Cut hay question

[caudex]

So I know that uncut hay is best for their digestive systems, full stop. Last week, boyfriend very thoughtfully picked up hay for them while he was out. (not a total slave yet, Liam is working on him by flopping on him though. )

 

Me: Thank you! Oh, it’s cut up small.

Boyfriend: Yeah, I know, but the only other hay I saw was for horses.

Me: What was the difference?

Boyfriend: It was really long. I thought it was too big for them.

 

Best intentions, and the bag would only last them a week, so I decided to run it out. They mostly waste their hay anyway, no matter how little pellets I give them.

Get up the next morning… All eaten. Down to the little fuzzy dust bits. Same thing when I get home from work. It’s been this way all week. Every time I refresh it, they pounce and nom it down. They’re getting plenty of greens, so they aren’t starving, and normally they munch a little and let the rest build up until I change the litterbox.

In short, I know short lengths aren’t as good… but they are eating SO MUCH MORE of it. Their hay intake has easily tripled, and they leave their 1/4″ cup of pellets for most of the day. Does that offset the disadvantage?

[Sarita]

I’m not entirely sure anymore that length is important – maybe for chewing purposes (teeth), but not for diet purposes. It has more to do with the fiber content, I think than the length.

 Hopefully someone will know if it’s really that important…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh I’m sure the short hay is totally fine-I’ve never heard any concern about shorter hay. If they are eating it like that,. I would make that my main hay

[peppypoo]

I highly doubt length is important. if you think about it, the hay gets chewed up and digested anyways. The only thing I can imagine is that the length might be some kind of indication of hay quality…maybe bad quality cheap hay is just bits and pieces and will have shorter strands?

[Author]

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