Orchard Hay Question?

[BarneyBabe]

Hello all. I hope you are all staying safe.

I’ve switched to Orchard Hay as recommended by some lovely people on here (Barn has molar spurs, so trying to wear them down!).

Thing is I’ve noticed two things, literally on the day, I switched hays. Are they normal?

a) Poops are now a much darker colour - they’re a tiny bit smaller but not worryingly so, he’s also going through a HEAVY moult so that might explain the size but the colour is weird?

b) thirst - when he eats the hay, he suddenly started drinking a lot more water - he’s gone from drinking 150ml a day to 250ml a day. Is that normal when changing diet?

Thanks for all your help in advance

 

[Blue eyes]

The more hay they eat, the more they drink. I would imagine different hays could make a difference in his thirst. But 250 ml a day is not much water anyway. Mine can drink between 300 and 600 ml per day. Do you use a bowl or bottle for water?

Change in diet can alter color. I'd give it a few days for his gut to adjust and see how his poos look then.

 

[BarneyBabe]

Ah thank you! He uses a bottle when in his xpen at night and a bowl when he’s free roaming - he doesn’t seem to like the bowl very much!

I’ve switched the hay back as a test and his poops have returned back to golden and slightly bigger so maybe I’ll go for a mixture from now on!

He’s also drunk less today...

Thanks for you help! Buns! They keep you on your toes don’t they!

Thank you

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We switched to Orchard as I'm very allergic to Timothy, and Cosmo by-product is darker. If your bun has molar spurs you need to go to a vet and have them filed off.

 

[BarneyBabe]

We switched to Orchard as I'm very allergic to Timothy, and Cosmo by-product is darker. If your bun has molar spurs you need to go to a vet and have them filed off.

Thanks! Yes - poor little one had his spurs taken off a few weeks ago! I bought orchard hay as I read horror stories about every 6 weeks - orchard hay has the most silica apparently!!