Third Cut Timothy?

[Karynne]

 So, we just received a huge 25 pound box of third cut Timothy from Kleenmama’s. It is the most beautiful hay I’ve ever seen! We ordered it for the guinea pigs because it has virtually no stems and therefor lessens the chance of eye injuries. Of course the guinea pigs love it, and we gave some to the bunnies and they went bonkers! Would it be okay to give third cut to the bunnies instead of first or second cut? I’m worried it doesn’t have enough fiber for them. I did a little research before posting this, and came up with conflicting information. Some say the leaves have less fiber overall but that it has a higher percentage of digestible fiber, then others say that the third cut is too rich (protein, calories) and doesn’t contain enough fiber to maintain a healthy diet. It would be great if we could feed the third cut to both the guinea pigs and the bunnies, as otherwise we were going to buy a bale of second cut just for the rabbits. Anyone have any info on the fiber content of third cut Timothy? 

Here’s the article that said it wasn’t a good idea: http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-7/hay.html

 

[Sarita]

That is probably true, however it’s all I use and my rabbits love it as well.

How are your rabbits about eating the other cuttings?

My feeling is that whatever they will eat, that’s what they get. Some hay is better than no hay.

[Andi]

I try and get 1st cut but some sometimes it’s not available by the end of the year. I know many rabbtis living off of just local cut hay with no issues at all, it’s actually what we feed at the rabbit shelter, as it’s a much better price and people are willing to donate the cheaper hay over the much more expencive Timothy hay.

Some hay is better than no hay.

Ditto.

[Karynne]

Well, they aren’t really picky when it comes to hay, they eat first and second cut just fine. We actually are feeding them second cut right now that we purchased from our local rescue, and they seem to like it, just not as much as the third cut. We live in a studio apartment with a reasonably sized walk in closet, so storing a bale is possible, just not convenient. A good part of our available storage space is taken up by the 25 pound box of third cut that we ordered, so it would definitely be easier if we could feed it to the bunnies as well, as opposed to buying them their own bale of something different. So in conclusion this is purely a matter of convenience, and not an issue of what they will and won’t eat. No matter what type of hay we “made” them eat, they are far too gluttonous to go on a hunger strike. So is first cut the best source for fiber and all around hay nutrition? Second cut? While it would be a slight pain in the butt, we would be more than happy to go out and buy a bale of whatever is healthiest for them, as we know whatever it is, they will eat it. Also, we live in the Pacific Northwest so good quality local hay is in abundance (yay!). Thank you everyone for your input, I’m totally lost on this one!

[Monkeybun]

I know alot of the buns the Rabbit Advocates here have are fans of the 2nd cut. Its a bit softer, so they prefer it to the first cut. The first cut IS a little better for them, but if they eat more of the 2nd cut, it kind of makes up for it

The Pacific Northwest area here IS good for hay, I am definitely glad of that!!

[RabbitPam]

I recently got a sample bag from BB that I think is second or third cut, and my dry Oat Loving munchkin is snarfing it down as I write like she hasn’t eaten in a week! She turned her nose up at it this time last year.

Bunnies are fickle, and last year’s favorite is this year’s litter. Ditto Sarita: just feed em what they eat. It’s all good for them.

[lwayne]

I have also been feeding 3rd cut to my buns (from Kleenmama’s), they love it. I just ordered more along with her bluegrass! Funny, my buns pick out the brown stuff, so the greener the better..

[MimzMum]

We’re currently plowing through a 45 lb box of KMS 3rd cut. Except for Pip’s love of oat from BB.com, I can’t get them to eat anything else now.
I wanted to get the bluegrass, but her shipping to AK is out of my reach this year. Maybe next time, because Mimzy loves that stuff.

[MayaConsuelo]

I just looked at the Kleenmama website that was mentioned here… I don’t know much about plants so the terminology is unfamiliar to me… are “seedheads” those little flowery-looking ends that the bunnies gorge on first? I’ve noticed Mr. Bun-Bun eats those first, then the thinner green stalks, and completely ignores the thicker straw-colored bits. Maybe I have a mix of cuts (it’s the regular bag of timothy hay you get at the pet store.) I would buy more expensive hay if he ate a bigger percentage of it… is it worth it?

[BinkyBunny]

If your bunny is a picky hay eater, then I ditto whatever they will consume the most. And the one way that HRS said to balance out third and second cuts is just feed less treats and other rich foods.

If your bunny loves to eat hay whether it’s first, second or whatever, then I would recommend the higher fiber hays.

My bunnies are rather picky–(They weren’t huge fans of the Kleenmama’s 2nd cutting) but they aren’t big fans of Timothy in general so it’s really more about their picky behavior than anything as they get a ton of greens. (Though they did like American Pet Diner’s 2nd cutting until recently.)

It has really taken me me a while to find the type of hay they really really liked. They’ve always been bigger fans of pretty much any Orchard brand over Timothy, however, I have never seen them eat as much hay as they do now with a new brand we carry — Valley Organic. I’m not saying this because we carry this brand in our store– as I typically avoid any sort of self-store product promotion here. It’s just that this is the first time where I have seen them go bunny wild with the stuff. I have to add hay to their boxes a couple of times a day and they clean out their hay bin by morning. I’ve never seen them eat so much hay! The downside is it is a bit expensive for some budgets.  

But my point is if you are worried about 3rd cuttings of Timothy, you might try another type of softer grass like Orchard that may have the higher fiber content similar to Timothy. Otherwise, if they love the 3rd cut, then just cut down on other rich foods for balance.

[Karynne]

 MayaConsuelo: I would say it’s definitely worth it. Feeding better quality doesn’t necessarily have to be more expensive though. We ourselves are on a very tight budget, so I understand your concern. If you can track down a local source for hay by the bale it will save you a lot of money buying it that way. We used to feed the petstore hay (Kaytee I believe) as well, but the quality was not the best, and a lot of it was left uneaten. We ordered Kleenmama’s third cut because we were having a difficult time finding hay soft enough to feed the guinea pigs (trying to avoid eye injuries, they’re not the most coordinated animals), plus we were switching the piggies to her brand of pellets, so we saved on shipping. But the cheapest option would probably be your best place to start. My dad always says “pick the low hanging fruit first”. If you have any feed stores near you, ask if you can have a few small samples of the different types/cuttings, then have your bunny taste test them. If he likes one, go back and get a bale of that. Around where I live, it’s about $12 for an 80 pound bale, a lot cheaper than petstore hay! If he refuses to eat any of the samples, then go to the next cheapest option, which would probably be online ordering. sierravalleyhay.com and kleenmama’s are good bets for buying in bulk, depending on where you live. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

 

BinkyBunny: Yeah, treat foods pretty much don’t exist in our household anymore, so no need to cut back there! We feed slightly less than the recommended amount of pellets (Oxbow Bunny Basics), very sizable daily salads, all the hay they could possibly eat, and a piece of fruit every couple of weeks. We lucked out getting such voracious hay eaters, as it is definitely healthier for them. I’m buying a big bag of first cut Timothy tomorrow from our local rescue, so we’ll just mix in the third cut periodically to keep it interesting. As for Orchard, we found out our feed store has a few different cuttings of it, so we might have to buy a bale of that as well! Thanks for the tip! 

[MayaConsuelo]

Thanks for the good ideas. I’m in Chicago where I’m pretty sure nobody has any hay bales laying around. However my parents live in a more rural area and I just remembered I have a friend who lives on a farm and still raises cows, so I’m going to ask her… even if she doesn’t have the right type of hay I’m pretty sure she’d know where to find it. I’m also going to replenish Mr. Spoiled’s hay less frequently. He went through his box yesterday eating all his favorites bits and strewing the rest around. I stuffed the hay he ignored back in the box and just noticed him chomping on it… so he’ll eat the bits he doesn’t like as much if he has nothing else to choose from!

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