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Forum DIET & CARE Alfalfa Hay. can i force feed only stems?

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    • Excript
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        I buy alfalfa hay from the local pet store and my bun seems to be eating majority of the leaves and ignores the stems. Instead of throwing them away as wastage. Can i just force feed my bun the stems by not replenishing his bowl till he eats most of the stems(under observation of course)?

        which part gives most of the nutrients? The leaves or the stems? i suppose its the leaves right?


      • Sarita
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          I don’t think you should do this. Also you should consider giving him a grass hay like timothy or orchard.


        • Bam
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            How old is your bunny? If he’s very young (under 6 months), he should have as much alfalfa as he wants because he needs it for growth and development. If he’s older than that, you should skip the alfalfa (too high in protein) and give him grassy hay instead.

            Bunnies are often picky with hay. I throw away a lot, my buns pick out the best parts and if I don’t replenish, they fill up on carpet instead =(. But grassy hay is generally a lot cheaper than alfalfa hay (at least where I live), which makes it less of a nuisance.
            Uneated hay can sometimes be used in the litterboxes.


          • JackRabbit
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              Bam — you caught me off guard with the carpet, almost choked on my tea! LOL!

              Excript — I’d toss the stems. If you’re bunny is young and you’re feeding a good quality alfalfa pellet then you can go ahead and transition to a grass hay.


            • Excript
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                Sorry for not informing you guys bout my bunny’s age.

                bunny is only 3 months old so he’s still on alfalfa hay. reason why i’m asking is that he’s so picky with the leaves and hay to a point i’m buying 35 oz of alfalfa every 2- 3 weeks and its only one bunny and fresh hay is hard to come by where i’m staying. Have to wait for the local pet store to import hay from the US and if the supplier runs out of stock, I’ll have to go for those rather old hay from other stores.
                I understand the stems are usually for them to chew on but my bun ignores it and choose to go for the cardboard house that i got him.

                I can’t give unlimited pellets as I am following the instructions of the pellets that i heard its good and my bun loves it.

                http://harrisonpet.com/index.php?p=view_products.View&pid=30


              • JackRabbit
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                  Even at three months you can give grass hay, especially since you’re feeding alfalfa pellets. You could even mix the alfalfa and grass hay together to get your bunny used to grass hay and make the ultimate transition easier.

                  Our vet had us give timothy hay from the start with our three because of all the calcium from alfalfa pellets and alfalfa hay combined. Best to follow your vet’s advice though since he/she knows your bunny.


                • ILoveBunnies4254
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                    I found this awesome hay provider, it can be kinda pricy, but i buy the combos, in bulk like 20 pounds to last me 6 months here is the link: http://smallpetselect.com/hay-homepage.html


                  • JackRabbit
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                      We get about half of our hay from Small Pet Select too. Wish 20 lbs lasted 6 months with my three buns! We go through 30 lbs min a month and we don’t even put hay in the litterboxes! I’d go broke buying bags of hay now!

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                  Forum DIET & CARE Alfalfa Hay. can i force feed only stems?