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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Cheap alternative to Oxbow Orchard Grass?

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    • Asutt
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        Does anybody know of a cheap alternative to Oxbow Orchard grass being sold in the UK?

        I have been trying to find a hay that my rabbit really enjoys and will readily eat in bulk for ages! Recently I ordered a box of sample hays from a site called ‘The Hay Experts’. I tried all of them and of course he had to like the most expensive  . I’ve never seen him eat that much hay and so quickly before, he really loved it.

        Anyway the cheapest I can find for a 9Ib bag of Oxbow orchard grass hay is £30.29 which is very expensive for me. I know this website sells it slightly cheaper but I don’t know if it ships to the UK and how pricey that would be.

        Can anyone recommend a similar hay (in quality and taste) that is cheaper? Or perhaps a cheaper brand of Orchard grass hay? It has to be from a UK seller or from a US seller with cheap shipping costs to the UK. 


      • SeaTurtleSwims
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          I would check out your local farmer’s market and reach out to a farmer who grows their own rabbit quality hay. A whole bale of rich quality hay is around $7 US dollars. It’s SUPER cheap. I just buy it for a couple bucks a couple flakes of a bale at a time off a friend who bales their own rabbit/horse hay. One bale is SO MUCH HAY and will last all year if you don’t have many rabbits!


        • Asutt
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            Thanks for the advice! I found one stables nearby that sells feed for horses, livestock etc. I plan on checking them out this week to see what hay they sell. The problem with buying a bale however would be storage. My food bin would not be big enough as it already has my rabbit’s dry food and litter stored in it, as well as some other accessories. The bale could not simply sit in my garage as it is very damp in there. How do you store your hay? 


          • jerseygirl
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              Horse hay is suitable for rabbits so you might be in luck! I would see if the stables allow you to buy smaller quantities. Otherwise, see if they’ll allow you to put up a notice that you’d be interested in splitting a small bale with another customer.

              I would try mixing the orchard hay he favours in with other hays. It might encourage him to try others. Have you tried oat hay?

              Here’s some other sites that sell oxbow hay. There’s also Animal Dreams, which is UK company. I can’t make much sense of their website and wonder if they’ve gone out of business. There’s some of that hay in the Amazon link below though.

              http://www.petlifeonline.co.uk/product/small_animals/oxbow-for-small-animals/oxbow-hay/orchard-grass-hay/
              http://sphsupplies.co.uk/47-hay?
              http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=orchards+grass+hay

               


            • Asutt
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                I got a sample of burns oat hay with the rest of the samples from the hay experts and he refused to touch it 

                 I may try again though as I still have a handful left. He nibbles a bit on Timothy hay and readigrass so I will try mix the Orchard grass in with them.

                I checked out those links, the amazon one will probably work out slightly cheaper than the hay experts (the cheapest provider of Orchard grass I had found until now). The animal dreams site looks like they have some great products but I agree that their website seems a bit odd. I am going to try to contact them and see if they’re still open.

                When I go to the horse feed shop I’ll see if I can buy in small quantities or split as you suggested. Thanks for all the advice. 


              • SeaTurtleSwims
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                  Like jerseygirl said, I was able to buy smaller quantities- I just buy a couple flakes of hay at a time from a friend who has horses/rabbits and keeps it in stock. If you can’t buy a partial bale, try buying a tarp to wrap it up in and protect it from mold/damp and keep one flake at a time stored in a trash bag for easy access. That’s how I do it anyway! Or split up all the flakes from a bale in trash bags so they’re prepared for you! haha At the affordable price of a bale, if you won’t use a whole bale before it molded, you could set aside a year’s supply and donate the rest to animal shelter or something that might use it


                • Asutt
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                    Sorry for the late reply! And thank you for the advice!

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                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Cheap alternative to Oxbow Orchard Grass?