What is the best hay feeder?

[ShreddersMom]

Hello,

My holland lop is not really a fan of hay but as I've been limiting his pellet food as suggested in an earlier thread of mine (thanks guys it worked) he has been eating more and more of it.
My question now is what is the most effective way to feed hay without the mess. My rabbit is free range and until now I've been just laying some on the floor in a box or on a mat. But this hay ends up everywhere and it's quite messy! My rabbit loves to throw stuff around and push things over so I am not really sure how you guys feed it. I've tried a big bowl but it's loud when he slams it on the floor and he ends up spilling it anyway. I am looking for something relatively easy to refill but something that won't make too much of a mess!

Thanks!

Shreddersmom

 

[stevesmum]

I got a cool hay feeder on etsy that my rabbits seem to like. But I think hay is messy no matter what, and there's no way around having to clean it up. So in their condo my rabbits get hay in the litter box and on the top level in the feeder I mentioned. Heres kinda what it looks like:

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

In my experience, one of the main reasons they make such a mess with their hay is because they are sorting through it, selecting certain pieces that they feel like browsing on at that moment. Also, if the hay strands are quite clumped together they will try to pull it apart so it ends up all over the place. On occasion, or if they don't like where their hay is located, they will grab some and move to another area to consume it...hence it getting strewn all over the place. Hay racks are fine but I don't think it's going to prevent them from making a mess of it.

 

[ShreddersMom]

Yeah I guess I was hoping for a magic solution here but I will just have to deal with the mess.

Thank-you!

On another note, my rabbit doesn't really love hay, he has just started eating it since I had been limiting the pellets. However, he also lies to eat paper and cardboard and prefers that over the hay. Is that normal? I used to use regular paper in his litter box but had to switch to newspaper because he just wouldn't stop eating it despite fresh hay laying right nearby. Even if I put hay in the litter box he will sit there eating paper.
IS THIS NORMAL??

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We use Orchard Grass and place it in a manger (rack) next to their pan--it helps to limit the mess and for the rest we have a giant shop vac with the 3" hose as smaller ones will get plugged really easy. When ours are free ranging, we have a hutch with water, hay, and pans on the floor for them to use.

 

[JBun]

I tend to not like hay racks as much, as many can make it too difficult for buns to access the hay, which will usually result in them not eating as much as they would if it was just loose on the floor. I do use a hay rack for one group though. It's homemade and I ensured the bar spacing was very wide(4 in) so they could easily pull hay out of it, and it is situated in their litter box.

The most effective thing that I have found is using a large plastic storage bin or kitty litter box, with sides as high as possible, but low enough that your bun can still hop in easily(or cut a lower opening on one side). Using a large one allows the bun room to move around in and pick through the hay(as they like to do). The clear plastic ones work well, as the bun can kind of still see out of it and not feel so closed in. You can either use it as a combo litter/hay box, or just a hay box if your bun is good about not peeing in it.

Something like this, but you could even go a bit higher on the sides(depending on the size and jumping ability of your bun).

The cardboard/paper eating can sometimes be attributed to slow digestive motility, and the bun craving fiber to help increase gut movement. The problem with this is that cardboard and paper don't break down and can form a gooey mass that could potentially cause a gut blockage. Any time a rabbit is consuming more than just tiny bits of paper products, I suggest removing them completely to avoid a serious health issue from occurring. If your bun is also having smaller poops, slow gut motility is the likely cause for eating these things in large amounts. The best thing is to get your bun eating healthy indigestible fiber instead. Leafy hay does have some, but most indigestible fiber is in the hard stalky stems of the plant, rabbit safe tree leaves, or in rabbit safe tree branches like apple and willow. So if you could find some branches to give your bun(that your bun will eat) or find a stalkier hay(if you feed a leafier one now) and add some of that to your current hay, this may correct the problem.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/Branch/Branch_en.htm