Is oat hay truly fattening for rabbits?

[jerseygirl]

 I’ve noticed it mentioned about oat hay here on the boards. I’ve not come across this elsewhere that I can recall.  What is your experience in feeding oat hay?

[angelicvampyre]

I have been told by my vet that it is fine and to add in pellets to get Rufus to gain weight when Anya who needs it to keep feeding Oaten and drop the pellets.

[RabbitPam]

I really think the Oat Hay rumor is just that. It probably started when someone got it mixed up with Alfalfa, which IS fattening. Only recommended for growing babies.

Sammy has been on Oat Hay almost exclusively (by her choice – it’s her favorite) for 2 years now. She just turned 2 actually. And she weighed EXACTLY the same as she did at the vets a few months ago, to the ounce. She is keeping her girlish diva figure, so I can say definitively that it isn’t making her fat!

[Sarita]

I don’t think any grass hay is going to be that fattening. Might it be more fattening than timothy or orchard maybe it could be but overall I wouldn’t call hay fattening.

[Deleted User]

Maybe this rumor originates from a livestock context; oat hay for livestock contains oat seed heads which make the hay rich in protein and fat. A rabbit’s oat hay product should not contain these.

[Monkeybun]

Well, oat hay is one of Monkey’s favs… and she sure as heck hasn’t gained any weight

[Dee]

I just wanted to share this- many bunnies eat oat hay and do fine, but I don’t think it was good for my BunBun. The reason was that he liked the oat part of the hay so much that he started to ONLY eat that part, the oats, and barely pick at all his other hay. I should have thought that could be bad for him, not eating those long strands of hay that keep rabbit’s guts moving- I can be so clueless sometimes. But I kept giving it to him for about a month. First, BunBun got a bad case of gas one night. He pulled out of that himself after I massaged his belly and warmed him up. About a week or so later, he got GI stasis and we almost lost him. Thank God our vet did a good job and BunBun is a real fighter. After that, I won’t feed my buns any more oat hay. Who knows, maybe it was just a cooincidence, but I’m not taking the chance. I think oat hay is fine for rabbits as long as they don’t stop eating the actual hay! Unfortunately, my BunBun is a bit obsessive about his food and decided that if oats were this good, who needs hay. I just anted to throw this out there so that others will be sure to keep an eye on their bun’s hay intake when they feed oat hay .

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