What types of hay are good for adult buns?

[River]

I read that adding different sorts of hay may entice a rabbit to eat more of it, so I’d like to try it. My bun doesn’t eat a lot of his hay from the hay rack – I have to place it in his food dish for him to bother with it, so he seems to ignore the unlimited supply he has. 

He currently eats timothy hay. I notice someone linked us to a guinea pig hay chart, but it was too confusing for me to comprehend – I can be a bit on the slow side – so of course, if you’ve got any suggestions, It’d be very much appreciated by me and my buns!

[binkiessince2010]

Charlie just eats Kaytee Timothy hay
http://www.kaytee.com/products/timothy-hay-mini-bale.php
I normally just get it at the local Wal-mart

[Bam]

River, I linked to the hay chart. It was mostly to demonstrate that grass hays are pretty much equal nutrition-and-fiber-wise. You look at protein and fiber content. The only type hays you want to avoid is alfalfa and clover. Those are called legume hays.
Grass hays are f ex Timothy, orchard, meadow, fescue, brome, oat, Bermuda grass, Coastal. Which type you should use depends on what your bun likes. Some buns like chunky crunchy hays, others prefer soft hay. Oat is very chunky. Orchard is soft-ish.
To further complicate things, hay quality varies with the cut. First cut is often coarser and harder, later cuts softer and leafier. Again, you go by what your bun prefer. Buns and piggies and horses can eat the same type hays, but they will have individual preferences.
I hope this was somewhat clarifying! Basically, you can try a variety of hays to see what appeals to your bun. You can also rotate hays. You don’t have to do a gradual transition between hays, it’s not like introducing a new type of pellets or veg.

[kirsten90]

Hi. I thought id post my question on here as it seems somewhat related. So my bunnies been really sick recently, after a lot of vet trips and meds shes finally on the mend. Problem is she wont eat her hay as she used to before (excel dandelion and marigold herbage) ive tred everything , mixing it with her nuggets, mixing wish grass (which she’ll eat quite happily) she just spits they hay out and picks out the good things. Today i tried her on a new hay (excel birch bark herbage) and still refuses to eat it. Do i just leave her with the hay and no grass? And eventually she’ll eat it? Or has anybody got any other ideas? Please help, i need her to eat hay because the vet said they arnt the best. Thank you in advance

[Muchelle]

My bunny’s been sick for months. In that period he stopped almost completely to eat hay and preferred hay pellets (I use Bunny Traum) and fresh vegetables. He resumed eating grass first (2months after last surgery) and only now he has resumed eating hay (almost 7 months after last surgery). 
I don’t have an answer, but this is what happened with my bun! Maybe he needed time to reset his body after all the stress and medicine. Keep offering her the hay and maybe add it to her toys to make her interested again. Be patient, she’ll get back to eating it eventually

[kirsten90]

Sorry to hear he’s been unwell. That kinda sounds like my bunny, because i was trying to get her to eat shes been having alot of different things so i think shes just been spoilt! In hoping youre right and she’ll get back to normal. Thank you for replying and i wish your bunny a spèedy recovery!

[kirsten90]

Sorry to hear he’s been unwell. That kinda sounds like my bunny, because i was trying to get her to eat shes been having alot of different things so i think shes just been spoilt! In hoping youre right and she’ll get back to normal. Thank you for replying and i wish your bunny a spèedy recovery!

[Muchelle]

Thank you so much! We still have six months of close observation by the vet hospital, but we seem to be out of danger! He had very bad teeth problems and had to have some molars removed. He had two GI stasis because of the pain (even though he was under Altadol/Toradol) and overcame a necrosis in his mouth…

he has been very stressed many weeks after his body had recovered. Of course, while he was sick I gave him his most favourite things to keep him of the right body weight so we may say he became a very spoiled furball. After he was physically fine I stopped fussing over him all the time and now he’s slowly going back to his original eating habits. It’s taking him a lot (that is why we introduced the Bunny Traum pellets, that became a substitute for hay) but now he is eating hay and needing only a few of those pellets every day.

I REALLY hope your bun is fine right now <3 don't worry, keep her monitored and be patient (and be strong)!

[kirsten90]

Oh no thats awful. I think my bun had something similar but not as bad, her bowels just stopped, we dont know the cause. the vet said her teeth are bad but the only way he can have a proper look and sort them is to put her under anasthetic which i really dont want to do 1) because shes old and i dont want to put her through all that 2) ive already spent £250 on vets bills as it is. Shes eating everything else fine ao im sure shes not in pain and seems bright and happy. I tried the hay and water only method over night last night, she didnt touch it, so gave in this morning and mixed a handful of grass with her hay and she jumped at it. Only pickng the grass out though. Like your little guy she has been spoilt to try and get her to eat whilst she was unwell. Its so frustrating. But thank you so much for your advice ill just wait and see what happens x

[Bam]

Kirsten, Supreme Science Select has a range of vet care food for pets that can be given to buins with sensitive tummies and/or to buns that have been ill and are recovering. The bunny-type can be given in preference to hay to a recovering bun. http://www.supremepetfoods.com/supreme-products/supreme-veterinary-exclusive-range/

Scroll down to VetCarePlus Digestive Health Formula for rabbits. It’s only available thorugh vets and vet clinics but if you are in the EU you can by it from VetUK. I would assume there are on-libne web-shops selling vet products in the USA and Australia too?
I have just bought a pack and am trying it out with my buns who aren’t the biggest hay eaters. (I’m not affiliated with this company in any way. My buns have only got this food for a couple of days so it’s too early for me to say much about it).

If your bun has lost weight during his illness, I’d not suggest you put him on hay only, because he needs nutritious food to get his strenght back and if he is a picky eater, he might not eat enough hay.

[kirsten90]

Thank you Bam. Ill have a look. Shes eating everything else (grass, dandelion leaves, cabbage & cauliflower leaves, carrot, pellets) and seems bright and happy again, she just wint eat her hay! I wasnt aware there were different typesof hay until i looked into it. Shes always had timothy hay ordered some orchard hay today to see if she’ll eat that. Thank you for the link i’ll have a look.

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