What is the “tastiest” hay?

[bunnnnnnie!]

I think I’m going to pick up some non-timothy hay today to try and tempt Zeus into eating his hay.  Suggestions?  I was thinking of getting a few varieties.  Alfalfa, orchard, oat?  This isn’t long-term, just to get him going on his hay again post-neuter.  

[FrankieFlash]

Bunjamin loves Orchard. It started when he I got him I tried giving him timothy but turns out I’m allergic. So then we tried meadow, he said that wasn’t that good to him. So now he loves orchard and I just recently tried to give him a little alfalfa for a treat and he’ll eat it but picks out all his orchard out first. lol and orchard you can give in same quanities as timothy unlike alfalfa.

[mocha200]

i wouldn’t use alfalfa even if it is sort term. I use orchard grass and my bunnies love it! I hqve herd alot of people here on BB say their bunnies LOVE oat

[LoveChaCha]

I just bought some Oat because Miss Diva is currently shedding a ton. She is gobbling it all up and enjoying every bit of it.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Ok, thanks guys.  I’ll get some oat and orchard, hopefully the store has both.  

[Stickerbunny]

When Stickers got spayed she was still under the 7 month mark, so she had some alfalfa, now she only eats orchard … oat Powder loves, but Stickers prefers soft hays and won’t touch timothy or oat cause it is too coarse for little Ms. Priss. lol Since Zeus adult, you could give a small bite of alfalfa as a treat, but I wouldn’t give him it free feed, but you could mix say a small handful into his regular hay to tempt him. Powder likes it as a treat every few months. Another option to get him interested in the hay is to hide dried fruit or special herbs/flowers he likes into the mix, throw some craisins in my buns hay and they spend a long time searching to make sure they got all the treat bites.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

We feed mainly orchard, but I’ll sprinkle/mix in botanical and oat to get them to mow down

[bunnyfriend]

Mine go insane for botanical hay

[bunnnnnnie!]

Thanks for the input guys!  They didn’t have oat, so I got orchard and botanical.  The botanical smells SO strong, he immediately went over and investigated it, and took a bite, so that was encouraging.  I also got a dried grass basket to put the new hays in (so he can eat the basket, too!), and some toys filled with hay and dried fruit bits.

I also got some baby food, per the vet, so that if he doesn’t want to eat any hay, I can make a slurry with some of my pure timothy hay pellets and the baby food, and either offer it to him or syringe it.  So we’ll see what happens, I hope I don’t have to syringe feed him, because he is starting to show some interest in his hay again.  But I’ll be prepared either way!  The people at the pet store kinda laughed when I came up to the counter, with a huge pile of different hays and hay treats.  

[Malp_15]

Hahaha I’m getting the same looks Bunnie!! When I first got Nate I bought EVERY kind of hay they sold to try and get him eating and off critical care. Alfalfa was the only thing he would eat, which was fine since he had to gain weight anyways, but now I’m weaning him off of it and he still refuses to eat the Timothy that I had a full bale of, so I’m still at the pet store like once a week

[kinggoblin]

Mine likes hay with herbs. I give him a huge ball of it and he eats it all in less than 2 days.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Ok so Zeus is in love with the Orchard grass hay.. do I need to introduce it to him gradually, or is it ok to give him as much as he wants since ot’s a grass hay like the timothy he was getting?

The botanical hay SMELLS DELICIOUS, and he still prefers the Orchard.  Go figure. 

 

[FrankieFlash]

I just wanted to say yay! that he’s eating hay and loves it! Sorry I don’t know answer to your question. I know mine switched completely since I had to get rid of Timothy asap and he didn’t get sick but I’m not sure how it is with every bun.

[MimzMum]

When Mimzy is shunning hay I sprinkle it with these rose petal or pellet treats that BB.com sells…the ones with lavender or rosemary in. Or I give him these dried willow twigs with leaves that I get from bunspace. He eats a few of those with his metacam to coat his tummy so it doesn’t give him an ache. Maybe the metacam is burning Zeus’ tum a wee bit? Do you feed him when you it’s time for meds? I don’t remember if he’s on antibiotics. Sometimes they throw the appetite off.

Another possibility is he’s getting so many treats he has no room/inclination for hay. How much kale and greens do you normally feed him?

Oat is always a big fave in our warren…although the current hit is that Oxbow Meadow grass.
More nomming hay (((((((((vibes))))))))))) for Zeus!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By MimzMum on 01/16/2012 06:07 PM
When Mimzy is shunning hay I sprinkle it with these rose petal or pellet treats that BB.com sells…the ones with lavender or rosemary in. Or I give him these dried willow twigs with leaves that I get from bunspace. He eats a few of those with his metacam to coat his tummy so it doesn’t give him an ache. Maybe the metacam is burning Zeus’ tum a wee bit? Do you feed him when you it’s time for meds? I don’t remember if he’s on antibiotics. Sometimes they throw the appetite off.

Another possibility is he’s getting so many treats he has no room/inclination for hay. How much kale and greens do you normally feed him?

Oat is always a big fave in our warren…although the current hit is that Oxbow Meadow grass.
More nomming hay (((((((((vibes))))))))))) for Zeus!

I think that’s a very good possibility.. I was giving him pretty much as much kale and pineapple as he wanted for a few days, just to make sure he kept eating. .  He gets his metacam right after his breakfast, so never on an empty stomach.

He’s loving the Orchard hay though, and he’s back on his more “normal” greens and treat ration now though, so things seem to be looking up. .

Thanks FrankieFlash! 

 

[Yuki Kathleen]

Orchard Grass hay is a great hay. So, you should get it. You know its orchard grass hay, because thats what it is!

[BinkyBunny]

Vivian is weird because she will LOVE Orchard, but then she seems to get bored of it and eats less, so then I switch to Timothy and then she LOVES that until she gets bored, and then LOVES Orchard again. LOL

[Author]

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