Can one overfeed on grass hay?

I'm feeding grass hay along with about a cup of pellets per bun per day. While I do limit the pellets I basically feed all the hay they can eat. I check on them several times a day and replenish the hay box any time it is empty. So I'm wondering if maybe that is excessive, especially for the adults. It is very nice, clean hay with no weeds and I assume it is probably fine to give the grow outs all they can eat but is it maybe too much for the breeders?

I have switch to a diet of mostly hay for my rabbits. I honestly don't think there's a problem with offering lots of it. Some of my lines that seemed prone to digestive issues improved greatly when I took pellets away and offered good hay and some alfalfa pellets (with a small, once per week ration of wheat or barely with added minerals).

Zinnia":1qy1v3o0 said:

I have switch to a diet of mostly hay for my rabbits. I honestly don't think there's a problem with offering lots of it. Some of my lines that seemed prone to digestive issues improved greatly when I took pellets away and offered good hay and some alfalfa pellets (with a small, once per week ration of wheat or barely with added minerals).

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So, what does a typical diet look like for your buns over the course of a week? I am really wanting to get away from pellets since I am not finding anything I am confident in quality wise locally... not to mention the cost factor. If I can cut costs even a little with the same out come (or even a little longer grow out time is fine), then that would be great! Come spring I plan on planting an area specifically for fodder for the rabbits, but for winter it's obviously too late for me to do much. They are currently fed just plain grass hay (as far as I know, it's DH's gpa's hay from the field by the house). For the wheat and barley, about how much do you give each rabbit? Do you just get the feeder bags of it? Or seed bags (that are a bit cleaner)?

I know it might seem good, but have you noticed any hay bellies (pot bellies)? I used to feed mostly hay to the show buns, every judge commented on their hay guts....finally caught one to ask why and was told that they get a bit pot bellied when diet is mostly hay (especially English/Velveteens even the HL and MR had them :/ it was never a question of parasite/other issue either) and then it "ruins" a nice show rabbit. I stopped feeding so much, bellies went away and stopped getting those comments.

Yes and no. The only physical health problem with lots of hay is if they get too little of any other food. They need enough concentrated vitamins/minerals to make up for lack of variety in the diet. However, production purposes grass hay has little energy, fat, or protein. It is not good for producing large litters, frequent litters, or for fast growth of those litters. Your show rabbits also may not stay in as good of condition. Although, I did not have the pot belly problem. Mine were actually too lean and firm from running colony on lots of hay. They placed poorly compared to slightly pudgy pellet fed cage rabbits. They looked like they had less meat on them. Fine for Netherlands but not for mini rex or commercial breeds. Whatever I wanted to try showing I had to keep caged on more pellets.

heritage":s5gm7e31 said:

Zinnia":s5gm7e31 said:

I have switch to a diet of mostly hay for my rabbits. I honestly don't think there's a problem with offering lots of it. Some of my lines that seemed prone to digestive issues improved greatly when I took pellets away and offered good hay and some alfalfa pellets (with a small, once per week ration of wheat or barely with added minerals).

Click to expand...

So, what does a typical diet look like for your buns over the course of a week? I am really wanting to get away from pellets since I am not finding anything I am confident in quality wise locally... not to mention the cost factor. If I can cut costs even a little with the same out come (or even a little longer grow out time is fine), then that would be great! Come spring I plan on planting an area specifically for fodder for the rabbits, but for winter it's obviously too late for me to do much. They are currently fed just plain grass hay (as far as I know, it's DH's gpa's hay from the field by the house). For the wheat and barley, about how much do you give each rabbit? Do you just get the feeder bags of it? Or seed bags (that are a bit cleaner)?

Click to expand...

Just seeing this now, heritage. I don't claim to have a system that is perfect right now. It's all still in progress. I am culling for those that don't do as well on mostly hay. But, overall, most do better on mostly hay. Ideally, I'd add more variety of seeds and such. I also give lots of veggies from the garden and weeds. I cut my feed cost in half letting go of traditional pellets. But, I know the little ones do not grow as fast. I haven't had the time to fully evaluate the real cost/savings of what I have been doing. I did it because we feed only organic food and the quality of those pellets was in question after a few mill mishaps. I lost rabbits to the pellets, so turned to whatever I could. After a small hunger-strike from the herd, they agreed to eat some alfalfa pellets, too. They have always loved their hay. That's what they jump to the door for every time we go out there. I hope to have time this winter to really evaluate my feeding system and procure some varied foods for them on a reliable basis. I actually just bought one bag of OG pellets again for the first time in months. I plan to use it where I see the need. Overall, this is what I see: Better gut flora, very regular poops, no mystery baby deaths and more reasonably sized litters (5-10 instead of 8-15). They all have jump-shelves and large hutches, so they get good exercise. The drawbacks I see are a few that are thinner (not all lines, so this is where I may put some attention to selection) and slower growth to harvest weight. My goal is good growth, excellent wool, excellent health and type improvement. They are wool rabbits, not meat rabbits, but meat harvest is considerably more than wool harvest because I cull hard. I have a ways to go before I feel confident about the diet. But, it was done a bit prematurely out of necessity. No hay-bellies, though... I think that has more to do with overall gut flora than just hay-feeding. I think something else would have to be out of balance for hay-belly to be a problem. At least that is what I'd look at in my other grass-fed animals... but they have different digestive systems, so.... lots to think about, I guess. Sorry for rambling. As you can see, I don't have it all figured out... just working with what feels good for now.

coyotejoe, how much is a "cup"? I don˙t want to sound insulting, but just hay + a cup of pellets seems kinda unsuddicient diet for a breeding/growing rabbit. Recomendations for pet rabbits are 80% hay (in here also goes fresh forage), 10% fresh vegetables/fruits and 10% high quality pellets/grains, and my stock is fluorishing on this. Breeders are in very good condition and growers reach butchering size (3kg) in 4 months. I could improve the growth but I am a sissy - I just cant butcher does who do so good for me.

Well, the point is you just can´t overfeed hay, especially with "workers".

My measure is an 8 ounce yogurt container. I'm counting on the pellets to provide the minerals they need and the hay is just to fill them up. I used to feed pellets almost exclusively and gave them one cup twice a day. They get whatever vegetable scraps the kitchen provides, which is not very much.