how to make hay more enticing

[piperknitsRN]

My bunny Olive seems not to like her timothy hay very much (I got it from a local rabbit rescue supply place along with her pellets). Anything I can do to make it more enticing? Maybe change up the timothy hay and try orchard grass, or mix the two?

Jamie in the PacNW

 

[CB Millicent]

I recently bought local, freshly-cut hay and mine absolutely devoured it! I usually get Kaytee Timothy at the store and they only eat it when there's nothing else to munch. So try to find some super fresh hay. Our local rabbit rescue sells it for profit.

Something else I did was sprinkle Alfalfa hay on top of their Timothy. They love alfalfa, so that was pretty successful. However, the fresh hay worked best.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

:yeahthat:

How does the hay smell? What colour is it? Is it dusty?

Hay should be green in colour, sweet in smell, with little to no dust.

Look up tack and feed stores in your area and either buy a bale or ask if you can sweep up the hay off their floor for free (lots of feed stores do this) or buy a flake or two from a broken bale.

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[Nancy McClelland]

The only time we had any problem was with Pete. He wouldn't touch his hay at all, so I took away the pellets and only gave him a tiny amount. He now eats up the Timothy just like all the other bunnies. Alfalfa is alright for youngsters that are growing but is too high in protein and calcium for an adult bunny. The only time we had a problem was when we bought some Kaytee Timothy that was mostly brown--none of our bunnies ate it so it went back to Petsmart. I now get it from Drs. Foster and Smith.

 

[houhoubun]

try Oat hay. I think almost every rabbit loves oat hay. But be careful to watch if his poops are ok.

 

[CB Millicent]

Oh, I didn't give them much alfalfa hay at all--just sprinkled the dust from the bottom of the bag on top of the Timothy to get them interested.