How much hay should Chloe eat?

[Serawyn]

I’m a bit concerned reading all the posts about your 40oz hay bags or bales of hay. I bought two 12 oz bags and so far (1.5 weeks), Chloe has only eaten a handful! Each day she eats about 1/8 cups of timothy pellet and a sprig of parsley which she loves. She drinks a lot of water, but she’s definitely not eating as much hay as all of you are buying! 

Should I be concerned? She seems happy, healthy and her poop is just fine. I’m not sure why some of you buy so much hay. I can’t imagine her eating all 2 bags in the next 3 months…maybe even 6! She’s about 4.5 lbs.

[bunnycutie]

just feed un limited-i know it sounds scary, but its not. i thought it was. all it is is offering a handful of hay a day. if they finish it, offer more. simple. it doesn’t sound like she is eating enough if she is getting just one eighth cup of pellets and a sprig of parsley. if you can you may want to buy salad mix(no iceberg, thank-you) and give her a handul each day. she might also enjoy some spinach(feed sparingly cuz of iron), celery, romaine lettuce or small amounts of banana/ apple. your bun might need other food because she might be trying to fill up on water. i am sure she is healthy, just offer more hay. believe me, when i first got my rabbit i wasn’t feeding him enough. i didn’t know, i just was inexperienced. he always drank a lot of water because he only got a tiny bit of pellets and about a 1/4 of veggies. we don’t want hungry bun’s!

[bunnycutie]

oh yea-beware of carrots-too much sugar.

[bunnycutie]

now-back to the point. maybe its the brand-my bun wont eat any hay unless its the binky bunny bran-or oxbow for that matter. if you make the hay avaiable at all times, they will most likely eat it. when you bun finishes her pellets and veggies, dont give her more. she will eventually eat her hay. this is what i have to do. just try it.

[bunnycutie]

oops. brand, not bran

[Serawyn]

I’m feeding her unlimited amount of hay. There is always hay in her food bowl, and I clean it out every morning. I’d be happy to refill, but she doesn’t seem to care so it’s left uneaten. She’s actually a bit overweight so our vet told us not to fill her up on veggies + pellet.

I can’t understand why she’s so cubby when she doesn’t eat much *scratches head*….maybe her previous owner fed her too many treats and she’s used to that? She LOVES carrots, but I only give her a tiny, tiny sliver. I do feed her other greens and she gobbles them up; she truly is a disposal!

[princessangrypeppers]

Have you tried giving her a different kind of hay? Maybe the one you’re offering her just doesn’t taste good to her.

[Beka27]

Princess and Bunnycutie may be on to something. What kind of hay are you feeding? Usually the brands that petstores carry are not very high quality. My bun did not eat much hay until I switched her over to the Oxbow brand. She ate a lot of the Oxbow Timothy, but then I started getting the Oxbow Orchard… and they DEVOUR it. Her diet sounds good with the limited pellets and daily greens. Where is the hay, do you have it positioned in or near the litterbox. Oftentimes, they like to eat hay while they do their business in the litterbox.

[Serawyn]

Thanks everyone for you comments!

I do have the hay in a bowl next to the litter-box and when my husband forgets to put it there, Chloe actually moves it!!! I’m feed her Kaytee Timothy hay right now. I’m going to try and order some Oxbow to see if she’ll like it. Thanks!

[bunnycutie]

a lot of bun’s hate kaytee-my bun did. its way over processed.

[BinkyBunny]

My bunnies eat about a large handful or two of hay a day. I also found that if each day if I put the uneaten hay back in the bag, and mix it around, and then fill up their bins again – something about the hay scent makes them eat more. I learned this trick when I was volunteering at SaveABunny. There would be rabbits that still had 2/3rd of the rack filled, but when i would come around with the Hay bin, they would act like they were starving and dive into the hay I just put in, even though it was exactly the same kind. I think that it has to do with the the hay scent dissipating within their own hay rack, but the hay that has been enclosed will have a stronger scent. Also, we may think hay looks all the same, but they pick out their favorite pieces first. Rucy actually used to like the soft brown pieces, while Jack likes the stocky course pieces.

[Balefulregards]

Its so true BB – Coco will turn her nose up at hay, and if I swish it around, maybe even change the location, she’ll dive in! And she TOTALLY picks out her favorite pieces, nosing through the whole thing to find her favorites.

As to overweight buns – How much out of cage time does she have? You may need to increase exercise in addition to the veggies. The pellets are high in calories ( comparatively to lots of fresh greens) so it is “easier” to fill up on pellets.

For a time, I weaned Coco off pellets as she was having some wicked poopybutt – so she got LOTS of leafy greens ( mint, cilantro, romaine, parsley) –
BB has a great list on the site. Really a bun should have mostly fresh greens, unlimited hay and a little bit of pellets. My bun now gets a tiny bit at night (like 2 tbsps). Its her bed time settle in treat.

As to Hay – Coco was a terrible hay eater at first. Rejected Timothy outright – even the Oxbow brand. I eventually got her eating the Oxbow Brome, then the Orchard Hay…and now she also digs into the Timothy. But it was a long trial to get her to that point. She wasn’t a hay eater from the get go.

[RabbitPam]

Sammy turns her nose up at the soft Orchard hay, but likes the Oat Hay and the coarse Timothy. I like to turn it upside down in her hay feeder just to make it a bit different. Also, you can put a handful of yesterday’s hay into the corner of the litter pan, and add fresh to the hay feeder. It keeps it circulating and is tempting when they are using the litter pan. (I have a hay basket outside of the cage and I put older hay into that too.)

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