Switching to mostly hay diet?

[MK]

Hello all,

I am wanting to switch my buns to a mostly hay diet, with about 1/3 of their usual pellets as supplement. Can I do that? Or does it have to be just hay and no pellets? Also, how would I go about switching them?

Thank you!

[Tessie]

I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Hay should be 80% of a bun’s diet all the time anyway.
How much pellets and hay do you currently give?

[Stickerbunny]

If you lower pellets, you want to up veggies. If you do no pellets, you want to provide a very good variety of greens and work with your vet on that. But, yes you can lower pellets to any amount as long as they are getting the nutrients from other sources.

[MK]

OK. My buns have hay all the time. In addition, they each get about a half cup pellets each (They do need a little more as I keep them in our attached garage, so it can get cold in the winter. The extra food helps keep them warm) I wanted to down on the pellets, and up on the hay.

their pen is carpeted, and they have a heating pad.

[Stickerbunny]

Hay is a good source of fiber, but not a great source of other nutrients. Do they JUST get pellets and hay, no vegetables or fruits? If so, I wouldn’t decrease pellets too much.

[MK]

They do get veggies, but not as often as they should. I can make a point of giving them more more often when I decrease pellets. Should I just start weaning them off pellets slowly and providing them with plenty of hay 24/7 ?

[Kbana]

If you are decreasing or eliminating pellets they will need a good variety of veggies daily, not just more than every now and then. Hay won’t be enough nutrients for them in the long run. If you can’t provide a variety of veggies every day, then I would just suggest sticking with the pellets. Pellets are not bad for them as long as you are giving them timothy based pellets they should be just fine with those and hay. Based on how old they are, you can decrease them to about 1/4 cup though. That should be plenty for a smaller adult bunny. My bun is 3 lbs, gets 1/4-1/8 cup of pellets, and two to three varieties of veggies every day.

[MooBunnay]

My bunnies currently do not get pellets, but they get veggies every day (approximately 1 cup each) and then a small amount of oats (a Tablespoon or so depending on bunny size), some willow leaves or sticks, and then a few rose leaves or rose petals (from my own plants so I know they don’t have any pesticides on them). The rescue I work with does feed pellets, I don’t use them myself because two of my bunnies had some stasis issues and seemed to do better without the pellets.

[Megabunny]

These are outdoor rabbits in a cold garage. I wouldn’t forego all pellets. They need the calories, though I don’t know how much. But it’s my understanding that outdoor rabbits need different diets that indoor BECAUSE of their need to sustain themselves in the cold. Don’t do it if there’s not medical need. Keep the pellets in their diets

[MK]

Megabunny, That is a good point, and I am aware that they need a little more food. (I wish I could have the buns inside, but small houses are a reality ) The reason I wanted to switch was because they go through pellets like crazy, and that was getting rather expensive. If it isn’t the best thing, I won’t do it, but I was just wondering if they would be OK with more hay and less pellet. I don’t want to eliminate pellets completely, just lessen them.

[Deleted User]

My boy has always had pellets AND veggies given to him daily to supplement his hay. I found it surprising that pellets seem to be expensive and your looking to cut costs by introducing a veggie diet? I buy the Oxbow brand pellets and even though I have been led to believe they are a bit more expensive than other brands – but I find it’s Henry’s veggie bill that costs me the most. I too give him between 1 & 2 cups a day and that costs me way more than his pellets. Maybe our fruit and veggie prices are more expensive here? But yer, I did raise my eyebrows when you indicated a veggie diet is cheaper than pellets. There you go.
I reckon your suggestion to cut down on the pellets (and not cut them out completely) and introduce ‘more’ veg is a great way to go, especially if it saves you a few dollars. Sounds like a good plan MK. Cheers.

Edit/ADD – Henry is an indoor bunny and has 1/4 cup of pellets and almost 2 cups of veggies daily along with hay available and topped up 24/7. Maybe this could be a good guideline?

[Megabunny]

Maybe fewer pellets in the summer when free food abounds outside?? Although now I’m hearing about worming rabbits and it’s thrown me into a bit of a tailspin. My dad never allowed me to buy pellets in the summer when I was growing up, so I have learned to love collecting what nature provides (but that worm thing!!)
Anyway, farmer’s markets are a great source in the summer
And please know that I wasn’t criticizing you having outdoor rabbits. Anyone regularly on this forum must love rabbits and obviously cares enough to do it right!! I don’t worry about yours…as long as they can still get some pellets Ha ha But then mine probably eat too many cuz I worry they’ll be hungry. Yeah, since switching to better pellets, I’m in sticker shock at the prices of those, too. But if you increase the fresh food, as AndHenry said, that cost is insane, too. I can’t believe how much I spend on the four of mine. Have a hoppy day!!

[MK]

OK, I will definitely count up the cost of veggies! If it is more expensive, I’ll just keep going with my original diet.

I had just found that feeding my three buns had me going through 20 lbs (a 20lb bag is $20) of pellets in like 3 weeks. I’m a teen, and though my parents would be OK helping my buy, ( I want to be a vet, and I think that they count the bunnies under experience, thank goodness!)
I support the bunnies almost completely when it comes to food, and I thought if the buns would be OK, this would be a good chance for me to save a few dollars

Thanks for all your amazing responses!

[Author]

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