Buck Jones
Well-Known Member
As a neophyte rabbit owner, I purchased hay because I had heard somewhere that rabbits enjoyed it. The feed store sold me alfalfa hay because I did not know I could specify other types at that time. As our herd increased, the use ofalfalfa hay as bedding and food, in addition to pelleted feed, seemed to present no apparent problems
As I became more lagomorph educated, Ichanged over to timothy hay for all the good reasons most of us chose to use that type. I have been using it now for several years and have noticed no ill effects, nor particular problems.
Of late, due to my reading,research, veterinary contacts, and comments made here andon other forums I've begun to mull over and reconsider some of my hereto fore basic assumptions.
HRS, our European friends, our own favorite veterinarian, and people like Kathy Smith,the author of Rabbit Health in the21st Century, have all been promulgating a more natural diet for our pets. When we brought Ernest(ine) to our vet to besexed, for example, he suggested, based upon his most recent research, thatalfalfa hay be the major portion of her diet, supported by pelleted feed because it was more natural and provided prophylacticdental care at the same time. I note that the thread on teeth recently posted here kind of says the same thing.
One of the breeders I most highly respect, one Mr. Rick Stahl has stated that he provides little or no hay for his herd because his research and experience indicates his rabbits receive sufficient protein and fiber from the alfalfa based pelleted food he uses that is manufactured by Purina.He does imply though, that not all pelleted feeds would equally provide the same nutritional characteristics.
If memory serves me correctly, our own Mrs. Pam Nock feeds minimal hay to her stock for reasons of tidiness and her choice of pelleted feed providing adequate nutrition, as well. It appears to me then, that it doesn't matter what vehicle transmits the protein and fiber, as long as it is in fact transmitted. Alfalfa appears to be an excellent choice because rabbits like it, it is relatively inexpensive and, therefore, is also used by pellet manufacturers.
The last time I bought hay, I opted to forego the timothy and bought a mixed grass hay that included alfalfa, timothy and othergrasses. I have noted no particular problems for my buns and it would appear they seemed to enjoy it more for it was consumed more readily.
I was going to buy alfalfa this time, but was introduced to an unusual, albeit expensive, alternative by the feed store personnel. It is a mixture of various hays to include alfalfa that is claimed to be super rich, organically grown, and super-compressed into a 65 pound"block," that when released from its binding expands into the size of two or more regular bales of hay.
At $20.00 per "block," store personnel said it was cost prohibitive for most horse owners but might be economically viable for rabbit owners and the like. They claimed animals simply loved the stuff and that I would not regret the purchase.
It is a deep green/yellow, looks and smells wonderfully, is wrapped tightly in web strapping and is shipped to the feed store on a pallet that is shrink wrapped in plastic. I figured, "What the hay!"(pun intended) and made the purchase, and took the unwieldy package home with me.
My plan is to decrease the amount of pelleted food given to my buns, while increasing the ingestion of alfalfa based hay. I know that rabbits can thrive on alfalfa pellets with little or no hay, so I suspect that they may be able to thrive as well, with additional benefits, by taking the converse route of providing alfalfa hay with little pelleted feed given. As I said at the top of the post, I never noted any apparent problems when I free fed both alfalfa hay and pellets in my early "ignorance," in spite of some of the warnings about overly rich food and excessive cecotrope production.
I will move slowly on this, but have already taken steps in this direction by incorporating daily portions of fruitsand greens for our buns after noting some previous discussions and comments made here on the forum regarding that topic. I give them the latter daily but havenot reduced their pelleted ration because I wanted them to "pork" up for the outside winter weather. As spring approaches I will begin toreduce the amount of pellets fed while watching for any ill effects. It would appear that the inclusion of the fruit and greens has positively affected coats and general well being, but that is a subjective observation I admit. In the least, it certainly has not provided any cause for debilitation that I can observe.
I will keep you informed as my experiment progresses. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I am kind of using it as a sounding board to clarify my own thoughts upon the matter as I type. I hope it is not presumptuous of me to think that some on you may be interested.
Thank you for your patience.
Buck
As I became more lagomorph educated, Ichanged over to timothy hay for all the good reasons most of us chose to use that type. I have been using it now for several years and have noticed no ill effects, nor particular problems.
Of late, due to my reading,research, veterinary contacts, and comments made here andon other forums I've begun to mull over and reconsider some of my hereto fore basic assumptions.
HRS, our European friends, our own favorite veterinarian, and people like Kathy Smith,the author of Rabbit Health in the21st Century, have all been promulgating a more natural diet for our pets. When we brought Ernest(ine) to our vet to besexed, for example, he suggested, based upon his most recent research, thatalfalfa hay be the major portion of her diet, supported by pelleted feed because it was more natural and provided prophylacticdental care at the same time. I note that the thread on teeth recently posted here kind of says the same thing.
One of the breeders I most highly respect, one Mr. Rick Stahl has stated that he provides little or no hay for his herd because his research and experience indicates his rabbits receive sufficient protein and fiber from the alfalfa based pelleted food he uses that is manufactured by Purina.He does imply though, that not all pelleted feeds would equally provide the same nutritional characteristics.
If memory serves me correctly, our own Mrs. Pam Nock feeds minimal hay to her stock for reasons of tidiness and her choice of pelleted feed providing adequate nutrition, as well. It appears to me then, that it doesn't matter what vehicle transmits the protein and fiber, as long as it is in fact transmitted. Alfalfa appears to be an excellent choice because rabbits like it, it is relatively inexpensive and, therefore, is also used by pellet manufacturers.
The last time I bought hay, I opted to forego the timothy and bought a mixed grass hay that included alfalfa, timothy and othergrasses. I have noted no particular problems for my buns and it would appear they seemed to enjoy it more for it was consumed more readily.
I was going to buy alfalfa this time, but was introduced to an unusual, albeit expensive, alternative by the feed store personnel. It is a mixture of various hays to include alfalfa that is claimed to be super rich, organically grown, and super-compressed into a 65 pound"block," that when released from its binding expands into the size of two or more regular bales of hay.
At $20.00 per "block," store personnel said it was cost prohibitive for most horse owners but might be economically viable for rabbit owners and the like. They claimed animals simply loved the stuff and that I would not regret the purchase.
It is a deep green/yellow, looks and smells wonderfully, is wrapped tightly in web strapping and is shipped to the feed store on a pallet that is shrink wrapped in plastic. I figured, "What the hay!"(pun intended) and made the purchase, and took the unwieldy package home with me.
My plan is to decrease the amount of pelleted food given to my buns, while increasing the ingestion of alfalfa based hay. I know that rabbits can thrive on alfalfa pellets with little or no hay, so I suspect that they may be able to thrive as well, with additional benefits, by taking the converse route of providing alfalfa hay with little pelleted feed given. As I said at the top of the post, I never noted any apparent problems when I free fed both alfalfa hay and pellets in my early "ignorance," in spite of some of the warnings about overly rich food and excessive cecotrope production.
I will move slowly on this, but have already taken steps in this direction by incorporating daily portions of fruitsand greens for our buns after noting some previous discussions and comments made here on the forum regarding that topic. I give them the latter daily but havenot reduced their pelleted ration because I wanted them to "pork" up for the outside winter weather. As spring approaches I will begin toreduce the amount of pellets fed while watching for any ill effects. It would appear that the inclusion of the fruit and greens has positively affected coats and general well being, but that is a subjective observation I admit. In the least, it certainly has not provided any cause for debilitation that I can observe.
I will keep you informed as my experiment progresses. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I am kind of using it as a sounding board to clarify my own thoughts upon the matter as I type. I hope it is not presumptuous of me to think that some on you may be interested.
Thank you for your patience.
Buck
. I'm always lookingat ways to keep my herd as healthy and happy as possible and preferablyas naturally as possible and I'm very interested in the idea ofincreasing their hay while decreasing their pellets. Please keep usposted as to how it goes and what your conclusions are.
