Time Eating Hay A Day

[snowballsmomma]

Somewhat odd question – but how long does your bun spend eating hay during the day?

My foster bun currently eats almost all hours of the day.  Excluding nap times, he is probably eating 9 out of the 10 hours a day that I see him.  I assume part of the reason is because I am not feeding him vegetables right now and he is getting a small amount of pellets a day because of his soft stools.  That being said, my foster bun also doesn’t have any front teeth (they were removed), and so I’m wondering if he eats slower than a normal bun.  It also makes me question if he can never eat enough to feel full if he is eating slower and that this may lead to him losing weight (he already is on the thin-ish side).

I’ve love to hear about other buns!

[pinkiemarie]

My bunnies eat a lot but they definitely have a good chunk of the day when they’re just sleeping or playing. I agree that he may be eating slowly, and if he was not fed enough at his prior home he might also be taking advantage of theore generous food portions at your house to bulk up a little.  I’m not sure what’s up with his soft stools so I’m hesitant to suggest dietary changes but it does sound like maybe he could stand to gain some weight. Anything you can add in a little of?

[snowballsmomma]

Thanks pinkiemarie – that’s good to know!.  He’s been here in my home for the last 3 months and was in the shelter previously for a while.  I previously had a post here on his soft stools so no need to suggest dietary changes – usually the recommendation for intermittent soft stools is hay only, but considering that Snowball eats for most of the day, I don’t want to cut out any more pellets and when I add pellets, his poops tend to get softer 🙁  So just wanted to hear about other buns 🙂  Thanks for replying!

[DanaNM]

The rule of thumb is that a bun should spend at least 4 hours a day chewing hay. So for a bun only getting hay, 9-10 hours doesn’t seem too crazy to me.

Are you tracking his weight?

. . . 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.  

[snowballsmomma]

Hi Dana – Thanks for your input as always 🙂  I recently decided to weigh him for this reason and it looks like he lost a bit a weight over the last 3 months (1.5kg at the beginning to 1.45kg now).  Since I’m a worrywart, I’ve decided to keep weighing him weekly and if it does look like he’s consistently losing weight, I’ll definitely need to talk to a vet then.

Thanks for giving that rule of thumb though, that’s really helpful!

[Bam]

Sometimes a bun who gets hay only will lose weight until a good weight is reached, and then it maintains this weight. It’s a very good method to get a rabbit to an ideal weight.

It’s very good to weigh your bun weekly and keep a weight diary! It’s very difficult to see fluctuations in body weight because they have so much fur, and fur density also varies with the seasons and with the various stages of moulting.

Some buns are “hard keepers”, meaning they have trouble keeping weight on. Most buns have the opposite problem, but there are definitely hard keepers as well. Its rather common with elderly rabbits. Just like with horses, you need to supplement a hard keeper’s diet with pellets or, if the bun for some reason doesn’t tolerate pellets, find something that does agree with the bun. My bun gets a tablespoon of rolled oats every day, because he has a tendency to lose weight (he’s almost 8 years old).

[Jadeo09]

Rabbits in the wild spend 16-18 hours a day eating apparently.

My rabbit also didn’t tolerate veg or pellets and had to go on a hay and dried weeds such as dandelion and plantain etc diet only. She never had a mucky bum since. Which was quite the achievement considering she needed daily bum baths when she was young.

 

 

[snowballsmomma]

Bam – Yes, a weight diary makes total sense!  And that’s really interesting.  I have heard of rolled oats too to supplement which sounds like a good idea if that’s the case with Snowball!

Jade – Thanks so much for writing!  Did your bun have moist poops and that’s what let to no vegetables or pellets?  And how did you get into giving dried weeds? 🙂  I assumed dried weeds would be similar to vegetables and no good for Snowball but that’d be really interesting if they are actually suggested as a substitute.

[DanaNM]

More natural forage (such as dandelion, plantain, sow thistle, fennel, fresh grass) can be really good for bunnies with sensitive tummies if introduced gradually like any other veg. Wild plants have much more fiber (along with other things) than veggies that have been selectively bred for humans to eat. I’ve also found that carrot tops (the leaves and stems, not the carrot root) rarely cause tummy upsets and are very nutritious.

 

. . . 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.  

[Jadeo09]

 

She did used to have soft squash able poops and mushy cecotropes that would be stuck to her bum.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I used to give dried weeds just because she was mad for dried dandelion and green oat hay mix from a baby, but also as I had read they are supposed to be closest to the natural diet. But we also went to see a rabbit specialist vet who suggested them as an alternative to pellets when she had dental spurs to get some extra nutrition and as a treats. Because hay only can be boring.</p>
If you do decide to give pellets though you may find some success woth grain free as I did. She used to have terrible bloating until I changed to grain free when she was a few months old. But I still found it caused her poos to be much sloppier than when we eliminated them completely.

 

Also dried weeds are much less problematic than fresh weeds, as hay is much less problematic than fresh cut grass. It’s due to the bacteria that can be present and decomposing in cut vegetables weeds and herbs etc.

That’s why I have bought a dehydrator and dehydrate fresh herbs that cause her diarrhoea when fresh, but don’t when dried.

Dill parsley and coriander are more natural veg than most as they are leafy greens rather than starchy veg. Plus they aren’t in the brassica family like spinach etc that can cause gas.

[snowballsmomma]

Bam – That’s so helpful, thank you!  I will see which one of these I can find in my grocery store 🙂

Jade – Wow, you sound like such a good bunny parent 🙂  Someone else here did mention grain-free pellets to me as well and I would like to try those, although unfortunately I’m getting free pellets right now from the shelter (I’m fostering Snowball currently) and I’m waiting on the vet to get back to me on their thoughts.

I really wish I had a dehydrator on hand now… I did try some coriander a week or so ago but unfortunately it led to a lot of moist poops afterwards so I think all vegetables are out for now at least 🙁  That’s really interesting to know all this though!  Thanks for all your knowledge 🙂

[Bam]

I second the dry herbs and weeds approach! When I had a poopy butt-prone bun (Bam, the bun in my avatar), I dried pretty much everything for him, except grass which he only ate fresh, his tummy tolerated that.

Sometimes there are good offers on dehydrators, you don’t need anything fancy for drying bunny herbs and greens (its mostly if you plan on drying meats that you need a fancier dryer). It is a very helpful household item for a bun owner -I once happened upon a fennel bulb “sale” and dehydrated sth like 12 kilos of it (in slices) 😃. If you store thoroughly dry plant material in a dark and dry environment, it keeps a long time.

[snowballsmomma]

Thank you!  I know this might be a dumb question – but where do you get your natural forage weeds like dandelion, plantain, sow thistle, fennel, etc.?  I gave Snowball little pieces of dandelion weeds a few days ago for the first time (our family went to a conservation area and there were a ton – I onfirmed no pesticides used), and it actually didn’t cause moist poops!  The only problem is that I don’t know how to find these weeds otherwise.  I don’t know how to find this stuff outside because I am never 100% sure pesticides aren’t used (unless it’s my own backyard), and the other problem is that I live in Canada and it will be winter shortly.  Is it ever possible to find these things in the grocery store or buy it online somehow?

I will definitely try to look up and see if I can find a good deal on a dehydrator!

[DanaNM]

That’s great!

I end up foraging for a lot of mine in spring time. I think plantain is pretty easy to grow (it’s a crazy weed!), but I haven’t had luck growing dandelions myself oddly.

I mostly get my dandelions direct from a farm where we get a CSA (community supported agriculture) box. So maybe check out farmers markets and if there are CSA’s in your area? Not sure what grocery store chains you have, but usually the more “health food” oriented ones have them. The produce manager might also be able to order them for you if not. I just did a quick google and it looks like you can get dried dandelion leaves for both bunny and human consumption pretty easily online.

. . . 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.  

[snowballsmomma]

Oh really, that’s amazing!  I definitely would have never thought about getting them directly from a farm or farmers market so I will look into that as well!  We do have Whole Foods here so maybe that would have it 🙂  I do feel bad when Snowball is only eating hay and only a tiny portion of pellets, so I do want to get him something else safe to eat.  Thanks for all your great suggestions!!

[Jadeo09]

In the UK  I order it from a rabbit online pet shop. But I’m not sure in Canada. Here they sell bulk kg bags in equine stores for horses so that would be another option to try.

 

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