Dehydrating grass?

[PepnFluff]

Wondering if it was possible to put some grass in the dehydrater to dehydrate to hopefully become nummy hay? The hay round here at the moment isn't that nice and the bunnies think its rank.

thankies.

 

[SunnyCait]

I've often thought about this, or even just plain ol' drying it outside in the sun.

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

i get a lot of tall grass at home. I gave it to the bunnies they prefer it more than hay... I still had hay though bought from pet stores expensive but hey, it was hay.

 

[PepnFluff]

Yea well suns a tad scarce at the moment lol, howling a gail and raining like heck haha. I think I might give it a go tomorrow or something. P I think hay has more fibre or something and its better for their teeth??

 

[Saudade]

Yes, hay has much more fibre in it, they tend to grind it with their teeth which helps them to keep them short. Drying grass is possible but you need to make sure that no mould or fungus starts growin in them, these can be poisonous to your bunny.

All in all there is nothing better than hay for your bunnies, try a different store their hay may be of a better quality.

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

yeah those hite/grey stuff grew in mine a few times.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

In the summer time I take grass and put it on tables and let it dry in the sun. Takes a couple days to a week for it to be completely dry, but the bunnies love it a lot; and they still get some of their regular hay, along with fresh grass

Emily

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Saudade wrote:

Yes, hay has much more fibre in it, they tend to grind it with their teeth which helps them to keep them short. Drying grass is possible but you need to make sure that no mould or fungus starts growin in them, these can be poisonous to your bunny.

All in all there is nothing better than hay for your bunnies, try a different store their hay may be of a better quality.

Errrmm... hay IS just dried grass! Nothing different between hay and grass, except the moisture content. If anything, you'd expect it to have slightly LESS nutrients, because nutrients break down over time, and it takes time to dry the grass and make hay, so...

How good it is for their teeth really depends on the silica content in the grass/hay, not so much the fiber content. Silica is what wears down the teeth, fiber is what helps the digestion.
The later cuts always have more silica than the first cut. Grass that gets mown a lot has more silica than grass that is left to grow long on the field.

 

[Saudade]

Most hay though is rye grass. So it does have more fibre and a higher silica content!

(But I did not know abuot the silica content, I thought it was just tooth on tooth grinding that did it.)

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Rye grass must be an Australian thing, here most hay is Timothy, or other grass hays, like meadow grass, bluegrass, brome, etc.
We seldom see rye grass, atleast, I have never seen rye grass hay around here.

 

[PepnFluff]

Cool, well when we've gotten back from town and if its not dark I sha'll get clipping and dehydrating! Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[Saudade]

Make sure you do all your cutting by hand!