Hay Hogs Anyone?

[seniorcats]

Does anyone else have absolute hay hogs? My 3 buns are going through 2 and 1/2 to 3 pounds of hay a day. I decided to weigh it to be accurate.I'm not complaining because none of the bunnies have ever had tummy troubles. Well, Wilbur did get gas once this spring when he ate a cucumber slice from my salad bowl.

Just curious to know if this is normal for others. Dr. Melody Frankenbunny is 8 and 1/2 pounds and eats a pound a day. Ali is 5 and 1/2 pounds and eats a pound a day. Wilbur Igor is only 3 pounds and manages at least a 1/2 pound of hay a day.

They also get limited pellets, Oxbow Bunny Basics-T and big salads every day with 4-5 different greens, vegy's a day and a piece of fruit or a few craisins twice a week.

 

[Haley]

I know two hay hogs. One is my foster boy Max 2.0 (8lb agouti lop). I swear he's in his litterbox eating hay about 90% of the day! I fill it up everytime I go near him.

Another is Julia's (iluvmybuns) boy Ozzy- he is a hay monster too

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Lets put it this way. I have 4 rabbits --two 7-8 lb ones, one 3.5 lbs, and one 4.75 lbs. Well last year I went through 4 [suP]1[/suP]/[suB][suP]2[/suP][/suB]bales of hay (each roughly 23"w x 16"h x 42"l) and I've only had the 4th rabbit since February. My rabbits are hay nuts!

I just figured it out. If I were to buy hay at pet stores I would be paying at least $650 a year just to feed hay like I do now.:thud:

 

[ra7751]

Nearly all of my rabbits are hay hogs...mainly because that is their primary diet. I think the winner in our warren is a young English Lop named Penelope. She weighs about 8 pounds and she parks herself in front of her hay rack and eats all day. I refill her box first thing in the morning, at lunch, just before dinner and again before the night is over.....and she gets a huge amount each feeding. But she has a great gut and beautiful teeth...along with being slim and trim. She has never met a hay shedidn't like. She even eagerly eats the cheap litter box hay we buy. Her favorites are Bunny Bale and Sweet Meadow Farms...but she really isn't that picky. Good girl.

Randy

 

[Spring]

Since I switched to anTimothy/alfalfa hay mix, my guys are SO much more interested in eating hay.. Pebbles will sit and eat about 4x her size in hay a day(not sure about weight). Even Poppy who only occasionally nibbles hay will sit and eat a handful or two a day. I've noticed since Bruno moved inbeside her she's been eating more as well.Bruno has hay moods where one day he'll just go nuts over hay, then the next only take a few nibbles.

I go through a garbage bag and a half packedwith hay every month! I barely waste much of that too! I'm so happy my uncle gives me fresh hay for free .

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

It depends with my girls, they seem to eat way more hay in the winter than in the summer (probably because they eat more grass in the summer). In the winter I can fill up their bed area (which is about 2.3 x 2 x 2ft) so it isstuffed with hay, then a day later most of it will have been eaten!:shock:

 

[cheryl]

Oh yeah,i have little hay hogs here...major hogs at that to!,they always seem to have their noses stuck in the hay and chowing down all that delicious scruptious hay..snort...snort.

cheryl

 

[Michaela]

Ugh I wish I could get mine to eat hay like that. Maddie eats the most hay, but only about half a small hay rack per day. Pebble and Ebony only eat hay if there is absolutely nothing else. :sigh:Though they make up for it in their grass, they go crazy for grass so I pick loads of it everyday for them. Grass and hay are the same, I'm thinking (hoping!) it does the same job.

 

[JadeIcing]

cheryl13 wrote:

Oh yeah,i have little hay hogs here...major hogs at that to!,they always seem to have their noses stuck in the hay and chowing down all that delicious scruptious hay..snort...snort.

cheryl

YOUR HERE!

 

[cheryl]

*Jumps up and down*..YEP

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Snuggy is a "hay SLOB"! She digs all the hay out of her large rack every day and only eats a little of it. The rest she scatters all over her cage. I can pick up most of it and recycle, but she just continues to make messes with it.

I don't know what her deal is.Maybe she's just bored when we're not there.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

wow i was just thinking this today when i was filling up Belle's hay. I fill her hay Bin up in the morning and by the time i go to bed there is barely any left, she was almost 4lbs, and she never use to eat that much, now i cant get it filled fast enough

 

[seniorcats]

Thanks everybun! It's good to know others have hay hogs. Mel and Ali will abandon their pellet bowls to gochomp a fresh supply of hay. This years' local hay has been the best I've ever seen. It's going fast from the local farmer. When I can't get hay from Elber Farm, we get a variety of Oxbow but the cost difference! $3.00 for a local bale compared to $45 for 50 pounds of Oxbow. I wish I could have gotten some for Haley a few weeks ago but the hay wagon was emptied by the horse people.

There is a new 60 stall mega-luxury stable being builtat the end of my road. This place looks like a equine palace and the stall rent will be $600 a month :shock: I hope they don't hog all the local hay.

Does anyone grow their own hay? I think about planting a 1/2 acre to an acre of our own land in hay whenI retire. Any idea how much hay a 1/2 acre would yield? MaybeI canfind out from the County Extension office.

 

[rabb1tmad]

I have hay hogs too. I have never weighed how much they eat but everytimeI put hay in they have eaten when I check again so I am constantly re-filling. Diesel, my foster bun, wasn't keen on hay when he first came to us - I don't think he was ever fed it before. But now he absolutely adores it and gobbles it away.

I know it sounds odd but I love watching my buns eating hay because I can just tell they love it so much!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Pebbles hardly touches her Timothy Hay. It's local Timothy Hay that is sold in the stores.

When Spice and Reese came over, MBB brought hay for the her two bunnies, which they ate alot of. I gave some to Pebbles, and she went wild for it. I never saw her pig out on so much hay before. Lucky MBB left me a huge bag of hay when shetookher two bunnies home. It should last Pebbles for a couple of months.

 

[buck rogers]

When we first brought Murphy home we were blown away with how much hay this little guy could but away :shock:. For pretty much the first week all he seemed to do was eat and poop. And ever since Ella has started to copy him and has been eating more hay then she ever did before.:biggrin2:

 

[iluvmybuns]

OMG Haley you are so right Ozzy is only 4 lbs but he eats SO MUCH HAY it's ridiculous. I got about a1/4 of a bale and it lasted 30 days. That's crazy. And Pepsi is just a nibbler she eats less than normal I think. If anyone has stomach problems, it WON'T be Oz.