Silly hay question.

[fuzzy9]

I cannot find any hay at all for the rabbits! The only grass hay around here is round bales, and I'm so afraid to use those for rabbits because of the mold and dust. I have zero small bales, my hay supplier backed out, and I've been pulling some of the better stuff I can find off the ponies round bale, but I'm really pushing my luck with that.

With feed going up, and no hay anywhere, I'm really not left with many options, and we are contemplating finally going more natural. We want to try wheat, and alfalfa hay, since alfalfa seems to be the only small bales being made around here. It's cheaper than pellets too, and since we would feed less grain it's the only option other than cutting down to the 4 rabbits Dave is talking about.

My only hesitation is with the hay situation this year, what kind of alfalfa quality will I find. That will determine what we do. But I do have a silly question.......Dave is hesitant to go this route, he says the alfalfa leaves are just gonna fall through the cage floor, and get wasted. What would be the best way to feed alfalfa without losing to much of it?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

What would be the best way to feed alfalfa without losing to much of it?

With my as yet un-manufactured hay feeder!

I am feeding alfalfa, and Dave is right- the leaves will fall through. I just gather it and feed it to the goats.

I do have bread pans in some of my growout pens, and I gather up all the leaf out of my feed cart and give that to the rabbits.

 

[caroline]

My rabbits LOVE ANY kind of dry plants so they get whatever the goats & sheep "waste" [the cows don't "waste" anything]. I go around to all the hay feeders in the am, after I let the animals out into the pasture, and rake up everything on the ground. I shake it to get the "berries" out and the stuff it into plastic bins that my hubby salvages from behind his favorite taco stand.

The buns are all pressed up against the front of the cage watching me and excited that I am bringing them such a treat. I don't buy hay for the rabbits. They eat [and make nests out of] whatever is left over.

Then what they "waste," since some does sift through the cage floor, gets raked up again and used as mulch around my pear trees [I noticed that when I gave the pears rabbit manure like the rest of my fruit trees I was seeing a lot more fire blight so I've decide they may have been getting too much nitrogen, so minimal rabbit manure for them]. Then the manure gets rake up to be spread around the rest of our fruit trees and piled onto whatever garden bed has recently been harvested or any empty 1 & 5 gal nursery pots to be used for starting seedlings.

I also cut the grass in our orchard about twice in the spring and early summer and leave it to dry for a few days and then rake up a wheel barrow load at a time for the buns. It's done by now in the season but now they are getting the branches that I'm pruning from the fruit trees [except cherry] that have been harvested. I don't wait until the spring to prune my trees, I prune them while they still have leaves on them so that the bunnies can enjoy them. I cut them into lengths that fit into those plastic bins that hubs brings from the taco stand and stack them next to the rabbitry ready to feed the buns

 

[Miss M]

With my as yet un-manufactured hay feeder!

Well, get busy then!!! :gettowork:

 

[MaggieJ]

We put a bale at a time into a large barrel. Since we are feeding the rabbits in a colony, we have less concern about the leaves falling off, but I do find that towards the end of a bale there are a lot of fines... and they are the most nutritious part. Some go to the chickens and geese, but the rest I gather up and feed in a crock to the rabbits.

 

[fuzzy9]

Well, after thinking about this, and thinking.........and thinking........and THINKING.... :lol: I've decided to pick up some alfalfa and wheat, and make the switch since alfalfa seems to be easier to find around here right now. I'm picking up 10 bales tomorrow, pending it's good quality, and then if this works I'll be getting some additional bales, enough for winter. I just decided that what falls through, I can shift through, and give to the ponies. They'll be fine if it's just a small amount each day, and since hay is a hot commodity this summer, I can't afford to waste any. I also thought, since I have a tub on my hay cart that I use, and put three flakes in it at a time, I can possibly bag those leaves up that fall off to the bottom of the tub, and feed in feed dishes to my nursing does. Would they keep bagged if they are dry, or could I put them in the freezer till I need them?

I don't have any grass hay right now worth feeding, and I'm wondering if I can still feed some pellets, while feeding alfalfa, while I'm slowly switching them over to wheat? What's the best way to make the switch?

 

[3mina]

I feed 18% pellets which are mostly alfalfa and alfalfa horse cubes which are just extruded alfalfa. I don't get much waste except in the grower pens since they will chew on a cube til it's slightly smaller than a 1/2" and drop it through the cage floor. A friend is making me a 'small' round bale just big enought to fit in his pick up, should last me for a few months.

 

[MaggieJ]

Years ago, when I made the switch, I continued to feed pellets while I phased in the hay, greens and grain. As I inceased the new foods, I decreased the quantity of pellets. I found that as the rabbits adjusted they simply lost interest in the pellets. As long as you don't make sudden changes, you should be okay. I should mention that my rabbits were already accustomed to generous portions of dandelions, plantain, clover etc.

 

[fuzzy9]

I didn't take any of the hay........the search continues! :angry: It was a beautiful green color, and looked awesome, but pull a handful off the outside of the bale, and it's all stems. It's so dry it all just falls off the stem, and the inside of the bale is damp. Time to pick up some hay cubes I guess.

 

[Bad Habit]

Come up here and I'll hook you up with my supplier. I can't get over how awesome this new bale is, and how much the rabbits love it.

 

[MaggieJ]

It takes time to find a good supplier. Once you do, hang onto the contact information so you can get hay the next year with no hassle. In the meantime, alfalfa cubes work fine. I have used them in late winter when I misjudged the amount of hay I needed and ran out along about March.

 

[fuzzy9]

I had a regular hay supplier, but with the drought we had this summer, hay is in short supply. I can't find small bales around here, been looking for two months.........ever since I called our regular hay supplier, and was told they weren't selling hay. That was after I was told we were getting the 150 bales I ordered. I've been driving an hour one way when I go look......so today was a 2 hour wasted time and gas trip!