was safe as far as quality was concerned. And thank you for the herb advice! That will be a summer project, for sure!

Has anyoen seen and/or tried these little “bunny salads” they’re selling at pet stores? They’re packaged in plastic tins like the pre-washed salads at the grocery store, and contain dried herbs and flowers. . . they seemed pricey, so I haven’t sprung for them.

New Obsession:
I buy directly from the website, and have been generally pleased with the results. If you go through and enter your address and place your order, you’ll see the shipping charges before you have to pay, so you can “try it out” before you buy. For me, the shipping charges are almost as much as the products I order–but I save so much compared to buying from a pet store, it’s really worth it. (and the quality seems better than the Oxbow that’s stocked in pet stores. Maybe because at the petstore it sits on the shelves longer) I can buy a big box of hay directly from Oxbow for $25, pay the $25 shipping, and save money because the same amount of hay would cost me $100++ in a pet store–plus there’s the hassle of driving there every week. In the end, I think the shipping is calculated by the weight/size of your order, and how far it has to go.

Good luck!

[Gravehearted]

apparently i’m behind the times – i haven’t even seen the botanical hay yet! 

Tabby – i’ve notice a difference in different harvests of hay too. Some times it’s lush and green and other times it’s more brownish. I think it has to do with what’s going on with the crops and rainfall. Someone was mentioning to me some months ago that it was likely timothy prices would go up due to some harvest issue – but for the life of me I can’t remember what the cause was. It sounds like the bunny salads are a clever marketing idea.  Speaking of herbs – my kidlets go nutso over dill, basil and parsley.

And on the subject of online hay – one of my friends orders 2nd cut timothy hay from Kleenmama and it’s remarkably green & VERY soft. I keep saying I need to order it online, since the quality seems better than any hay i’ve seen. http://kmshayloft.com/

Edit:  I just ordered some hay from kleenmama.  I ordered 9 pounds of timmy hay and the total with  ground shipping was just under $20.  the shipping is by zone, but was more reasonable than I imagined.  wow that’s a lot less than $8 I’ve been paying for a larger bag of oxbow!

[Hilde]

tabby on 2/28/2007 8:58:02 PM

I just got some of the botanical hay this week. I was really excited when I heard about it, but it seems dissapointing. Apart from a few (key word: few) flower blossoms, it pretty much looks and smells like Oxbow’s regular timothy. I really like the idea, though, so I was considering researching bunny herbs and buying some dried organic ones to offer as a treat. Anyone have ideas for bunny-friendly herbs?

At the end of this summer we cut all that was left of our basil harvest and dried it.  We also dried whatever mint we could rescue. The buns LOVED the new herb hay. We’re planning an enormous basil and mint plantation for this year .
I finally got Hazel to eat hay this way! Now she also eats the meadow grass hay, though she still roots through her basket for the "good" bits first .
We’re planning to produce our own "herb hay" this year, with any herb we can dry.

[Gravehearted]

what a great idea Hazel-mom! 🙂 i love it!

[BinkyBunny]

Tabby, when you’re buying directly from Oxbow, you shouldn’t have to worry, but sometimes flukes happen and hay that had been stored in moisture or in an enclosed area for awhile can get moldy.   The description of the brown hay mixed in with green can be normal.  It’s when it’s very dusty and a strong musty smell is apparent.  It doesn’t sound like that is what is happening.

New Obsession – As far as where I get hay from  – Most is given to me by the rabbit rescue I volunteer for.  But I also like to mix in the hays that we sell – Oxbow and Bunny Blend since my bunnies like all of it.   The more hay they eat the better!

[Author]

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