Chopped hay, forage for rabbits fed along with pellets.

[Angier Farms]

Maybe it's time to go back to the original problem of wasted hay and figure another method for saving it other than chopping it?

We have rabbits who like to dig in their food dish which spills it. There's now a big ceramic tile under those food dishes and wastage is a lot less. Can the hay be fed over a big ceramic tile area? Then anything that falls can still be reached?

Good Morning... your ceramic tile is a good option...or a large basin to collect waste...only question is does the tile also have rabbit manure and urine? The hay I have been able to chop to a very small length and my rabbits do like spreading the feed around...but they shove the feed with their noses now...and do not dig in with their paws which they used to do. Have a great day, Yale

 

[Zee-Man]

A little more primitive, but perhaps easier to cobble together.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/antique-primitive-hay-and-straw-cutter/
What the nice chopper in the OP video does is
1) pack the feed stock into a uniform space
2) feed it via gears
3) Holds it against an anvil
4) applies mechanical advantage via leverage and the curved blade
5) gives fly wheel advantage for less wasted energy

What the primitive chopper does

1) Packs the feed stock in a confined space
2) holds it against an anvil
3) uses the angle of incidence on a straight blade to give advantage to the levered arm.

Both would have even greater advantage if the blade was a logarithmic spiral shape. Then the furthest part of the blade would cut the same as the part of blade nearest the axle.

 

[SLRS]

So, I've run Timothy hay through a leaf shredder. Twice through definitely shreds it, but way too much of it ends up being dust, I mean lots of it, and the buns don't seem to like eating dust (I can't blame them). If this rain ever lets up, I will try running it through just once.
I still think what it really needs is to be cut up into shorter pieces instead of being shredded randomly. where too much of it is not really hay anymore, but disintegrated into dust.
I did get a quote from one Indian company for a Chaff Cutter. The bill with shipping would be over $1200 for a machine that if I was local could be bought for maybe 1 tenth of that.

 

[Cindy in SD]

Ah yes....the pace in other places and be slow. It is also highly likely they have not gotten customers outside of the region and must take time to figure out how to ship, cost etc. Don't be surprised if the shipping cost is ungodly expensive and takes the slow slow boat route. As a Canadian because there is so much less availablity here I have had a lot of experiences ordering from Asia. It generally works out but does take time! I had to get some beekeeping equipment from the Phillipines, lovely people but it did take 6 months! Good luck, and if you have a company who will do it perhaps post their link here! I would be interested and I bet others would be too. You can give them some free advertising, which every company can use in this economy!

Absolutely, let us know! Maybe some enterprising machinist could be coaxed into setting up production for the homesteading market. I did look into pelleting machines, but couldn't justify the cost. They had nothing I could afford, but unfortunately I don't remember specifics.

My bunnies love fresh greens. My buck pouted when the thistles stopped coming, until I broke out a bale of mixed grass/alfalfa hay (mostly grass). He's satisfied enough to come out of his little shelter and nibble it. I'm glad... I was starting to think I goofed, processing all the male grow-outs first, but he's fine now. I did give him a couple drops of Ivermectin in his water, too, so I'm not actually sure whether it was the greens or the Iver.

It's hard to find rabbits around here. I'm gonna save the biggest upcoming buck & the biggest doe, now. This will be my last batch until spring. It was 2° Fahrenheit last night, so we're done for the season.

 

[Cindy in SD]

Good Morning... your ceramic tile is a good option...or a large basin to collect waste...only question is does the tile also have rabbit manure and urine? The hay I have been able to chop to a very small length and my rabbits do like spreading the feed around...but they shove the feed with their noses now...and do not dig in with their paws which they used to do. Have a great day, Yale

My breeders live in my little "barn". I put hay on the top of their cage, which works for any bunny tall enough to reach it, plus it gives them something fun to do. Ppl also buy or make wire hay mangers to fasten to the outside of the cage for bunny to pull the hay through.

My problem putting hay on the "roof" is that the chickens mess with it. It's not so bad tho, that it's not worth doing. The sidewall mangers don't work for me because there's no free space on the front wall to attach them, what with the water bottle and the feeder and the door. The side walls aren't available to use, so...

I put their tiles in the center of their cages. If I put them along the edge, they move their potty spot to the tile's location, no matter how often I move it. They do move their hay around (it's FUN!) . All animals waste their food (even ppl). There are whole industries built around trying to prevent this from happening. It's not possible (ime), but you can mitigate it to some degree, so it's definitely worth trying.