Hay

[Bunny mom]

Hi I’ve been feeding my rabbit Timothy hay since I got him witch was when he was about 3 months and now he is 5 , and I heard they need alfalfa hay to grow and develop so does that mean he won’t grow well?

 

[Hermelin]

He will grow well, nothing to worry about. My rabbits didn’t get alfalfa hay, when they grew up. It’s better they get used with the hay they should eat. Instead of changing between different hay, it can happen that the rabbit might prefer alfalfa hay over timothy and stop eating hay.

Some rabbits are picky hay eaters, I have one of them [emoji23]

 

[Bunny mom]

Oh ok thank u.

 

[majorv]

If you are feeding him alfalfa based pellets then you don’t need to give him alfalfa hay also.

 

[Bunny mom]

What if u are not giving him Alfalfs based pelmets because I give him oxbow young rabbit pellets and I give him about 1/3 of a cup.

 

[Bailey ❤️]

I started out giving alfalfa hay to each of my buns because “they” say it’s best for the young ones because of the calcium. However, I recently read a couple of veterinarian articles about how alfalfa hay is too high in carbs and crude protein, and they avoid giving it to their own bunnies, even the healthy ones. So just the other day, my half-pack of alfalfa hay, purchased barely two weeks ago....I noticed it had some little brown bugs in the bottom half of the packet ~ needless to say, I threw it out, and won’t be buying it again. My little sunshine bun is still on Timothy hay, but no more alfalfa/Timothy mix. Will offer orchard hay as treats eventually, but she’s on Timothy hay indefinitely, and a small portion of Timothy hay-based pellets, and fresh greens daily.

 

[JBun]

Oxbow young rabbit pellets are alfalfa based. Your rabbit will be fine. I never recommend feeding alfalfa hay unless it's a nursing doe or a young rabbit that isn't getting alfalfa based pellets. Reason being is once a rabbit is fed alfalfa hay, it can be extremely difficult to get them to switch to timothy or another grass hay when they are old enough.

At 5 months old, your bun is actually almost old enough(6-8 months old) to gradually switch him off the young rabbit pellets and onto the timothy based adult pellets.