Hay recommendation to compliment Mature Oat

[Nova]

I feed my buns Mature Oat hay because I am terribly allergic to grass hays. I go with the Mature because I guess the young oat is not good for buns with chronic digestive problems?

(Boon has chronic slow gut motility).

Anyway, I am considering taking him completely off pellets and having his feed be completely unlimited mature oat hay and a 2 servings of fresh green leafy veggies daily. I would like to add a complimentary hay to the Mature Oat so that he does not get sick of the excessively sweet taste of the oat hay….basically, some variety. But I don’t know where I could get it, and what would be appropriate for his needs (GI problems) and mine (allergy to grass hays such as timothy and orchard).

I was getting my hay from a rabbit farm in CA but the lady is semi-retiring and I will likely be ordering my mature oat from BB from now on, but she also offers Rye, Barley, Wheat and young Oat. 

Thoughts??

[LoveChaCha]

I would possibly try rye, barley, and wheat.  Is meadow grass an option?

 

If you plan on going pellet less, you will have to feed more than 2 types of vegetables to make sure that your bun gets all of the nutrients that he needs.

[Nova]

I can’t afford more than 2 different types of veggies. *sigh* I can’t even afford his surgery, I’ve been having fundraisers for it.

Perhaps instead of removing pellets completely, I could just ration his pellets to a half of a 1/8 cup 4 x a day. that would be like, nutrition between meals but not enough to bound him up.

I don’t know.

I don’t want a secondary hay that is too dry, too high in calcium or protein, or gritty with seedheads like young oat.

I just dont know what to do and am feeling very defeated.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m assuming your going to reduce his pellets gradually?

With regards to vegetables, if you have a yard or know someone who does and doesn’t use pesticides, you could pick dandelions,clover or even fresh grass. You could also buy herb seeds and start an indoor garden to grow things like cilantro, parsley, basil or mint. This is very cheap to do.

[Velvet]

I feed Velvet rabbit food from, Wal-Mart. It has all kinds of different dehydrated fruits and veggies in it, AND pellets. I don’t know how, but she manages to sift through every thing in her bowl, and pick out the fruits and veggies and leaves every pellet in the bowel. She must have one heck of a nose, cause she can’t see what she’s picking out of that mess of stuff. According to the bag it is loaded with vitamins and nutrients for rabbits, but, if she isn’t eating the pellets, I hope there is plenty in the “other” stuff in there she likes. She gets Romaine lettuce and hay too. Haven’t had any wool block for prolly 2 years now on this diet.

[Nova]

His pellets have already been reduced gradually – he eats enough of them for nutrition per day, but I want him to eat a lot of hay. Sometimes he gets tired of the Mature Oat and I have to switch it up a bit, but with Timothy, I wheeze and get severely allergic. I’m wondering if Wheat would be a good alternative to Timothy.

Does anyone know the fiber, protein and calcium levels for Wheat, Mature Oat and Timothy hay so I can compare?

As far as green leafy veggies – I think I’m going to stop the vegetables and stick with herbs like cilantro, mint, occasional parsley. The owner of the rabbit hay feed farm told me that herbs are less likely to cause gas than say, romaine lettuce or endive or kale, etc. Boon has a lot of gas and 9 times out of 10 his poops are never really properly formed. Sometimes significantly malformed, sometimes slightly malformed.

I spoke with the exotic pet vet and will be posting an update on that thread….. regarding his chronic GI stasis issues….

p.s…. I do not recommend any type of rabbit pellet with the junk added to it like the dried fruits and other colorful sugary stuff. Those things can actually stop up the bunny because it is sugary and high in carbs. More likely to give them a health problem. and always make sure there is extremely high fiber int he pellets. At LEAST 25%. Oxbow adult pellets have between 25% and 29% fiber, it’s the largest amount of fiber pellet brand I could find, so that is the type of pellet I use.

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