Can Holland Lops eat this type of hay....

[jimmywalt]

Can Holland Lops eat hay that is mixed with timothy, orchard, brome with a little alfalfa and natural grasses?

I can get some from a farmer for only $4 a bale, but I don't know if our rabbits can have this mix. In the past all we have given them is Timothy hay.

Thank you.

 

[akane]

Rabbits can eat any good quality, weed free hay. Many don't feed pure legume hay like alfalfa because of the high nutrients in it but it depends on your breeding schedule and environment. An alfalfa and grass mix should be fine for any rabbit. All grass hays are pretty much equal. The differences between types are hardly more than the difference between the same variety grown in 2 different fields. You just have to make sure none of the natural plants that have taken over the field are dangerous.

 

[Zass]

Man, I WISH I could get a hay mix like that a that price.

Careful of farmers though, some may indiscriminately sell moldy hay.
Still, for good quality rabbit hay, I have found that local farmers tend to have the best quality for the best prices. You just have to look out for the few that aren't concerned.

 

[akane]

Good grass hay here is pretty much impossible. I order it in from nebraska or even washington for the chinchillas since they don't eat much and we also feed them timothy hay cubes and small amounts of local legume hay. I just give them a handful of loose grass hay when I clean their cages 1-2 times a week. Iowa does not believe in quality grass hay. Anything that isn't mostly alfalfa or clover is what I call "weed hay". Fields left to grow whatever native plants make their way across it. They then bale this in loose 30lb or even less bales and sell it at the same price as alfalfa. Organic clover/alfalfa in 50-60lb tight bales comes out the same cost per pound without the mystery plants and with the organic part plus the guy is obsessed with adding trace minerals to his soil. So that's all our rabbits get.