hay rack?

[lwayne]

Yes there is always constant talk of hay racks on here, and which one is best and least messy.

But is a hay rack necessary?  I’ve had ones in the past from a basket adjacent to the litter box to one ziptied to the top of a covered litter box (see picture below). 

My rescue bun Leo would use the hay basket as a secondary litterbox since he was use to just having hay inside the litterbox.  Both Leo and Arduina will pee/poo while their eating hay, where ever it may be.  So I transitioned to using a hay rack ziptied to the top of a covered litter box, which worked great for a little while.  They then realized if they just ate all of the hay on the floor of the litterbox, I would add more, and they then stopped pulling hay down from the top.  

Most recently, I gave up on this covered litterbox as they weren’t use it (lazy?); and were just using the open litterbox with hay in it.  So currently my set up is just an open litterbox, which I fill up with hay 2x a day, and they munch that down to the litter or dirty hay.  Is this set up OK?  Or do I need some sort of ‘hay rack’?   I know it wastes hay, but they seem to like it *cough* spoiled buns *cough*

(Note: my buns are free range with no cage)

 

[jerseygirl]

I think it’s the most easy and natural way for them to have it. Off the floor. I put out smallish amounts in the litterbox and sometimes on a mat on the floor. In the box you just have to toss out the soiled hay often is all. A litter box screen would make that super easy.

[SmokeyBunnyRobinson]

I use a litter box with a screen over it then put the hay on top of it, usually to one side. Smokey loves to eat it this way. With the litter box screen, it helps keep the hay mostly clean.

[Isabelle]

I put Dutchess’ hay next to her litterbox. At first she usually sits in her litterbox to eat it, then she’ll push the hay around and make a little pile out of it. She’ll poo in it but not pee, that I’ve noticed. I clean up some of the poos, but leave most of them. I got sick of her ‘making a mess’ and tried a hay rack. She didn’t eat out of it ;.; so I switched her back for fear of her getting stopped up. It wastes a bit of hay each when when I clean her habitat, but I’d prefer her to be eating in her comfort rather than me trying to save a few pennies.

[Lintini]

My buns each have 2 litterboxes, one has a hay rack and the other box is just filled with hay. Granted I buy hay by the bale for 17$ so I waste a TON of hay by just filling up a box for them to sit in and poop/pee it all up but they enjoy having both I think. The bales last me so long I almost have to waste a lot of it.

[Deleted User]

When I am in a rush I sometimes have dropped chunks of hay bale on the floor. Then I just sweep up later. The rabbits love it but it’s messy. So I think it’s the humans who need/want the hayracks, not so much the rabbits. ~

[Deleted User]

Also hayracks are important for sitting in

[RabbitPam]

I’m considering getting a recliner, but Sammy insists we need a hay rack instead. Do they come with ottomans? Maybe a nice bale?

[lwayne]

Petzy, so will your buns pee while they eat hay?  Mine do, and thats why I dont give them access to massive amounts of hay and need to have the hay inside a litterbox.  

 

Good to know that its ok to let them just eat hay in the litterbox and there’s no need for an extra hay rack.  They seem to be doing fine with this setup.

[Deleted User]

so sorry, Iwayne, I didn’t check in here because I forgot to subscribe. Yes, my rabbits pee in the hay, but the hay is gone so fast that it doesn’t have time to spoil. That amount of hay in the photo was all eaten up by the end of that day.

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