Is it okay to feed orchard grass in place of timothy?

[Kim1218]

Ever since I started feeding orchard grass with her timothy, Shadow has been picking out just the orchard grass. I stopped giving it to her to get her eating the timothy again, but I still have a lot of orchard grass left that I don't want to waste. Is it okay for buns to eat only orchard grass, or should I only give it to her occasionally? The problem is this: Once she gets some orchard grass it takes her a day or two to eat the timothy again. It's like she's holding out for the good stuff, lol! She does eat at least 1/4 cup of timothy pellets daily, and sometimes an extra 1/8 cup of pellets at night. She's 9 months old if age makes any difference.

 

[tonyshuman]

That's fine and not unusual. Orchard grass is supposedly sweeter than Timothy and it's hard to get bunnies who are used to it to eat the Timothy. They're both grass hays and have similar nutrition.

 

[kirbyultra]

I feed both when I have both on hand. I usually alternate weeks of one and the other. Like Claire said, they are both grass hay and fine to feed. Some folks find orchard grass more tolerable if they have hay allergies as well.

Different types of hay mixed together also aids the healthy wearing down of bunny teeth.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Once we fed Snuff the Orchard Grass, he's gone, he won't have Timothy or even some Bermuda we got! Spoiled, blind bun. Poor boy, aha. He used to love the Timothy, not after getting the Orchard, no way. So, it's a good choice, especially for buns who resist hay.