I have some questions about hay

[Ponyta]

I've decided on adopting a bunny from a very nice family either tonight or tomorrow. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I was going to hold off, but I am in need of some serious bunny love. I saw him about a week and a half ago and it's been nagging at me that he needs to come live with me, so I gave in. I'm scared to have a pet again because it's such a big, big, big responsibility, but I think it'll be worth it. He's already neutered, his cage is ginormous, and his previous owner sounds like she knew what she was doing and what's best for him.

He's a beautiful 5 year old black mini lop with a double chin and I've decided he should be a Frank.

So, I've decided to be a rebel and buy hay from a local farmer. My only worry is picking out hay that's not going to be good for him.

1. How do I know if it's a good bale of hay?

2. How much should it weigh, how much space will it take up and how do I store it?
I live in an apartment, I'm hoping that I can put it in some plastic storage bins and store it in my closet, but I don't know how that would work. When I had my last buns they were in bags, and I stored it that way, but not in bulk and not over a long period of time. But those were the absurdly tiny bags from Petsmart and I doubt it's comparable to a bale of hay.

3. With one rabbit, and being a particularly tiny rabbit, how long should it last him?

4. Pellets, should I go with the Kaytee brand? Is it possible to buy pellets in bulk and can I store them as well? I think I remember something about them going stale easily, but that you can freeze them? If that's true, how do you store them in the freezer?


I was going to go with ordering Oxbow Timothy hay in bulk, but I'm not excited about the $50 shipping and handling charge that comes along with it and I don't think the local all natural pet stores carry hay in the quantity that I want.

And also, being that he's 5 he should be pretty mellow, right? If not that's fine, just wondering how your middle age buns act.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Yield]

[align=center]Congrats on finding bunny love! I just adopted my fourth bunny two days ago =]

Um, I don't buy hay from a farmer, I buy it from a pet store (in decently big bags though), but I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. =] More people will answer too!

1. I think most hay is supposed to be crisp, green, and smell strong (like, the hay smell). I would avoid hay with many brown spots.

2. Um, not sure bout this one. I have a big blue container, 20 gallons, that holds my hay. It doesn't take up too much space, and I set things on top if it sometimes, so it can be quite useful =] My container sits in my room, across from my bed, between my rabbit Soleil's pen and my rabbit Silas's pen. (my room is kinda large XD)

3. Well, it really depends on how much hay your rabbit eats at one time. Our hay usually lasts us quite a while, with a 4lb bun, 5lb bun, 11lb bun, and now a 8 lb bun. So I believe it should last quite a while.

4. It depends on what Kaytee pellets you are getting. They should not have anything but the boring looking pellets in it. I feed my rabbits "Nature's Promise Premium Rabbit Food" by Zupreem. It has corn in it, but it's timothy based, and all of my rabbits love it. None of them are overweight either. Personally, I would not freeze pellets. But I'm not sure.

I'm not sure how age affects rabbit's personality and stuff. Out of all my rabbits, the smallest ones are the more hyper ones, but they're pretty relaxed. They're a year old. My Flemish, he's 2, and he's lazy, but that's his breed. My NZW/Flemish mix is pretty calm as well. I figure all buns have their active and lazy stages =] One minute my bonded pair will be sitting there, all relaxed, the next they'll chase each other in circles for fun. We can even hear it downstairs! XD

 

[Amy27]

I bought hay from a local farmer and just made sure it was timothy hay. They had bales of timothy hay and I had no problem with it they knew exactly what I wanted. To be honest though, the quality was not that good so I won't go that route again. It looked green when I bought it next to straw, but when I brought it home and compared it to my other hay, it wasn't good quality and my rabbits wouldn't eat it. However, they are spoiled on kleenmama's hay and I only buy from there now. I order it online. It is expensive, but the quality is really good and you can buy in a lot of different sizes.

I live in an apartment and bought a whole bale! I store most of the hay in a bale bag I bought online. Then I store some in a large tupperware container. I give them hay out of the tupperware container and when the container gets low, I fill it up out of the bale bag. I store the tupperware container and bale bag in a closet. It is big, but all fits in the closet with other stuff.

I would think a whole bale would last you a long time. A bale for me with two rabbits lasts about 6 months. And I think that is using a lot. They are picking and will pick through it and not eat any hay that has been in the hay rack to long. So for a nonpicky rabbit, I think it would last longer.

Also, kleenmama's has a few different types of hay. Last time I ordered half a bale of timothy and half a bale of blue grass.

My rabbits get 2 ounces of pellets a week so a bag lasts a long time. I just store mine in the bag and have never had any problems. But I only by one bag at a time. If I bought more, I would store it in the freezer. In regard to the type of pellets you feed, you will get lots of different answers. I feed Oxbow Organic Rabbit. But I mainly do that because one of my rabbits have health issues and so I am okay with paying more for pellets.

If you are interested or want to check out prices on Kleenmama's, just google Kleenmama's Hayloft. I think she also has pellets but I have never purchased those from her.

My rabbits are 7 & 8 years old. One is always investigating. The other is more lazy but loves to chew things. I think it just depends on their personality. Yeah, they are a lot calmer then when I got them as babies. But each one has their strange wild thing they still like to do. I think you will just have to see the buns personality to know.

Good luck. Make sure to keep us updated and share pictures!

 

[Krissa]

I get my hay from a local farmer by the bale. This year I got orchard grass and alfalfa bales. They were $3 a bale which is so much cheaper than pet store hay. I had to drive 45 minutes one way to get the hay but it was worth it. When we picked up the bales we looked at the contents and they were fairly uniform, and I asked the farmer about any milkweed in his fields. The alfalfa was seeded 2 years before and the orchard grass 3 years before so there was not much 'weed' plants in the hay.

The bales were green and very aromatic. I don't have an allergy but by the end of the car trip even I was sneezing with all the windows open. I can pick up the bales by myself with a bit of a struggle so they are around 50lbs - my best guess.

I store my bales in the garage, but the one that is currently in use is stored in three large rubbermaid totes. The bale almost fit perfectly into the totes with a bit left over. I have the lids on the totes to keep mice out of the bales.

I have had Zander since August and am about 1/4 of the way through the first bale. He is eating more hay now though as he grows.

I have noticed that he likes 'fresh' hay. I store some hay in the house in a small rubbermaid container and refill it as needed. He likes the hay that is directly from the container - it does smell very fresh when I open it.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I buy bales from a farmer. The ones here are about 60 pounds and 1 lasts me about 2.5 months with 4 rabbits. With the bale I am using, I store it in a giant rubbermaid bin without the lid. For the flake I am using, I have a smaller bin that is easy to move from cage to cage. Depending on the actual size of the bale, some fit perfectly in the bin and others have a flake or 2 that is too much and I put that on top.

You should inspect the hay as best you can. There should be no mold on it. It should look green. Depending on how it is stored, some might have a bit of lighter stuff around the edges but this should not go into the bale. Try to avoid dusty hay, you can really smell it in the car. If you can, try to look into the middle of the bale and see the colour of that.

How long it lasts depends on the eating habits of your rabbit. I have one who doens't really eat hay and she is about 8-9 pounds. I also have a lionhead that is about 3.5 pounds and eats a ton of hay.

For pellets, you want to avoid any mixes, just stick to plain pellets. With a small rabbit, you won't be giving a lot anyway. My bonded pair get about 1/2 per day total and a 10 pound bag lasts about 10 weeks with them. My other 2 each get 1/2 cup per day and the 50 pound bag lasts almost 6 months. I would stick to smaller amounts of pellets as you aren't going to go through them quickly.

I have a 5.5 year old neutered male and he is still quite active. He does agility and isn't showing signs of slowing down.

 

[Krissa]

Tell me about it. I have all these plans for a new rabbit garden and a little fenced area for him to play in - hurry up spring!

 

[Pet_Bunny]

First of all... Welcome to the Forum!

Second... Congratulations on deciding toget a bunny.

When you pick up your bunny, ask the owners what they feed Frank and start with that before you make too many changes. Start small and experiment with different things before you go and buy bulk.

Don't forget, if you buy a bale of hay today, it is already several months old if it was made last summer. Wait till late spring when it is fresh.

 

[arikun]

1. How do I know if it's a good bale of hay? Green, strong/thick grass smell, no brown or wet spots.

2. How much should it weigh, how much space will it take up and how do I store it?
I live in an apartment, I'm hoping that I can put it in some plastic storage bins and store it in my closet, but I don't know how that would work. When I had my last buns they were in bags, and I stored it that way, but not in bulk and not over a long period of time. But those were the absurdly tiny bags from Petsmart and I doubt it's comparable to a bale of hay. Depends on how big the bale is and how densely packed it is. Just keep it in a dry place. I keep mine on the garage floor on a towel.

3. With one rabbit, and being a particularly tiny rabbit, how long should it last him? My rabbits use it from everything from laying on, using it to pee on, chewing, hiding in, etc. So yours may only use a little or he may end up using a good amount for fun and other things.

4. Pellets, should I go with the Kaytee brand? Is it possible to buy pellets in bulk and can I store them as well? I think I remember something about them going stale easily, but that you can freeze them? If that's true, how do you store them in the freezer? Farm/feed stores have large bags. But the 25lbs for $50 is NOT with it. I can find a 20lbs to 40lbs bag for only $9-15. Keep it dry and humid free. I keep my fish food in the fridge to keep it fresher longer, so keeping it in the freezer should help, too. I know you can re-bake fish food flakes to make them crisp and fresh again, haven't tried it yet though.