Timothy or orchard?

[Mimsy]

Willow is getting to be close to 6 months of age now and we are going to get a large bale of hay.

currently we have a bale of alfalfa and some small bags of timothy and orchard.    Now that she is reaching maturity we are going to be cutting out the alfalfa, except for maybe a treat soon.    I like getting local bales because it’s so much fresher and a much better deal  than buying little bags from the pet store.   

Which would your bunnies prefer, orchard or  timothy?   Which cut?

Thanks all.

[Moothebun]

Timothy is the one that they absolutely need orchard should be used at a treat

[tobyluv]

Orchard is one of the grass hays, so it’s perfectly fine to feed it to rabbits daily. A lot of rabbits like a variety of hay. Would you have room to store both timothy and orchard bales? Or would you worry about not using them up quickly enough to keep them fresh? If you only have space for one type of bale, maybe you can still buy small bags of another variety. It’s really what your rabbits prefer, since they are all different – some prefer stiff, stalky hay with a lot of seed heads, others prefer softer hay, such as orchard grass or 2nd and 3rd cuttings of timothy. For my bunnies, I have Drs. Foster Smith Timothy (1st cutting), American Pet Diner Gold (second cutting Timothy), Oxbow Botanical Hay, Oxbow Organic Meadow Hay, and as an occasional treat to sprinkle on top, Oxbow Alfalfa Hay.

[Mimsy]

We don’t have room for several huge bales. I have to keep them in the laundry room because it rains constantly here and our shed gets mice sometimes, so I don’t trust it. We only have one rabbit, so it takes her ages to go through it. As it is I over do the amounts in litter boxes, since I’m not worried about waste and I also line the chickens laying boxes with it. Even with all that, I find we barely go through a bale in 6 months.

I’ll probably get small bags of different ones occasionally for variation, but I want to pick one of them for her main diet. I’m in oregon and there are tons of farmers growing organic hay here, so it’s easy to get, very cheap and nice and fresh. I would love to find a mix, but almost all the mixes have alfalfa in them that I’ve found so far. I would rather alfalfa only be used as a treat once she is matured all the way.

There is also oat, but I have not given her any yet so do not know if she likes it at all.

I’m hedging for orchard since I think she likes it better and I think one of my birds may have allergies to timothy. I notice he sneezes a lot when I mix a lot of timothy into Willows mix.

[tobyluv]

Do you know anyone else who has rabbits? Maybe you could go in together with them and split the bales as well as the cost, then you could get a variety. It does sound like nice, fresh hay that you are able to get locally. And it’s likely better than what is in the bags. I have to buy mine in the bags since I don’t have a local source. If you don’t have a friend who has rabbits who would like to split the hay with you, and you did want a variety, maybe you could keep plenty of each kind for you and donate the rest to a rescue or shelter if there is one near you that has rabbits.

Timothy can cause allergies, so it might be better for you to just buy the orchard since your bird might be affected by the timothy, but it seems like most rabbits would like a variety of hay if they can get it. If the hay place does have oat or meadow hay, you may want to give it a try. Maybe they would even give you a sample of the other kinds, if a bale happened to be broken open or if some fresh loose hay fell out. You could have a bag with you when you went to buy the hay and see if they would give you some samples or just make you pay a nominal fee for them.

[Mimsy]

Getting loose hay bags is a great idea! I hadn’t thought of that. I bet they would sell some. I know one sells meadow and orchard so perhaps I can get one bale of orchard and they would let me buy a small bag of meadow.

[Centri]

My Ammy prefer timothy, so I buy it more often, but in fact I try to mix it with other sorts like meadow and orchard. Usually I buy small bags to keep it fresh.
But I think you should try both and choose the one that you bunny prefer.

[Author]

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