*UPDATE – Farmer replied, hay is 70% Grass, 20% timothy & 10% Alfalfa??

[Nutmeg]

*** UPDATE: Farmer replied saying the following “All hays have a mixture of grasses, Timothy and alfalfa, the second I have is 70% grass, 20 Timothy and 10 alfalfa” 
– is 10% alfalfa still too much??? and what does he mean by “Grass” is OK! 

Hello! 
So my two new bunnies LOVE hay and I find I am going through Timothy Super fast, and its not cheap from the pet store and costing me almost $50 a month, just for the hay. 

So I remembered reading that horse hay is safe for bunnies. Last night I saw a post from a farmer, about 30 minutes away, saying that the hay he has for sale has been stored inside & no rain – I see farmers our here leave their hay outside all the time and I was worried about mold – so this got me interested and I messaged him asking what type of hay it was as I was thinking of getting some for my bunny. 

He replied saying that he has a few kinds, but usually people buy Alfalfa for their bunnies… while my bunny’s are 6 & 7 months now, so that kind is out lol. So before I reply I wanted to confirm what kind of hay is safe and super nutritious for adult bunnies. 

Here is the list I have from going over other forum posts for adult bunnies… 

1. Timothy
2. Orchard
3. Oat
4. Botanical 

Am I missing any? is there different ones you can get from a farmer in Canada? 
I dont want to just say “Grass Hay” and end up with Alfalfa anyway lol.

Oh and what is the difference in the cuts? Is one better? So young vs old for example, or 1st 2nd and 3rd cuts?? 

Sorry, I’m super new to the hay side of things other than just buying Timothy from the pet store haha

[Heaven]

$50 a month sounds like a lot for Timothy hay! it should definitely be cheaper if you buy a big bale from the farmer. I did that once, it was about $30 for 10kg (ENORMOUS BALE) & guess what… Sam was allergic to it XD

Meadow hay is also one which is fine to feed buns every day as their main diet

Sam also likes oat hay, but picky bunnies tend to eat the seed heads & leave the (fibre rich) stalks, so perhaps try your two with a small bag first.

Orchard hay is softer & fragrant, my bun LOVES it but it’s more on the expensive side.

[Nutmeg]

Thanks Heaven! and Yes it’s a lot to spend on Hay. I’m not sure if its just where I am in Canada, but I’m hoping the amount I use will go down once they are bonded and not in two separate cages LOL

And OMG that sucks about Sam being allergic to it – isn’t that always the way though haha.
Thanks for the tip about the Oat hay!
And for telling me about the Meadow and Orchard hay!!

[Heaven]

No worries! Hope your little ones are doing well <3

Since the farmer said he had a few varieties it would be handy if you could get a big bale of timothy. But as I said, if he has other kinds too then try them with a small bag first!

[Nutmeg]

Thanks!
I was half asleep when I read his reply this morning… now that I’m re-reading it, his exact words were:

“I have multiple types of small squares, I think the second cut alfalfa Timothy, grass hay would work for bunnies, I have a few clients that feed it to their bunnies”

I don’t know what alfalfa timothy hay is… I didn’t know what he means by that lol… like alfalfa and timothy put together?

[joea64]

As it happens I’m scheduling my next hay refill with Friends of Rabbits for this weekend. They sell a whole bale of hay for $36, so I’m planning to get at least 1/3 bale ($12) up to 1/2 bale ($18) which will work out to at least a month’s supply for Panda and Fernando. They’ve become more assiduous about hay-nibbling since starting their diet, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get at least as good-quality a batch as I did last time (seems likely because there should be lots of fresh grass for hay now that spring is in full progress).This will be timothy hay, but as I’ve mentioned elsewhere I’m considering trying some botanical hay as a treat mixed in with the timothy too.

[Nutmeg]

Oh I wish I had a place like that near me Joea64!

I just saw another farm selling horse hay and even they say Alfalfa Grass mix – So I’m not sure if a lot of the farms up here mix the grass hay with alfalfa for the horses/goats/cattle ? But I do not want alfalfa in it.

[Nutmeg]

UPDATE: The farmer replied with the following….

“All hays have a mixture of grasses, Timothy and alfalfa, the second cut I have is 70% grass, 20 Timothy and 10 alfalfa”

Is 10% alfalfa still too much for an adult bunny? and what might he mean by “Grass” … like literally grass?

[Bam]

I think he means grasses as in grass hays, like the fescues, lollium, brome, orchard and/or whatever else is growing where you live. All are good for rabbits. Alfalfa is a legume. I know some people where I live give some alfalfa instead of pellets, so maybe if you cut back on pellets, 10% alfalfa could be ok. It has about double the amount of protein as grass hay, but the amount of calcium is about 5 times higher, so you should watch out for “white” pee.

[Nutmeg]

Thanks Bam! I was surprised when he said “All hays have a mixture of grasses, timothy AND Alfalfa” – I have contacted 3 more farms and they all say there’s have a mix with alfalfa in it too – most say 30% alfalfa. – at least this guys is only 10%

I’m not sure if that’s just something where I live in Ontario? I know other people on this form buy farmers horse hay and I’m sure the wouldn’t be giving it with 30% alfalfa.

I wonder if I buy a normal big bag of timothy for $28 at the pet store and mix that in to the farmers hay if that would make the percentage of alfalfa lower than 10% to make a difference.
I do not want them getting white pee or fat lol

[Bam]

From what I’ve read, grass hay is the best for horses, they have a GI tract very similar to the rabbit’s (huge cecum), but a hay only diet is only good for non-or very light-working healthy an young-ish horses. Working horses need supplementing with extra protein etc. I’ve understood it as some horse owners like alfalfa because it’s comparatively low in carbs and for that reason not fattening. Spring grass especially can be high in simple sugars and too much of that can cause laminitis in horses plus they do get fat from it if you don’t watch out.

Forum leader LPT knows LOTS more about horse hay than I do, she has lots of horse experience.

Is there no online pet shop that offers hay at a more reasonable price than 28 dollars? 28 dollars sounds expensive.

[joea64]

$28 for what brand, and how much hay? Pet Supplies Plus sells 128-oz. bags of timothy hay for $17.99, but even that is quite expensive compared to what I pay. At the figures I cited, $12 will buy at least 10-20 pounds worth of hay, given that there’s no set figure on how much a bale of timothy weighs.

[Nutmeg]

I am in Canada, so I’m not sure if thats why – but the biggest bag I can buy is a 90 oz of Oxford timothy hay and it costs me $26.99 plus 13% tax for the bag. The two bunnies go through almost 2 bags in the month.

I’ll do some more hunting on line. So far the shipping costs makes it the same, or more expensive, than buying in the stores.

I haven’t been able to find any farmers yet who sell hay with out alfalfa in it yet – and we don’t have any bunny sanctuaries or anything around here like you do to buy from. I live north east of Toronto, Ontario Canada and most people see bunnies as food around here. So I guess alfalfa would be good to fatten them up Eep.

[Nutmeg]

Ps – thanks for all your help and “think outside the box” suggestions!! I appreciate it

[Nutmeg]

This is the bag I normally buy in the stores, but on Amazon.ca
Its on sale for $2 cheaper than what I pay in the stores hahaha

https://www.amazon.ca/OXBOW-Western-Timothy-Hay-Ounce/dp/B006AYMMRY/ref=lp_8032513011_1_4?srs=8032513011&ie=UTF8&qid=1526495711&sr=8-4

[Bam]

It doesn’t absolutely have to be Oxbow Timothy. You can use other brands -but I guess you know that. I pay the equivalent of 16 dollars for 2,5 lb Oxbow orchard hay, so it is expensive hay. Because I have only one bunny it’s affordable, it wouldn’t be if I’d had more buns.

[Nutmeg]

Ya the Oxbow is the only brand in the big bag I can seem to find around here. I found one other one but all the hay inside looked dried out and an almost white pale yellow.
I’ll deffinitley try and look more online. I just hate not being able to see it sometimes, as even the same brand I see differences in the quality between 4 bags side by side on the shelf lol

[sarahthegemini]

Honestly I would try the farmer’s bale and just keep an eye for weight gain or extra white pee. If you know what alfalfa looks like, maybe you could try and pick it out? Bit of a chore though!

[Nutmeg]

LOL Google images would have to be my friend on that one lol. But its an idea. I’ll message him and ask a few more questions, like when was it cut/harvested and if he uses pesticides

[joea64]

I just hope the hay I’m picking up tomorrow is as nice as the last batch was. That batch was just about perfect – green, sweet-smelling, with a great stiff crunchy texture. Panda and Fernando have loved it so much they’ve started going for the fresh hay handful in the mornings and evenings before heading for the pellets or salad.

[Nutmeg]

OH wow – yes they definitely loved it then!!!
Fingers crossed for you!

[Author]

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