Oat hay

[Sirius&Luna]

So, I asked for a sample of oat hay with my regular Timothy order. And its the most beautiful green, stalky hay I’ve ever seen. It’s full of seed heads though. Are the heads fattening? Should oat heads not be a part of a regular diet, or is it fine?

[Fluffykins]

Yep oat hay is the only green hay I can manage to get. Sadly my fluffykins is getting board of it now. The seed heads are the fattening part but should be ok as long as the rest of the diet is ok. I’d give it mixed with the Timothy hay (not *just* buckets of oat hay).

What fluffykins used to do at the beginning when he would go mad for the stuff is eat all the seed heads first. Then slowly eat the rest haha. Now he’s not really bothered about any of it

[Sirius&Luna]

The problem is they only sell it in bulk, and I don’t want to store 2 9kg bags of hay in my flat! Maybe once I’m halfway through this big bag I can order another and start mixing.

If you’re in the UK fluffykins, check out timothyhay.co.uk. They sell really good quality green timothy (and this oat), and they’ll send you a sample if you want to check if he’ll eat it!

[Wick & Fable]

I used to give Wick Oat hay but stopped because he became a very selective hay eater, only eating seeds. So just watch out for whether his actual hay consumption stays the same or decreases.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Sirius&Luna]

All of mine eat tons of Timothy, so maybe I shouldn’t risk messing with that then. It’s probably not worth it if they’re happy and eating what’s healthy.

[sarahthegemini]

I think I read somewhere that the seed heads are only fattening if harvested at the wrong time or something. Not quite sure but I don’t think it’d be an issue. I have been wanting to try the oat from timothyhay.co.uk as both of mine love the timothy and I’m currently also giving them Burns Green Oat Hay which they devour. I do give them smaller portions of it though (and large portions of Timothy and orchard) because the oat is a bit lower in fibre.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My boys go nuts for Oat Hay. I can only get it in the tiny expensive Oxbow bags so I usually buy them a bag for special occasions. Maybe Santa will bring some.

[ThorBunny]

Thor is such an oat hay addict that I’ve made it into a treat instead of her normal hay – pretty sure if she had unlimited oat hay she would eat the seed heads until she was fat as a beach ball So I give her a small serving once a day or so, the rest of the time she has timmothy which she is good at eating lots of. All my hay is from Small Pet Select, but I think they only deliver to the US

[Sirius&Luna]

You can ask them to send you a sample next time you order Sarah, that’s what I did

OK, it seems consensus is oat as a topper or treat

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 12/13/2017 7:29 AM

You can ask them to send you a sample next time you order Sarah, that’s what I did

OK, it seems consensus is oat as a topper or treat

My only concern is it seems to be out of stock quite often but hopefully it’ll be available next time I order the timothy

[Deleted User]

Ophelia goes nuts for oat hay, but just the seeds! I don’t give it to her anymore because she just wastes SOOO much of it by only picking out the seeds and being very selective of the stalks. We are on a rotation of timothy 2nd cut (which is kinda on the softer side) and orchard grass, which is really fragrant and soft. Now I order her these dried herbal blends from Small Pet Select and some of the mixes have oat seeds in them, so she still gets a little fix of it without wasting my money LOL

[Fluffykins]

I brought orchard grass (oxbow) yesterday for the first time ever and WOW. So green!!!!!!! Finally I get the “green and fragrant” description of good quality hay. So now oat hay is no longer my only green hay haha.

Thanks for the link sirus, such an awesome price! I’ll be ordering from there once I’m done with my current bag of Timothy. I can tell my fluffykins prefers his usual Timothy then the new orchard but I prefer the look and smell of the orchard ha so I’ll defo be persevering with that.

I’ve found he’s such a little piggy, when he has no options he succumbs to what I want him to eat so it’ll be orchard only for the next couple days :/

[Deleted User]

I think orchard only is fine. Some buns have allergies to Timothy and orchard is a good substitute because it’s still offers lots of fiber

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