How much hay does your bun eat per day?

[bunnnnnnie!]

I’m trying to figure out if Zeus is eating enough hay or not.  How much hay does your bun eat in a day?  A handful?  2 handfuls?  An armful?!

[Deleted User]

This would be a good poll to conduct.

My four rabbits seriously eat an armful of hay in 24 hours, which is more than a handful per individual bun; they will eat that and if available, devour a mountain of grass on top of that.

 

[Minty]

I think my buns eat an average amount. Sully definitely eats more. I fill his litter box and a shoe box in the morning and it is usually all gone by the time I get home.

[Elrohwen]

They probably each eat a really large handful per day. I fill up their hay rack every night (in the cage they’ve been sleeping in) and it’s mostly gone by the morning.

I see them eating hay all the time, but they don’t see to eat large quantities.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/10/2010 11:55 AM
They probably each eat a really large handful per day. I fill up their hay rack every night (in the cage they’ve been sleeping in) and it’s mostly gone by the morning.

I see them eating hay all the time, but they don’t see to eat large quantities.

 

I’ve noticed this, too!  I see Zeus nibbling on hay quite often, but he just doesn’t seem to mow through it real fast or anything.

Cute picture Petzy!  I wish I could give Zeus grass, but since I’m in an apartment complex I have no clue if they treat the grass with anything.

[leyley904]

Should I be concerned if my buns don’t eat this much!? I need to cut down on pellets, but just a little! I don’t even give them enough veggies (working on that…. :\)!

Well, they’re only dwarves, but…. still…. I takes them maybe 2 days to eat a handful.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By leyley904 on 06/10/2010 12:04 PM

Should I be concerned if my buns don’t eat this much!? I need to cut down on pellets, but just a little! I don’t even give them enough veggies (working on that…. :\)!

Well, they’re only dwarves, but…. still…. I takes them maybe 2 days to eat a handful.

 

Zeus eats probably a small handful per day, and doesn’t get an extreme amount of pellets (1/3 cup of Timothy Complete, split into 3 feedings).  He’s also a Mini Lop, so a bit bigger I guess!

[Deleted User]

Especially the dwarf breed bunnies should receive only a minute amount of pellets, a teaspoon is plenty. Cutting down on pellets is key to increasing hay consumption, but do it gradually.

Care must be taken when using fresh grass; you have to know where it comes from, and don’t give too much in the beginning.

[ILoveLucy]

ALOT. I’d say my one bun eats three handfulls every 24 hours?
But we don’t really give her pellets, so that’s probably why. She just has the hay and greens twice a day.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By ILoveLucy on 06/10/2010 12:19 PM
ALOT. I’d say my one bun eats three handfulls every 24 hours?
But we don’t really give her pellets, so that’s probably why. She just has the hay and greens twice a day.

How come you don’t feed pellets?  I’m new to the world of buns, so I’m still learning about diets.
 

[ILoveLucy]

I’m a newbie too, but my understanding (from my vet, and some of the folks on this board) is that ADULT bunnies don’t necissarily need pellets in their diet as long as you have the resources to provide enough hay and greens.

When we first got her we would give her about an 1/8 of a cup of pellets a day, but we noticed she started to gain a little weight. So we just cut them out of her normal feeding cycle.

I still have pellets around the house and when I am training her I will sometimes use them as treats (or as motivation to go back to her cage or whatever), but it’s probably a max of like 15 pellets a day.

I can imagine that if you have LOTS of bunnies, it’s probably economically easier to use pellets, but since I just have the one, it’s easy for me to provide lots of hay and greens!

Also, I hear that baby/young bunnies really need to pellets in their diet to help them grow.

Like I said…I’m still a Newbie too, so regulars to the forum please feel free to jump in and correct me!

[Elrohwen]

Personally, I feed pellets because I know it has a lot of nutrients my bunnies need. Otto, especially, is picky, and won’t eat a variety of greens, so I feel better knowing that they are getting pellets to balance out their nutrition. If you’re not going to feed pellets, I think you have to be really conscientious about which veggies you feed to make sure they get what they need.

I know Binkybunny’s Jack is on a no pellet diet, due to his bladder issues, and she has to give him a wide variety of veggies every day.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/11/2010 10:48 AM
Personally, I feed pellets because I know it has a lot of nutrients my bunnies need. Otto, especially, is picky, and won’t eat a variety of greens, so I feel better knowing that they are getting pellets to balance out their nutrition. If you’re not going to feed pellets, I think you have to be really conscientious about which veggies you feed to make sure they get what they need.

I know Binkybunny’s Jack is on a no pellet diet, due to his bladder issues, and she has to give him a wide variety of veggies every day.

 

Yeah that’s pretty much why I am feeding pellets too.  Zeus SWEARS that he should be on a “kale and carrots only” diet…

[ILoveLucy]

Yeah, I do not have that problem.
Lucy will eat whatever you put in front of her face. And she will continue eating until it is gone.

The only time she was ever coy about eating was when she came home from being spayed…and that lasted like…maybe 6 hours.

We give her around 4-6 different types of veggies a day, and try to rotate them week by week also.

[Elrohwen]

She’s a good eater!

I just got my farm share today and pulled off a leaf of each thing and tried it with the bunnies. Otto turned away from everything like I was trying to feed him poison. So picky! Haha

[BinkyBunny]

I had asked my vet about this a long time ago — how much hay should a bunny be eating. If I remember  correctly, and depending on the size of the bunny, she said, on average, at least one big handful a day. Vivian used to eat a ton of hay- she’d clear out her big hay bin, but now that she gets greens, she eats about two handfuls a day. Jack goes in stages of eating a bunch and then only barely getting through the one handful.

[RabbitPam]

I agree with the quantities stated for hay, and I also give a small scoop of pellets once a day just to cover the nutitional bases for Sammy.

Just want to add that she will go through a hay holder once a day, but some she eats….and some she decorates with….and some she uses as a temporary rug in her cage…
so I find it below the bin, not all in her tummy. She likes some to be on the end of her litter pan, so you can also put some there so your buns can eat and poo at the same time. They like that.

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