Is orchard grass ok for a dysbiosis bun?

[pinkiemarie]

I normally feed these 10 lb boxes of standlee Timothy hay which is generally very nice quality but they’re up to $29 for 10 lb so I was thinking of switching back to compressed bales. Unfortunately the compressed bales are very dusty so I was thinking of trying orchard grass for less allergies, but Wally has chronic dysbiosis and is on a diet of Timothy hay, Timothy pellets (that’s the only ingredient) and dried herbs as a treat. His herbs include sage, strawberry greens, oregano, mint and his favorite, dandelion. Anyhow, apparently orchard grass has a higher sugar content than timothy. Has anyone tried it on a chronic dysbiosis bunny? Was the sugar coated content ok?

I’m also wondering about the wear on their teeth. Does orchard grass wear their teeth down enough as long as they eat a lot?

[pinkiemarie]

Sugar content, not sugar coated content 🙂

[Bam]

Orchard grass is good, you can start with smaller amounts if you want to. Normally you dont have to transition hays, but with a dysbiosis bun it could be wise -just to be extra careful.

Orchard grass wears the teeth. It’s not about how crunchy a hay is, its about how “abrasive” the grass leaves are. Grass leaves have microscopic deposits of silica that act pretty much as sand paper on the teeth as the bun chews (buns chew with their molars in a sideways, grinding motion of the jaws, the front teeth are for chopping up food so it can be pulled into the mouth for proper chewing).

I often pick fresh orchard for my buns since it grows wild here.

[pinkiemarie]

Thanks for the info! I’m sure the sugar content of grass is low, even for a high sugar grass but you really have to be careful with special needs buns!

[Bam]

Sugar content in grass varies a lot over the growth period. It’s highest in spring grass and horses can be really sensitive to spring grass -they can get laminitis from eating too much of it. (Laminitis fortunately isn’t a thing rabbits can get, since rabbits don’t have hooves). It’s still sensible to serve any new food in gradually increasing amounts to a dysbiosis bun, since it’s always difficult to predict how they’ll respond. (I had a dysbiosis bun for many years, I always had to be extra careful with him).

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