A question about hay

[Zab]

Do you feed hay?
Do you feed it as a main food or as a supplement?

I've read about and got a bit surprised that people seem to use it as a supplement more than a base feed.. around here we use hay as the base food for both rabbits and horses, and give pellets/grain only as a supplement. I'm older with horses than rabbits but I figure it's the same reasons; they need to eat a long time of the day since they're grazing animals (for horses it's 16-18hours/day, I've never looked rabbit eating time up) to keep the stomack, teeth and mind happy. I've simply transferred this line of thought to my rabbits, but I know most breeders in Sweden give free access to hay to their rabbits.

Those who give little or no hay; For what reasons did you make that choice? How common is it?
How's your rabbits teeth?
If you breed for meat, have you seen any signs of ulcers? (I honestly don't know how those look or if you have to open everything up to see it, but..) Do they have straw or anything else to occupy themselves with chewing on?
How's their temperament?

Please don't see my post as judgemental, I'm just curious to see how you think and do, and why, and surprised that what I concider to be a main feed source is concidered a supplement somewhere else.

 

[garden lady]

Do you feed hay?
Do you feed it as a main food or as a supplement?

I've read about and got a bit surprised that people seem to use it as a supplement more than a base feed.. around here we use hay as the base food for both rabbits and horses, and give pellets/grain only as a supplement. I'm older with horses than rabbits but I figure it's the same reasons; they need to eat a long time of the day since they're grazing animals (for horses it's 16-18hours/day, I've never looked rabbit eating time up) to keep the stomack, teeth and mind happy. I've simply transferred this line of thought to my rabbits, but I know most breeders in Sweden give free access to hay to their rabbits.

Those who give little or no hay; For what reasons did you make that choice? How common is it?
How's your rabbits teeth?
If you breed for meat, have you seen any signs of ulcers? (I honestly don't know how those look or if you have to open everything up to see it, but..) Do they have straw or anything else to occupy themselves with chewing on?
How's their temperament?

Please don't see my post as judgemental, I'm just curious to see how you think and do, and why, and surprised that what I concider to be a main feed source is concidered a supplement somewhere else.

I do not raise rabbits and have only had rabbits a few months, but my rabbits have access to grass hay 24/7. I also give alfalfa hay to the younger rabbits. They are in a wood hutch and I was told they would eat it and I know that the oldest female was in a wooden hutch before I got her and the owner said she was eating the barn down, but she did not have hay. My rabbits with access to hay are happy and they do not chew the hutch. They have pellets, but if the bowl is empty before I come back I have watched them and they eat hay. A lot of the time when I am watering them or doing some cleaning they are chewing on hay watching me. I give them a tablespoon of oats in the morning and a tablespoon at night and they seem very content, but without the hay I think they would be bored and start to chew the wood.

 

[ottersatin]

Hello Zab and Garden lady,
I feed grass hay only about three times per week and supply
Grasshay as necessary to all nesting Does.
A good quality Pelleted Rabbit feed will supply all
of the necessary nutrients to produce a healthy and
well fed/developed rabbit. Grasshay is provided on
a weekly/daily basis only because of the benefits
of the "long Fiber" in preventing a possible Gut slowdown.
The fiber provided in the Pelleted feed is ground too finely
tro be of much value. Whatever anyone else chooses to do
is their prerogative. I do what I do because it works for
me and my herd.The test of time has proven this to be true.
But, that's just me!
Ottersatin. C.V.R. ldtimer:

 

[Demamma]

I give my rabbits a grain mix in the morning and grassy alfalfa hay in the evening. I give enough where there is always some left. They seem to be doing well on it.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I've read about and got a bit surprised that people seem to use it as a supplement more than a base feed..

you can do that. As long they get some it really dosnt matter how you go about it. 3 times a week to all day long. It is the same either way.

 

[luvabunny]

I raise show rabbits and my diet is mainly free access to pelleted feed. The rabbits get a handful of grass hay about 3 times a week, mostly because they seem to enjoy it and it relieves boredom. I find if I give it too often, or give too much, they will move it to the edges of the cage and proceed to just relieve themselves on it, until it is an awful mess they would never eat and I don't even want to touch.

I do think this summer tho, when the bunnies come out of the barn back under the trees and the mess isn't such a big deal, that I will buy some mixed grass hay and feed that as a primary diet to my brood bucks and non production does, to keep them from becoming fat and lazy over the summer.

 

[Zab]

Thanks for sharing your experiences

luvabunny; have you tried giving it in containers or ''nets'' outside (or by all means inside) the cage? Then they won't soil it.

 

[Dood]

My rabbits have horse and goat hay at all times and 8 ounces of pellets once a day. Pregnant and nursing does get extra pellets. My weaned bunnies are in a colony and have hay available at all times and pellets in the evening, they also have tree branches to gnaw on and I give small sections of branches to my breeders who are in individual cages but only about once a week. My cages bunnies are also given a chance to stretch their legs in the colony pen at least twice a week.

 

[Miss M]

We have hay available 24/7, because the bunnies like munching on it, and it helps prevent wool block. The regular coastal Bermuda grass hay I feed doesn't have enough nutritional value to be the primary diet, like alfalfa does.

We made hay baskets out of 1" x 1/2" wire. They hook onto the door of the cage, and the bunnies pull the hay through the cage wire.

You can also set it on top of the cage (if you don't have stackers), and they'll stand up to pull it through. Babies can't reach it up there, though.

 

[3mina]

My main feed is pellets and they get hay cubes, at least a handful a day. I prefer the cubes because there is much less waste and there'd probably be even less waste than I have now if I put the cubes in a feeder of some sort but I just put them on the fire floor where they get nibbled til they're smaller than a half inch and fall through the floor.