Hay feeders?

[Diamond]

Just wondering what folks have come up with for feeding grass hay. Seems a lot of it falls through the wire when I just put a handful in the cages. Been experimenting with twisting the hay and then stuffing it through holes in the wire, some of the rabbits are OK with this, one won't eat much if it that way, and two others get mad and pull it all out so that it is spread on the bottom of the cage the way they like it.

All the rabbits do seem to enjoy their hay so its worth the waste to give it to them, but I wish there was a better way that resulted in less mess to clean up later.

 

[Secuono]

A shallow, but large dish?
I use the 8in metal 1in tall cake pans for kits to eat out of. Until the start using it as a napping area, that is. lol.

 

[A&BRabbitry]

I will send you a picture of a wire hay feeder built out of 1"x2" wire that a hang over top of their metal feeder. This allows any that falls to go in the feeder and requires the bunny to pull out just a few pieces at a time. It also eliminates the chance of them messing in their hay.

 

[Diamond]

LOL that's funny, the kits napping in the cake pan/ hay nest!


Thanks A& B that will help with the "research and development" department : )

I am trying to think up of something like the hay nets I use for my horses, where they can pull a few pieces out at a time. Problem is that rabbits chew any type of cord or rope, so it would need to be wire. Maybe something spring-loaded that could attach to the outside of the cage and press the hay against the wire? So the rabbits could pull pieces through the wire but the pressure of the hypothetical device would minimize loose hay falling out.

 

[A&BRabbitry]

Here are a few photos, They aren't anything fancy but get the job done.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

We made these that sit outside the cages, just for another option...







I used the extra wire that was left over after cutting out doors.

 

[Diamond]

Thanks for the ideas! Very helpful.

 

[Secuono]

Oh, like the above pics, 1x2in wire, have the 2in vertical so they can shove their face into the hay and get a fair bite of it.
You can use just one sheet of wiring and attach the bottom with clips that will allow it to swivel up/down. Then get one of those tight coil springs and attach one end to the sheet and put a clip on the other end. Then you can stuff the hay between the cage wall and the sheet of 1x2in wire, the spring once clipped to the cage, will hold the hay tight and will 'close' as they eat it.

 

[avdpas77]

If you don't want to build your own:

http://www.klubertanz.com/images/Klubertanz_Pg25.pdf