Alfalfa?

[mariethomas]

Hello! Didn't find any hay today so I deicided to try a new type of alfalfa that we give to our smaller animals here. I have an older post which contains a totally different type of "hay" for rabbits.

Would you feed this to your bunnies?
Any opinion is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Are you feeding a concentrated rabbit pellet too, or just hay?

Alfalfa has a high calcium content, so it must be fed carefully. If you're feeding only hay, alfalfa should be fine. However, most rabbit pellets are formulated with alfalfa. So if you supplement with pellets, you'll want to limit the alfalfa.

Grass hay (timothy, bermuda, orchard) is the best partner to alfalfa-based pellets.

 

[JBun]

Fresh alfalfa can be very rich and can cause digestive upset sometimes. If you want to dry it and then use some, it should be fine, since your access to grass hay and good pellets is limited. But you do need to introduce it slowly, starting off with a very small amount to see if it causes your rabbits any digestive problems, then very gradually increase the amount each day, if there are no digestive issues with it. Plus you won't want to give them a lot.

 

[Ricki911]

Depending on your age of your animals, I wouldn't feed alfalfa straight all the time. If they under 6 -12 months, or pregnant then yes this is perfect otherwise I would do straight Timothy. My guys are 5, 4, and 2 (my rabbits,), guinea pigs are (6, 2, and 2). I sometimes feed them alfalfa as a treat, or orchard grass as a treat to mix it up. But mainly eat timothy hay.

 

[mariethomas]

OakRidgeRabbits, yes I also feed them pellets. But it takes up more of their diet than it should honestly. We do not have timothy where I live so this is why I purchased Alfalfa. I give them small amounts everyday.

JBun, I dried it and they love it. Sadly I can't give them as much as they want. It's been almost a week and they have had no problems at all.

And yes I have been feeding it almost like a treat because one of my boys is going on 7 months and I'd rather not give him too much. The other is around 4-5 months.