wasting hay

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

There has to be some other way. I cleaned today and OMG. The hay out weights the poop by 20 times. There is so ooooo much waste of hay. I have hay feeders with bottoms on them . And still there is allot of waste. To much for my liking ...Any other ideas on hay . How often do you feed hay? How much do you put in? I do know that i am over doing it. But the babies that are 6 weeks old are the ones that waste the most. I need a better way so they dont waste so much.

 

[Secuono]

Put in only as much as they actually eat, less and less until they stop wasting it. Then you can add a second feeding of it if they finish it all during the day.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I give some in the morning then again at night. Depending on the size of litter . Sometimes i have to give some during the day. But what they pull out . Half of that goes to the floor.

 

[skysthelimit]

I haven't been worrying about it, but I cut back on how much litter I put in the tray. The hay kind of acts like litter, so hay is cheaper than pine shavings or peat moss. for me it balances out in $$.

But still, I have been putting less, once a day, pellets in the morning, hay at night.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

The other worries that i have is. The hay in the compose . It is suppose to be for the garden. I cant have all this hay in it all the time. I am going to cut back on it .

 

[skysthelimit]

The other worries that i have is. The hay in the compose . It is suppose to be for the garden. I cant have all this hay in it all the time. I am going to cut back on it .

When I empty my litter tubs, I dump them on a hard wire screen, extra work though. i was shaking my head the other day, it's always the little ones, they waste so much food and water.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

awwww , now that is a good idea , I can do that. But not in the winter. The pee freezes. but it is a start. Thanks for that tip for the compose. But it still dosnt solve the problem with wasting so much hay. Yes it is the little ones.

 

[boundarybunnyco]

I had this problem too. I was way over feeding the hay and it was piling up hugely under the cages. I've cut way back on the hay I give them, but there's still a lot of waste. Now I only give them a small amount every other day.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

. i was shaking my head the other day, it's always the little ones, they waste so much food and water.

Okay, when you gpo out to feed, and you are petting them, scrtiching their heads, you need to tell
them...


"Stop Playing With Your Food"


ancake: opcorn: :icecream: :coffeebath: :drunk:

*did I get all the food smilies?*

 

[skysthelimit]

. i was shaking my head the other day, it's always the little ones, they waste so much food and water.

Okay, when you gpo out to feed, and you are petting them, scrtiching their heads, you need to tell
them...


"Stop Playing With Your Food"


ancake: opcorn: :icecream: :coffeebath: :drunk:

*did I get all the food smilies?*

they tore the hay rack off of the cage, or they sleep in the hay rack, or they hide in the hay rack, sleep in the bowls...ugh.

hay is one of those things where I've just resigned myself to the inevitable.

 

[Diamond]

OMG i have been lamenting over all of the above: wasted hay, youngsters wasting pelleted feed, and hay seeds in the compost.

I have started to give the hay BEFORE putting pellets in.

Of course, I have 2 hours of chores to do, so its part of my morning routine. But the bunnies are hungry, so they eat the hay. Then I give them greens (weeds plucked from the garden and greenhouse). By the time I get around to filling the pellet feeders (and I try not to dole out more than they will eat in a day) they aren't hungry enough to have a feeding frenzy at the feeders, which reduces the amount of pellets spilled.


I also put mats under the feeders, snugged up against the corner of the cage. Helps some of the hungry bunnies clean up what was spilled earlier.

The weed thing.... well, I keep planning to invest in a few nice bales of 1st cutting hay that doesn't have seeds in it, some orchard grass or alfalfa. But I have a barn full of good timothy hay (with seeds) so I tend to keep using what I have.

I find that 'hay' weeds, which is just timothy, fescue or orchard grass, make nice rabbit greens and are easy to pull - so when they do pop up in the garden they are much less a worry than the other kinds of weeds, which are hard to get rid of and unpalatable to both man and beast.

 

[skysthelimit]

See Mary Ann, we are not alone.

I was all set to invest in some new EZ feeders, when I saw the 4 week old kit sitting inside the feeder, stuffing his face.

 

[3mina]

I feed hay cubes instead of loose hay, a 20kg bag is $12 & lasts me about 5-6 weeks.
20kg=about 50lb

 

[skysthelimit]

I feed hay cubes instead of loose hay, a 20kg bag is $12 & lasts me about 5-6 weeks.
20kg=about 50lb

I could get 4 large bales of hay for $12. I also need the hay for nests, so a little waste is still worth it dollar wise. I haven't had anything sprout in my compost pile, maybe its because of the lime I use? People have had seeds sprout in their litter tubs, I've never had that happen before.
Besides the soil here is such heavy clay, a little hay in the mix is a good thing.

 

[toastedoat37]

If hay is a problem,,,if they are getting good quality pellets,,,dont give them hay.

 

[Miss M]

Toastedoat is right that if they are getting good pellets, they don't really need the hay.

Hay does help make sure things keep moving inside their gut.
Hay gives them something to nibble on, and they love to nibble.
Sometimes, especially on hot days, my rabbits prefer to eat almost exclusively hay for a while.

But the hay isn't absolutely necessary.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I've always operated under the assumption they cannot really function without it. Can they live or thrive without hay???

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

If hay is a problem,,,if they are getting good quality pellets,,,dont give them hay.

I dont feed pellets. So hay is a must.

 

[skysthelimit]

I've always operated under the assumption they cannot really function without it. Can they live or thrive without hay???

Yes, but I'm feeding pellets, so it stretches the pellets as well as helps with poopy butt babies.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

But the hay isn't absolutely necessary.

IT is if you dont feed pellets.