Hay Vs. Straw....

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nattyw

nattyw

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Mar 20, 2009
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Location
Upper Hutt, , New Zealand
My man who supplies me with straw and pellets (local farm supply store), wasn't able to give me any hay today, and I am pretty much out of it now, he had straw so I bought a bag of that - just wondering what the difference is and is it ok as an alternative to the hay??? I have put it in place of the hay in their hutch where they go toilet and sometimes sleep (they both have a bad habit of piddling and pooping in their bedroom hutch - there is a little box in there which is used aswell!!!) I am going to go and get a bag of hay next week from him but just wondered about the difference..... :)
 
Straw has almost no nutritional value. It might be ok for a day or two, but I'd look for hay ASAP. It's ok to use as bedding though, as long as proper hay is available.
 
OK cool - the last of my hay I put in their little thing on the side of the hutch, holds it off the ground - so they can nibble at it... I will hunt down some hay on Saturday as with it being Easter can't get any before then!!! Thanks!
 
Hey, If you run out again I sell it on trademe but if you PM me I should be able to send some to you for free coz your a ROer haha. Shouldn't be expensive as NZ post goes on weight now don't they?
 
Thanks! I am going to hunt some down today, they do have small bags at the supermarket so that might have to do for now, also have found someone on Trademe who sells it in UH for $3 a big bag (twice size of petshop & s/market) - but my guy in town should have some next week, the good smelling gorgeous stuff - just not sure how fresh the supermarket stuff is!!! They will survive - we are right out now and I am sure they want some!
 
nattyw wrote:
he had straw so I bought a bag of that - just wondering what the difference is
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To give a more complete answer, straw is what's left after you harvest a cereal crop - the stalks of oats or barley or wheat or something like that. Because it's basically a leftover, there's not a lot of nutrition there.

Hay, on the other hand, is dried grass (timothy, orchard grass, brome, bermuda, etc) or legume (alfalfa). You can get oat hay (at least in the US, Oxbow sells it), which is the complete oat plant, stalks and immature grain, both.
 
Thanks!!! It seems the straw is better in the hutch where they sleep and poop - and I think I might use up what I bought for that and will make sure I get some hay today as they enjoy munching it.... good to know what the difference is - probably sounded like a silly question!!!
 
It isn't a silly question at all! Or at least I don't think it is. I didnt know either, and I said to my boyfriend just this morning "what is the difference between hay and straw?" and we both concluded that we have no idea.

but now I know... hay = good, straw = bad (for rabbits to eat)

so straw is good for the rabbit's bedroom, but it's still better to just use all hay, right? instead of buying both?
and also, while we're on the topic of bedding, is it a good idea to use some saw dust as well to absorb urine? does anyone have an opinion on this?
 
I wouldn't use saw dust, but lots of people here (me included) use wood pellets in the litter boxes. They do absorb the urine very well, and keep the smell way down.
I'm not sure if you can get them in Australia. Here they are sold both for use in horse stalls and cat litter boxes, and for burning in wood stoves. You can use both kinds.
 
I'm not sure yet how much my bunny is going to be inside or if he'll use a littler box (I've only had him about one hour) but I'll keep the wood pellets in mind. haven't heard of them though, so maybe they're not common here.

so for bedding, in an outdoor hutch, do people just use hay? and newspaper?
 
crystal wrote:
I'm not sure yet how much my bunny is going to be inside or if he'll use a littler box (I've only had him about one hour) but I'll keep the wood pellets in mind. haven't heard of them though, so maybe they're not common here.

so for bedding, in an outdoor hutch, do people just use hay? and newspaper?
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You can get wood pellets in aus, well in sydney, they're what the pellet fires use, small little cylinders of wood. Can't remember what hardware store I was at over there but they had them big clear bags with black and orange panels. That was in winter though....But it's winter soon anyway haha.

edited to say. Bedding in a outdoor hutch. Pref get your dude litter trained - easier if he's neutered - otherwise he'll pee in the "bedroom" and the newspaper stinks! If he's trained i'd ditch the newspaper, and have hay thats what I did and just give it a good clean and dry once a week. The hay and litterbox content is great fr your garden. Though they often produce more than you need :p
 
crystal wrote:
but now I know... hay = good, straw = bad (for rabbits to eat)
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We use Oat straw - it isn't bad for rabbits to eat - it provides a good source of fiber when provided with a balanced diet.

Pam
 
All good information! I am now using the straw in their bedroom (outdoor hutch) which has the litter box in there aswell - I think though one of them is using a corner to pee/poop and the other is using the triangle shaped litter box, I moved it in there as they seemed to be using the 'bedroom' as a bathroom and were not pooping (apart from a few droppings) or weeing in the rest of the hutch (the outdoor bit - off the ground). I prob need two litter boxes but then there would be no room to sleep in their closed in area - so not sure what to do about that!!! I have been lining everything with newspaper and now I have straw in there aswell (was hay when I had it). They now have the hay in a basket on the side of the hutch and stuffed in a toilet roll or stuffed into the bars of the hutch...

We have that fine wood shavings stuff here that you can get at the petshop, they use it for their animals there and you buy it in a solid block, so it is vacuum packed I think - I might eventually try that as I think it would be good at absorbing piddles.... :)
 
Hay more nutritious than grass in a backyard right? Why is that?
 
I would think grass is more nutritious.
Almost everything loses nutrients when being dried or just with time, especially when sun dried, as most hay is.
 
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