First Cut v Second Cut hay

[osprey]

There was a discussion a while back about what first and second cut hay means, but of course I cannot find the thread now.  Oxbow wrote an article for The Rabbit Haven about its hay and I just put it up on our website.  You can see it here if you are interested.  http://www.therabbithaven.org/oxbow_hay_032307.html

[CowieCow]

Thats actually pretty interesting, you’d never expect these little furry creatures to be sooo much work….

They are worth it though.

So does anyone have any comments to where to buy hay, other than the pet stores?? I’ve been using timothy hay since I got Cowie in July, so that’s about 8 months, should I be feeding her any other kinds of hay? Does anyone here blend hays together? I saw that alfalfa should not be given freely, but is it ok to mix it in with the timothy every once in a while?? I just really wanna know if she’s lacking any nutrients because I’ve only been giving her one type of hay…. does anyone have any thoughts on this?!?

[osprey]

A couple of things:

– My understanding is that the nutrients in hay are determined by the quality of the hay more than the specific type.  I think there are people who feed Timothy their whole lives and their buns thrive.

– Varying the kinds of hay might be good to get the bunnies more interested in eating their hay.  Orchard grass, brome and timothy are all good choices.  Mine love orchard, tolerate timothy and will not touch brome.

– As you noted, legume hays (alfalfa, peanut) are not recommended for adult rabbits.  Too many calories, not enough fiber.

– My bunnies LOVE oat hay.  Have you tried feeding it to your buns?  Oat hay is different from grass hays, the stalks usually do not get eaten, but the buns go crazy over the immature seed heads.  You could try oat hay for variety.

[CowieCow]

I haven’t not tryed anything other than timothy, and she fine with that, but I think I will try some orchard or oat…. where do you suggest getting this, because I usually go to like PetSmart and I don’t recall ever seening anything besides timothy and alfalfa….

[osprey]

I get all of my hay products at a horse feed store.  Since I work with a rescue, I buy bales of orchard grass and oat hay, split them up, and then share with the other folks in the rescue.  Are there any feed stores near you?  They sometimes will break a bale and sell it in "flakes" which are around 10 pounds of hay.  The bales are big, on the order of 100 pounds.

The other option is mail order.  Oxbow, American pet Diner and others will ship hay to you.  I have never gone this route, but I know some people are happy with this arrangement.  Perhaps some BinkyBunnyers can comment on the mail order route.

A third option is to hook up with a local rescue and buy hay from them.  I see you are in Colorado, are you anywhere near these guys? http://www.coloradohrs.com/ (Colorado House Rabbit Society)
They appear to have rabbit supplies, including flakes of hay for $4.00

[CowieCow]

Thanks, for the help osprey. I noticed on the Oxbow website that they sell the hay cakes, that is the same stuff as timothy hay right? Is just less messy?!? Because if it is I’m all about that, they hay is the worst part about having a rabbit.

[Gravehearted]

about ordering hay…

one of our other Haven volunteers, Qzobevmama is also part of the guinea piggy circuit and recommending Kleenmama’s timothy hay, so I ordered some 2nd cut timothy last month.  I was VERY happy with both the quality and customer service. The hay is very green, soft and my kids love it.  The owner shipped my hay the day after i ordered.  It also was much cheaper and greener than the bags of oxbow I’d been buying at the petstore.  A 9 pound box with shipping was under $20 vs $8 for a 40 oz bag at the petstore.

I am a happy camper and will be ordering from there from now on.  She often has a limited amount of third cut hay in the fall that I’m really hoping to try  too 🙂

http://www.kmshayloft.com/hay.html

[Gravehearted]

Posted By CowieCow on 03/24/2007 8:19 PM
Thanks, for the help osprey. I noticed on the Oxbow website that they sell the hay cakes, that is the same stuff as timothy hay right? Is just less messy?!? Because if it is I’m all about that, they hay is the worst part about having a rabbit.

my main concern is that they wouldn’t have the long stem, which is  so important for the gi  system, but it sounds like they do.   If you look in the binkybunny store, they are sold here.  My kids love them – in fact they don’t even complain when i offer them as treats.  they aren’t really mess free, since they do leave behind an impressive hay dust pile on carpet!

https://www.binkybunny.com/SHOP/tabid/55/CategoryID/4/List/0/Level/1/ProductID/19/Default.aspx

[qzobevmama]

like gravehearted mentioned, i mail order my hay from kleenmama.  i have been doing this for months now and it’s pretty much where i get all my timothy hay.  usually 2nd cut is available most of the time, and when 3rd cut is available i grab that right up.  my bunz (and guinea pigs) go nuts over the 3rd cut and they also love the 2nd cut.  the other brands i have tried, including local feed stores, my guys are not as enthusiastic and there is much more waste.

i buy 45 lbs at a time, it comes in a big box which takes up all of my entryway but hey, what the heck, mostly my critters let me live here so i can be at their beck & call.  they take up most of the space in my home and i kind of just scoot around the edges.  but i digress…shipping is what costs when ordering online, but there is so much less waste than when i buy local (and no taxes at kleenmama’s!) that i guesstimate that i really save $$ in the long run by ordering the stuff that my furry guys really eat.

i do buy my alfalfa from the local feed stores (for my baby bunz).  i also do occasionally buy oat hay as a treat for my guys.  i don’t like to give lots of oat hay as it has more calories than the grass hays (timothy, orchard grass, bluegrass, brome etc.) 

i also give alfalfa hay cubes as treats. 

i tried giving timothy hay cubes instead of regular timothy hay (thinking it would make less mess for me and support my laziness) but my guys didn’t go for that and weren’t getting enuf hay.  so i have been giving them kleenmama timothy as their basic everyday hay.

btw, the owner of kleenmama (who happens to have the same first & last name as me) is a really terrific person and doing business with her is always a pleasure.  i receive my hay in just a couple of days.  also, fyi, when you order your hay you can ask for samples of the other kinds she has.  i got a sample of bluegrass as i was told that piggies really eat that up, but of course my 2 girls turned up their snub noses at that…and so again i’m back to kleenmama’s timothy hay.  😎

[CowieCow]

gzobevmama you have pigs!! Oh that’s awesome. Some day I’d like to get a pig to have as a house pet. I’ve heard they are really smart and pretty easy to train, well I guess as easy as dogs. What kind of pigs do you have?

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