Hay cubes

[HeatherMarie]

i was just wondering if those timothy hay cubes were as equally healthy as the loose hay

 

[Leaf]

I don't know but my opinion is that while they are nice additions to the diet, and even neat as "throw-around toy blocks" (for my crew anyway) the real benefit of hay comes from being able to chew and forage throughwhat comes in strands.

The cubes seem to take away the "fun" of choosing which bit to eat next (and some of mine are picky over which pieces are the *best*) and I don't know that the cubes offer the same type of necessary tooth wear that chewing strands provides.

 

[BlueGiants]

I'll use the hay cubes when we're traveling or at a show, mostly as a treat, and to give them something to play with.. (They have their regular hay too...). On an every day basis, I think the regular hay is better for them. I think they get more diversity munching on the hay (both for their teeth as well as their digestion).

 

[slavetoabunny]

I give my girls cubes as a supplement to their regular hay. They really enjoy havinga good chew. The cubes don't wear down their teeth as well as regular hay and also the bunnies need the long strands for good gut health.

 

[naturestee]

I'll just say :yeahthat: to all three ladies above me. I give them as the occasional treat/toy but I wouldn't use them in place of hay. I'm sure they don't wear down the teeth as much as normal hay because when Loki's molars were hurting him he'd still nibble a little at the hay cube but wouldn't eat anything that actually required chewing.

 

[ra7751]

Hay blocks, while better than no hay at all, do not provide all the benefits of loose hay. Loose hay promotes chewing which wears down the teeth. And while chewing, they don't crush the hay but instead fold it neatly into something that looks like an accordian. That provides the bulk in the GI to keep things moving along and regulate GI transit time.

Randy

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I know that the hay cubes are ok for bunnies, but I agree with Leaf. I have a whole bag of hay cubes that I got awhile agoat a show - my bunnies haven't touched them. They don't like them. I need to see if they're still good or not, because I obviously don't need them for my bunnies, but I know some other places would love to have them.

Also, you'd have to give them alot of hay cubes to equal the amount of hay you give them, soloose hay is much more better than having to spend lots of money on those small bags of hay cubes, when one package equals the daily amount of hay being consumed.

Emily

 

[HeatherMarie]

Right now I give them both, and they love the cubes, but i was just curious because the hay is so messy. It ends up all throughout the house, so if it were the same health wise I was going to switch to the neater cubes, cuz they digest like 2 of those a day each even with regular hay.

 

[golfdiva]

I give Hershey both, but he doesn't really eat the hay! I give him lots of veggies and mix it in with the hay, and sometimes he accidently eats some hay, but thats about it. He does seem to like the cubes however! Go figure! (The vet said subbing veggies for hay was ok.)

 

[tonyshuman]

[align=left]I think the cubes are pretty messy too--they kinda crumble all over the place when bunnies eat them, especially if they cart them off to their favorite hiding place behind the chair to eat them! [/align]