hay cubes

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shazza

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i am looking into switching from loose hay to cubed hay for my rabbits to minimize waste and save on limited storage space. i'm pretty sure they'll transition nicely as they get alfalfa cubes as treats on occasion and they all seem to love them. right now i feel like i waste half of the loose hay i buy. additionally, we like to garden and have several family members/friends who also garden and would like to offer the manure to them but i've found that large amounts of hay in the manure won't break down unless it's composted, and i don't have the space here to compost, nor do i want to really mess with it. i'd rather have good, pure berries to toss in a bag and hand to someone ready to go, but i don't want to cut hay out of their diets completely.

the real question is, it's really hard to find JUST timothy cubes. i am pretty limited to tractor supply and a local feed store in my area. i haven't asked the feed store if they carry it yet, but in case they don't, my only option would either be timothy pellets or alfalfa/timothy mixed cubes. my rabbits are on an alfalfa-based feed, and i worry that these mixed cubes would be too rich to feed them, especially the bucks or does that aren't currently with litters. additionally, i get the impression that cubes would be better than pellets as they would grind teeth down more and have the "strands" that i understand are important to keep guts happy.

which one would be better?
 
I have a great selection of Hay Cubes here!! I know there is a pure alfalfa cube as well as a timothy/alfalfa mix I can get.
Check horse feed stores or ask horse people... when hay was short a few years back all they could get were the cubes.

I like to alternate loose hay and cubes... some of my rabbits want nothing to do with cubes, others chew them down in a matter of hours...
Each rabbit it different.

If you have to go out of your way to get cubes it is worth it... a 50 lb bag will last a long time.
 
It seems like I have also seen timothy cubes mixed with bermuda or orchard grass instead of alfalfa...you might ask about that while you're shopping around. Maybe you could also look at chopped hay? Might have more options, could feed in a crock? I use alfalfa pellets in my grain mix and the rabbits seem to do just fine with them, but I also feed loose fescue hay.

Have you tried hay racks? I finally broke down and switched to hay racks a few months ago. They haven't totally eliminated waste, but they have reduced it a lot. The waste that I do have is isolated to one small pile in front of the cages that is easy to rake up, leaving me with lots of clean manure. Just a thought...
 
I find that a good hay rack hung on the outside of the cage (access w/out opening cage) works best for me and my Angoras ... otherwise there is hay all through their fur LOL

Also good advice to get horse-quality grass hay as too much alfalfa can cause issues.
 
^ unfortunately the only sources i can find online are those little like, 2lb bags of cubes that are too expensive to buy enough to feed 10+ rabbits for more than a couple days. the good news though is that i did manage to find some! actually i clicked on the link homer posted just to try one more time and managed to find a feed store an hour or so away from me that carries them! so happy i don't have to go with anything with alfalfa in it.

i currently feed them in hay bags (same idea as racks) but they all just pull the hay out and throw it everywhere anyway :T finding a way to store the cubes so they don't get peed on will be the next challenge, but i feel like they will cut down on waste but quite a lot.
 
This is going to sound harsh, but I feel like if I had that many *intentionally* wasting that much hay I would a) stop offering them hay b) not keep them! While it's better/healthier for them to eat hay, there's many a rabbit in the world that has led a long life on nothing but pellets. And really, if they're just throwing it away, why bother? To me it's basically the same as keeping rabbits that dig/dump their feed. It's a habit, and it costs you money like crazy.
 
I found a Timothy Grass Hay cube!!!
Got myself a 50lb bag.... Rabbit tested last night and most of the cubes are gone this morning!

They are $9 per bag, so I might have to go easy on the loose hay and add more cubes. :)
(my hay is a really nice alfalfa/grass mix and the rabbits are leaving the grass and eating all the alfalfa.... lol.... when I clean the cages they are lined with the soft grass....lol
 

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