Feeding fresh grass instead of hay?

[gentle giants]

Once a week or so, I go out and hand-cut fresh long stemmed grass for my rabbits, and give them that instead of the died grass hay. What I was wondering is, does this count as greens, or is it just like giving them really fresh hay? They really love it, and will actually skip eating the pellets to just eat the grass. Oh, and there is usually clover and sometimes dandelions mixed with the grass, too.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Hay is just dried grass, so fresh grass would be really really fresh hay. Now the dandelions would be considered greens and the clover a super treat. Sounds like a bunny super salad!

 

[tonyshuman]

my vet actually said it can be better for tooth wear than dried grass because the hydrated silica in fresh grass grinds on the teeth more than the dry silica particles in dry hay. sorry if that didn't make sense to you--i can try to explain better but i've been a chemist for so long that sometimes it's hard to relate! i just take ms. muffin outside for snack time on a leash! she loves it, running around, exploring, and mostly munching nonstop! sassypants tony doesn't like it becase he gets dirty.

 

[gentle giants]

Yeah, they sure do love it, LOL. It takes me close to two hours to hand-cut enough for 21 bunnies, soon to be 23, but it's worth it to see their little faces light up.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

In the summer and spring my rabbits get fresh grass every single day, twice a day, when they can. I almostnever feed grass hay in the summer time, because the fresh grass is soo much better, and juicy and watery, etc. and all in all, good for them. I also dry my own grass hay also. Drying my own grass hay is actually one of my favorite things about bunny-ownership...don't ask why! Lol. I Just love to pick the grass and let it dry. My bunnies just LOVE it. Last year, I tried selling some grass hay, but we didn't get enough and no one wanted any. This year, I will dry a lot and maybe sell some to locals and then donate the money to shelters or something, who knows.

Emily

 

[Hazel-Mom]

That sounds like a great thing to do, Emily! We've been drying all sorts of herbs for our buns for the winter, mainly basil and mints.
Can I ask, how do you dry the grass? We hang the herbs in bundles to dry, but somehow I don't think that will work for grass...
So do you spread it on a rack and dry in the sun?

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Tonyshuman, that made perfect sence to me .
Also, the silica content in grass is higher, the more the grass gets cut. So it's higher in fresh grass if the grass gets cut often, and lower in hay, because usually the hay grass is left to grow on the field for a long time before it's cut. The silica content is also higher in second cut, and even higher still in third cut hay.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

Also, the silica content in grass is higher, the more the grass gets cut. So it's higher in fresh grass if the grass gets cut often, and lower in hay, because usually the hay grass is left to grow on the field for a long time before it's cut. The silica content is also higher in second cut, and even higher still in third cut hay.

That is great to know Hazel! I did not know that:biggrin2:. We take Snuff out to his pen when it's nice out and he loves to munch the grass.