hay monster

[babybunsmum]

can rabbits eat too much hay?  i know that pinky was given a very limited amount of hay in the shelter and i wonder if she’s a glutton for it now.  i give her more & more every day & she never leaves a spec of it!  i started out by giving her & baby each a handful 2x per day which is more than enough for baby who leaves the smaller bits behind, but have increased to giving pinky a huge ‘flake’ of the bag 2x per day instead of a handful.  i bought a huge 10lb bag of timothy less than 2 weeks ago & it’s all gone!

[Sarita]

Oh my LOL – she is a hay monster. Don’t know the answer to that question – I imagine if she’s very active it’s okay, if she sedentary, then I might be concerned about her putting on the pounds, although I’m not sure what the caloric weight is for hay.

[babybunsmum]

oops… my conversion from kg to lbs was off… the bag is actually only 6lbs not 10.  lol

i guess i’ll monitor her weight – which i’m doing anyways – and feed her accordingly.  she is much more muscular & more active than baby during her 5hr free-roam time i just didn’t figure she’d be eating *that* much more hay!  lol.  i hear ‘unlimited hay’ and think… good grief how much would i have to feed her to keep it unlimited.  i suppose i’m taking that rule of thumb a little too literally… probably as long as she’s eating a more than a handfull daily, maintaining a good weight & pooping well then limiting her hay to under 3lbs / week is okay

[thencamebun]

i was just coming on here to post something very similar! at first when i got iorek he was super picky and barely ate much except pellets. but now he can’t get enough of his timothy hay and greens! i put a handful in the litter pan and a handful in his hay holder and by evening i have to replace the hay in the pan cause there is only bits left and he will have eaten half from the holder so i put new in there. then by morning there is nothing left in either! i don’t know if i should add another handful or not.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m not sure about rabbits but I know about horses. And rabbits are very similar to horses. An active horse can pretty much eat as much hay as they want. My mare usually has access to unlimited tiomthy/clover hay. There is not much calories/carbs, etc in hay, not much nutrition either, it’s basically just roughage. If the horses is lazy and out of work the hay should be restricted because they can gain weight from eating all day.. they can get a “hay belly”. Horses are like rabbits and there stomach should be working food often during the day. The more often they are fed (in smaller quantities rather than a couple of large feedings) the better.

Don’t know if it’s the same with rabbits but I assume it’s pretty similar. My rabbits get a large handful twice a day and some days if I notice they have none in the afternoon I will give them a refill. I like feeding lots of hay because it keeps them busy too.

[MarkBun]

My understanding is that there is no such thing as too much hay for buns.

[Sarita]

http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Got%20Hay.htm

Good article on hay.

[Gravehearted]

hay should be unlimited, since it’s so good for them. it’s much better to have a hay monster than a bun who won’t eat hay!

time to find a place that sells bigger bags.

[JK]

Edson is a hay monster too.  He goes through a Binky Bunny bale in 10 days.  I am always ordering more hay!  Some, of course, is wasted that falls into the litter box and I use some to keep his feet dry in the litter box.  I must refill his hay rack 2-3 times a day.

[JK]

Don’t forget Pinky is a big girl!!!!

[babybunsmum]

lol… she is def a big girl!  i have a voice mail &  email out to that farmer i contacted a while back who sells 40lb bales of timothy.   when it was just baby i couldn’t justify having that much hay at once but now it makes much more sense.  of course now i haven’t heard back from him.  i’m sure its a pain for him to move one $4 bale of hay so until i hear back i’ll just buy my $20 6lb bags.  what a difference huh?  maybe hit up the famers market on sat where there are lots of mennonite vendors who travel by horse & buggy & who may have timothy bales for their horseys.

[kimberleyanddarren]

i didnt think there was a limit on hay as there isnt a fat content, as long as the weight isnt going up i think it whould be fine!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

LOL Pinky and Rupert have so much in common. He is such a hay pig! Although he’s a pig for anything really!! LOL

[babybunsmum]

lol!  pinky is pretty much a pig with all food too.  i can’t dole out her pellets without lifting her bowl out because she flys at the scoop so fast she knocks all the pellets flying.  and she immediately loved and would beg for raisins.  comes in handy if i want to bribe her back in her enclosure.    which is funny to me since baby will not even get up from a flop for a raisin much less cross a room.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

lol sounds just like Rupert…he eats anything on the first try (except banana that scared him I had to leave a peice in his cage for him to like it!). Now when he’s hiding somewhere, being a fraidy bunny all you have to do is shake a treat bag and he comes running. He taught himself to beg, no encouragement here, and if you don’t treat him for begging he tries to climb up your legs…OHhh he’s so cute!

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