Has anyone ever tried to make their own hay cubes?

[Robochelle]

There were no bales available last fall ( stupid drought ) I used Timothy hay cubes all winter. They are much cleaner than long strands of hay, especially with the baby Angoras. The trouble I had originally was the Wire bottom cage; as soon as a cube was bunny poop sized it'd fall on the ground and get peed on. I fixed that up by attaching screen door mesh to the bottom, and letting it all roll out of the way of the pee. Successful, but now that spring is here, I have free, green, tastier stuff just outside my door.

I want to go a step further, and make hay bricks- less will fall through the floor that way.

My thought was to make a brick mold, very tall, with a mesh bottom to let the water out. Then, wet the dry hay a bit (or use day old cutting) and mix it with overcooked oatmeal to help it stick together.

Any thoughts? Anyone try this before? I want to get s much input as I can before I start... no use repeating other people's experiments...

 

[MuddyFarms]

Very interesting idea! Please let me know how this works out if you try it. I wonder if it will start to ferment or mold before it has a chance to dry solid? Definitely worth thinking through how to make this work out somehow...

 

[Cindy in SD]

Oatmeal juice can be used to make artists' pastels; though it doesn't need overcooking. Just getting it to a simmer for several minutes seems to work fine. It's a good idea, I think. I would try molding the cubes in a silicone ice cube tray of the size you think you'd like to use so you could easily pack them in tight and still be able to unmold without too much trouble. You'll want to experiment with proportions to get the consistency your bunnies prefer.