WASTING TOO MUCH HAY! :(

[HHRR]

My rabbits waste SO much hay! :evil: :x I cant tel how much they eating and how much they are throwing under the cage and on the floor! Is there an effective way somebody out there has for making their buns waste less hay? Like a special feeder? I feed them timothy hay so shouldn't that taste good and they'd want to eat it? Could hay nets be used, I know we don't like hay nets for the goats because we've lost one to hanging herself, could silly bunnies do the same? :? Or I bet they'd eat the net wouldn't they?

 

[akane]

Rabbits would chew apart hay nets. You can bend some wire in to a tunnel shape and place it either on the inside or outside of the cage. Outside keeps them from hopping in it and getting stuck or peeing on it but not everyone has a setup that allows for that. If your cages aren't real tall you can throw a slice on top of a wire cage so they stand up and pull each strand through the roof. I built my cages with solid bottoms and tops but I have 2 feed store wire cages that I occasionally used to throw a rabbit in solitary and that's how I fed them hay.

 

[Bad Habit]

Maybe I'm just lucky in the prices I pay, but I toss a pile in and let them have at it. A fair bit gets wasted, but I take that stuff off the top and throw it on the ground to help keep things less muddy, so it's not actually being wasted. I only pay $4 for 40lbs of hay, so don't really mind them playing in it/wasting it.

 

[HHRR]

I only pay $4 for 40lbs of hay, so don't really mind them playing in it/wasting it.

Wow! Lucky! We got a large, I believe 60 ounce, bag from a local pet store for $7! Where do you get your hay? I probably don't live in your area but still I can look in places similar!

 

[Bad Habit]

A farmer I met at the farmers' market. She sets aside a half dozen bales specifically for me, plus more if I need it. It's good quality alfalfa/grass hay(about 50/50), and the rabbits love it.

I actually have 1/2 a bale left from last year's hay, and it's totally gone to waste. It's got a musty smell, and is very dusty, so I'm throwing it down on the path for traction(snow and ice season, bleh!!)

Definitely try to find a farmer to get your hay from, you will save SO MUCH MONEY.

 

[akane]

Feed stores sometimes have compressed bales of timothy or alfalfa which are still pricy but much cheaper than the bags from the petstore. Some have big 50lb boxes of oxbow orchardgrass or alfalfa. There's no way any breeder could feed hay on those tiny bags from the pet store. If you can find a source for regular square bales (30-50lbs) you can get a bale cover from horse supply vendors and it will last you a long time depending how many rabbits you have. We pay $10 per 50lb bale but it's organic rich hay. You can get ok quality alfalfa here for $2.50/40lbs. We were buying 5 at a time except when 2nd cut came in and then we'd spend the time and money to drive the big diesel truck out there and load up. That kept 60 rabbits fed with no worry about waste. Now I've got a stack of hay and 3 small rabbits lol Too bad the nutrients in hay drop off sharply after it's a year old even when stored well or I'd have enough for several years. We'll probably feed it until he gets in a good leafy cut this coming year and then give the remainder to the horses and pick up 2 or so bales of new stuff. The horses are always after my expensive rabbit hay. They'll eat fur and poop to get some of it.

 

[grumpy]

HRRR:

Take a look at this thread.....
It may help you a lot.
Plus...they're cheap!

I use these racks and the rabbits waste "some"
but not anything like they have in the past.

hayrack-feeder-t17591.html

grumpy.

 

[bobqdevon]

I pay $6 for a 75lb bale of good alfalfa hay. I've had to resort to buying them 10 bales at a time, so I don't have to worry about running out, as we're going through +/- 1 bale per month.

 

[HHRR]

HRRR:

Take a look at this thread.....
It may help you a lot.
Plus...they're cheap!

I use these racks and the rabbits waste "some"
but not anything like they have in the past.

hayrack-feeder-t17591.html

grumpy.

Thank you so much! This is perfect, then with everyone else recomendations on where to get the hay I'll be set! Thank you everyone!!!