Rabbit Wasting Hay

[Nyboy]

My rabbit is fed a pellet food, I also like to feed him extra foods like vegetables. In the pet food isle of supermarket I found bagged Timothy hay. I don't know hay so not sure of quality. It seems when ever I feed him the hay, most ends up on floor under hutch. When I feed a green leaf vegetable very little is wasted. Are rabbits just wasteful with hay or is this just bad quality?

 

[ducks4you]

I suggest that you look for somebody who sells ALFALFA hay locally, especially the poorer bales because THEY have thicker stems. Horse owners don't care for these. Horses will avoid the stems, unless they are starving, otherwise they just eat the leaves. Rabbits NEED to chew, so the stemmy alfalfa hay gives them nutrition AND something to wear down their teeth.
Timothy is very good horse hay, easier for THEM to chew.
Probably it's the taste of the hay that your rabbit doesn't like.
Buy a FULL bale. I used to do this for my rabbits and one bale will last for months. I suggest that you store on top of a couple of 2 x 4's, and store the bale on it's side, so that the baling twine doesn't touch anything, stored skinny, instead of wide. Do NOT store any hay on plastic. It WILL rot with humidity. Only meat cattle owners feed dried out but rained on and slightly molded hay. Hope this helps.

 

[Nyboy]

Thanks ducks will look for alfalfa hay

 

[thistlebloom]

Rabbits are hay wasters. And sometimes pellet wasters if they take up digging in their feeder.

 

[Nyboy]

Not used to that my dogs clean up every crumb of their food.

 

[Nyboy]

LOL don't need a ton http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/grd/5531910026.html

 

[ninnymary]

LOL don't need a ton http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/grd/5531910026.html

Do they ever have scraps that you could glean? I'd send an email just for fun explaining how much you need.

Mary

 

[Nyboy]

Glean I like that word

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

my Bun does the same thing with the Timothy hay. he goes for the thick stems & will waste the grass blades unless i let some soak in water before giving him them. he seems to like those on occasion-usually during winter. so in some ways he doesn't fully waste it. on occasion i find he will pour the hay into water on his own so this is how i figured out he likes them soaked a little. it might just be my rabbit that likes it this way though.

 

[seedcorn]

Spoiled rabbit. Give him pellets, some apple twigs/branches, call it good-& water. Or for about 1 month, mix in some shelled corn, then dress and eat......