Oat hay for nestbox

[starshotbandit]

so tomarrow I go pick up hay for my horses,Iam going to get oat. Is it ok for the nestbox? I dont want to get a full bale of straw i wont use that much for 4 does befor it molds. i dont have any place to put it out of the weather. the oat hay has some kind of grass that my horses wont touch but I use it in the chickens nests. would that be OK for the rabbits? my horses r n another town so i only can make a trip once a week and thats when I also pick up a flake of hay for the rabbits. none of the people i know in town have or use straw so i cant get any from them. Im kinda stuck so any advice would be good. thanks

 

[caroline]

Sure. You can use it for the nest boxes. I just put some shavings in the box and then put the hay in the cage for the rabbit. Some rabbits want to build their nest early and some wait until the last minute. I usually put a few handfuls of hay in the cage starting about a week before they are due. I watch to see when the momma starts carrying mouthfuls of hay. That's when I know it's time to put the nest box in the cage.

 

[3mina]

That'll work fine for nestboxes and hay/straws 'expiry date' is on the year range unless it gets wet or was baled wet. So one bale of straw or hay is very cost effective for a small number of rabbits. A large garbage can or plastic tote works well for me for storage too.

 

[JueLee]

Hello Starshotbandit,

I got a free bale of oat hay once and used it for the nest boxes. The rabbits loved it. Wish I had access to more on a regular basis.

 

[starshotbandit]

well it turned out that they had sold out of oat so i got a grass hay. it works fone ecept now she is going through the nest box and picking it out i have to keep stocking it the other day i found the babbies with nuthing but hair around them. I give hay about 3 times aday. so now i have to keep hay and fresh grass in front of her. but she is a good ma, but she is still not that nice to me

 

[hoodat]

Oat straw is fine. It's not as stiff as wheat straw. I'm convinced that the major cause of nest eye is getting poked in the eye by the bedding. Grass hay is even better. My favorite nesting material is orchard grass hay. I've never had nest eye when I used it.