Fussy, fussy bunnies

[LittlePuffyTail]

I just hate how picky they can be, the little buggers! The new shipment of Timothy I just got is mostly the hard, stick pieces. They prefer the softer, leafier type and they are not impressed. Especially Bindi, he is Mr. Fussy. He picks through it, eats the few leafy pieces and fuzzies and just scatters the rest and also feels the need to poop on the discarded pieces

Do you have buns that are fussy about the hay texture, colour? Stormy and Olivia aren’t overly thrilled with this hay but they are at least eating a half decent amount.

I hate to buy more hay because I just spent a lot on a big bag but I’m worried Bindi is not getting enough hay. Do you think he will eventually eat it if I leave it in his cage?

My petstore has been getting in Oxbow Timothy and other types of hays. What is your opinion on the Oxbow? I’m very fussy about the hay I feed, I end up tossing a lot of bags of my current brand in the garbage. Just want some input on Oxbow before I spend more money.

 

[Thearina]

I ordered some oxbow timothy hay and orchard grass from drsfostersmith.com and I was way less than impressed The orchard was VERY dusty and the bunnies and my mom’s guinea pigs (we spilt the hay) were really sneezing with this. But stopped when we removed it from their cages. The timothy hay was very hard and stocky. The guinea pigs and bunnies didn’t really seem to care for it. And we would afraid of it poking them in the eye. We’re going to order some hay from kmshayloft.com. I’m on a guinea pig forum and most of the members buy kms hay because you can get the 3rd cut timothy hay right now that is as soft as orchard grass. Plus she also sells bluegrass that is soft like orchard grass and I know that alot of people with hay allergies order the bluegrass because it is not dusty and doesn’t upset their allergies. When you add in shipping to the cost it may seem like alot, but if you add the total including shipping and divide it by how much the hay weighs, your saving alot compared to buying small amounts from petstores.

The problem that I and others I know have had with oxbow is that if you want a larger amount (9lbs or more) you have to order online and you don’t know how the hay will be until you get it. The only time I buy oxbow hay, which is not often, is when I can actually look at it in the store. Plus it is fairly pricey in stores.

You can often buy some feed store, but I personally don’t do that even thought I live out in the country where alot of people grow and sell hay. And the reason I don’t is that alot people around here don’t store the hay well and often times you go and buy the hay and don’t know that its been left out the rain and until you get to the middle to actually see that it is molding. Which can cause a serious health problem for your rabbits. I’m not saying that all people are like this, but if you do get some from a feedstore be cautious and ask how they store it.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Thanks for your input on the Oxbow. I also hate the idea of ordering hay you can’t see because you never know how each shipment will look.

I could actually get free hay from the stable where I work and keep my horse but, although it’s fine for the horses, it’s not up to my standards of what I feed the rabbits. They are often lots of strange looking plants in it and sometimes is a bit dusty. It’s too bad because this would save me big bucks if I could use it.

[BunnyMuffin]

I’m personally a big fan of the Oxbow hay. So far I’ve ordered 2 huge boxes (25lbs, I think) from Drs. F&S, and both times I have been pleased with the quality. It smells and looks way better than any of the other hays I’ve bought at pet stores. It is a bit dusty, but I think that’s largely the nature of timothy hay. There was a slight difference in texture between the two boxes, but I don’t think one is a better quality than the other. The buns definitely prefer this fresh smelling, nice looking hay and eat a lot more than when I bought the pet store brands. I also think the cost is reasonable because the shipping is not very much on Drs. F&S, plus we buy aquarium supplies at the same time, to maximize how much we can get without increasing the shipping (it’s based on how much you spend, not what you buy and the website tells you how much more you can order without increasing the shipping).

I should also point out that neither of my buns are particularly fussy about eating. There are a couple veggies I’ve found they don’t care for too much, but with the timothy they’ve always eaten it regardless of the brand (just they eat the lower quality hay slower, but not so slow that I worry they aren’t consuming enough).

I also ordered a smaller bag of the oxbow orchard grass to try. At first they were only interested in it when it was in the bag, but wouldn’t eat it. But I went away on holidays for 3 weeks, and now that I’m back they’re eating it! So happy day! It’s nice and soft and WAY less dusty, so I’m hoping to eventually transition over.

Have you tried hand feeding the new hay to your fussy bun? I find sometimes if the buns won’t take eat it on their own, they will eat it if I offer it to them (in the beginning they would eat a strand or two of the orchard grass if I handed it to them, but not if I just left it in the cage…so silly). Might be worth a shot to see if he will acclimate.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Well, maybe I will try a small bag of Oxbow Timothy. It’s not too badly priced and if I like it, I think the pet store could probably order me the huge bags of it which would be nice since it feels like I’m at the pet store more than I’m at my house!!

Can orchard grass be fed as the only hay source? I thought the non-Timothy grasses should only be used as a supplement. I’ve never tried any of the non-timothy types.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

Frankie seems to prefer the Oxbow timothy hay over the other store brands. It also tends to be greener and have longer strands than other packaged ones from my experience.

[BunnyMuffin]

My understanding is that Orchard Grass can also be fed free choice, just like Timothy hay and is a good alternative for allergy sufferers. I know I don’t appreciate the timothy hay dust, and it makes my one rabbit very sneezey!

[MimzMum]

Welcome to my world, Puffy! *groan* I can’t tell you how much hay I waste because it’s “not just right!” I think I’m feeding three little Goldilocks-es! >.<

Just made a BB.com order for some of the young oat and 2nd cut timothy. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[MooBunnay]

If you’ve got horses around, do you have feed stores around? Since we have 8 bunnies we buy “horse quality” timothy hay, and it is a very good quality, and the bunnies love it. Obviously the hay with the plants and such in it is not the ideal, but if you can get in touch with a feed store you can ask for their high quality hay. I pay about $32 for one bale, and my husband always looks through the pieces before he puts it out for the bunnies to make sure there isn’t a random stick or weed in it, but he said this latest bale we’ve gotten is very good. I think the important part is to find a good supplier and make a a good relationship with them so that you can get the best quality hay. The hay we get this way also has tons of the fuzzies and softer parts, so it sounds like it would be appealing to your buns

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’ve got to try getting some hay from the horse shelter; I’m hesitant to ask Nanci-I’m kind of shy about buying something off a friend….

but I was cleaning tonight and her hay is soooo much better then mine. Mine is locally grown, but her’s is literally beautiful! It’s what we use for the rabbit shelter and they all love their hay. Some of them eat every last peice of it -You go to feed the next day and their are several cages that look like their never was hay in there-because they ate it all!!!

[Lightchick]

All my two eat is Orchard Grass–Lizzy’s a brat and won’t go near Timothy. The last batch of hay seemed stiffer than usual (Lizzy likes nice soft grass-like hay), and she flung it all over her pen, the beastie! And lo-and-behold, when I went back to my feed-store halfway through the flake to try to find something more to her highness’ liking, I asked the owner, and he said that the last batch of Orchard did have Timothy mixed in!

Now Lizzy thinks she is very clever!

Anyway, I buy my hay for $4 a flake at a local feedstore. Other than the Timothy/Orchard incident, the hay is of good quality, not dusty, not brown, no mold. And it’s $4 a flake! Oxbow (or any other petstore brand) is just too expensive. It’s somewhere around $6 for a bag that would last one night with my two. The $4 flake lasts me 2 weeks.

[Sarita]

I’ve seen those bags in stores and they don’t look very good to me either. I buy in bulk and I think it’s better that way.

I would look someplace locally as well that might sell it rather than the bagged petstore stuff.

[KatnipCrzy]

K&K-

Maybe you can work something out to buy a bale of hay or portion of hay that still saves you money but makes a little money for the rescue?  If you don’t have room for a whole bale- maybe buy a bale take half and “donate” other half to the bunnies or horses there?

I know what you mean about buying from friends- but if the rescue is in a position to sell bulk hay or pellets (and not just to you) and able to make a little money from it- that benefits everyone. Maybe have a set hay price posted for everyone- volunteers or adopters (obviously this may chnage with next shipment of hay, etc).

I wish that I had a local rabbit rescue to buy supplies from!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

^^ Unfortunately she buys the 2000lbs round bales!! I was thinking of paying for one bale and then just taking as I needed cuz I’d never feed a whole bale in years!

[LittlePuffyTail]

The feed stores here don’t sell hay. One of the pet stores sells local grown hay but I bought some and it was really nasty and smelled like cows. As if my buns would stoop to eating that, lol.

Unfortunetly, it seems my only option is the pet store stuff. I pay 5.99 for a bag that lasts about 1/2 a week so it does add up, especially when I chuck so many bags out.

[KatnipCrzy]

K&K-

  You could always take some large cardboard boxes and stuff them full of hay to store at your house.  You would not believe how small a dent it puts in a regular bale of hay to fill a large box!  So I can not even image a 2000lb bale!  If you look at eBay- the Farmer Dave seller- that is how he sells his hay, by the box (since all his is shipped anyway).  I have never purchased from him, but I think others have.  Maybe you could set a price for X amount of hay that you stuff in the box, and you pay whenever you get a refill?

  I like pulling my hay out of the large bale before I bring it into the house, I loosed it up and put it into a large box, it seems less messy to feed looser hay, than trying to feed huge clumps of hay. 

That is one thing I like about the Binky Bunny hay that I give as “treat” hay- a small portion every day- the bales are so small and compact, but because of the small bale size they are not awkward and messy to grab portions, you call practically peel off “flakes” from the end.

I have feed Oxbow, Zupreem and Kaytee hay before and I also noticed huge inconsistencies.  I had bought a 9lb Zupreem timothy and it was CLEARLY the end of a regular bale shoved into the big plastic bag and then boxed.  It was very rough and stalky- but fortunately buns did not seem to mind it too much- but I usually offer at least 2 types of hay at a time.

I never want my buns to be so picky that they won’t eat X type of hay since they have never had it before.  And once I figured out that quality was an issue with pet store brands- I have offered Timothy, orchard, brome, etc to get them used to variety.

[Beka27]

i used to feed petstore brands of hay, kaytee, zupreem, i think even *sunseed* one or twice :o(

i wasn’t too impressed by any them. sometimes they were good, sometimes they weren’t. and Meadow didn’t eat much at all.

i switched her over to a full oxbow diet before we adopted Maxie. and i haven’t gone back to the other store brands. it’s easy for me to get it locally, it always looks and smells good. my store carries it and there’s a quick turnaround of product (not the same dusty bag on the shelf for weeks at a time).

when i went to get more hay a couple months ago, they were out of timothy so i got the orchard instead and i’ve been feeding it exclusively now. the buns eat twice as much of the orchard as they did the timothy hay. it’s not anymore expensive, my store always has at least a couple bags (the timothy seems to sell out quicker) so i’ve been happy with it.

i’m not in the position space-wise to be buying larger size bales of hay. i also don’t know how my husband would react, so i just keep buying the 40oz bags every couple weeks… for two buns, it works out fine.

[Lightchick]

Really, LPT?! Your feed stores don’t sell HAY?! (What do they sell, then?)

That’s really odd…I’m so sorry…

[LittlePuffyTail]

They sell animal feeds, like grains and supplements and stuff and farm animal supplies. You have to buy hay directly from the farms that sell it around here. Most people order bales of hay several hundred at a time so the feed stores don’t bother selling it. My barn goes through over a thousand bales of hay a year.

[MimzMum]

I had the same problem here. For a place that has so many horses, (you can’t swing a cat without hitting one…not that I…would…) you would think we’d have hay sold in our feed stores (but really they’re mostly geared towards sled dogs, natch) but when I scouted around lately, I couldn’t even find pellets for the bunnies.

Good thing that in spring/summer we have leftover fresh hayseed growing in our yard from when the previous owners lived here with their horses. But I’m out of luck in winter.

[Lightchick]

Ack, bunnies are such a pain in the butt! I’m right there with you!

I went into my feed store (which does sell hay, thank goodness!), and said, “My bunny is hating the most recent batch of orchard grass. When will you get a new one?”

*Incredulous look”

“We get a new shipment every week…but what the farms turn out from week to week may not be any different…”

So I bought her-highness Oat Hay, which I know she likes. And magically, there are poops in her litter box (she had been eating them all…eeeewww gross!). But now she won’t eat her lettuce or pellets, only her hay.

Sigh.

Robbie doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about, meanwhile…

[MimzMum]

That oat hay is like a drug. If I give it to my bunnies, they turn their noses up at everything else too. 0_o And then they start getting round….er.
Gotta wonder what they put in that stuff? :-/

Glad to hear Miss Lizzy is not eating those bb’s. That was kind of odd. If the hay wasn’t really filling her because the quality wasn’t good, that explains it.

[Cassi&Charlie]

My bunnies wont touch anything but oat hay now that I’ve given it to them. I totally agree with MM, it’s like a drug!

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