Oat Hay v. Timothy – “Crunch”

[Wick & Fable]

Currently Wick gets majority Oxbow Timothy Hay. He gets a small amount of oat hay every so often because I bought a bag to experiment. At first he didn’t really prefer it, but now it seems it’s his favorite over the timothy hay.

The Oxbow Hay packaging rates their different hays, and it says Oat Hay has the most “crunch” out of all their hay; does this translate to it doing a better job grinding down molars? Timothy is in the middle of the scale, but I think the oat hay seems less crunchy than timothy? Any thoughts?

Wick doesn’t chew on anything, so I’d like to go with a hay that’d give, even a small, step-up in plateauing his dental growth. His hay appetite is getting better and better, so I’m trying to ‘perfect’ the formula for optimal grind-iness.

Also, I’ve never tried the other types of hay, so if anyone knows of a crunchier hay, please let me know! I want to stay away from giving him too much hay that has the softer bits because it’ll take him a while to go through those bits before eating the harder stalks. I’m always up for giving him more variety though! The less dusty, the better.

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.

[DesertBunny]

I have always preferred giving my bunnies oat hay. Although I always have timothy around as well. The other advantage to oat hay is is makes for really nice poops! Probably the higher fiber content? My first bunny had teeth problems as he got older so that’s how I stumbled onto the oat hay. Jet loved oat hay and I used to fill a litter pan with it. He would burrow inside the pile and nibble away. Very funny to watch a pile of hay moving as he tunneled inside.

[Author]

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