We all know that house rabbits need fresh vegetables and limited pellets to stay healthy. Did you also know that hay is essential for Bunny’s good health? We’ll talk here about why hay is important, what kinds of hay to feed, and how to locate good quality hay.

Hay serves many purposes for your bunny. It is a low calorie food source and satisfies your bunny’s craving to nibble and graze between meals. Mounting a hay rack in or outside of the cage keeps Bunny entertained as she pulls out strands to nibble. Rabbits often eat and defecate in the same location, and placing hay in a litterpan reinforces good litter habits. Finally, hay promotes good gut health and reduces Bunny’s risk of gastrointestinal disorders. How does it do this?

Most rabbit pellets are designed for breeding or meat purposes; they are high in calories for quick weight gain. This is why we recommend feeding house rabbits a restricted amount of a high fiber, low protein pellet such as Purina’s HF or Kaytee Exact. But restricting pellets makes Bunny impatient and hungry between meals. Feeding unlimited hay lets Bunny eat sufficient amounts of food to satisfy hunger without gaining weight. Unlike humans, rabbits get about 35% of their calories from hay. The bunnies themselves can’t digest hay, but the bacterial flora in the cecum can. Feeding hay is an excellent way to keep the gut bacterial flora balanced and reduces the risk of harmful bacterial overgrowth in the cecum, thus reducing the danger of gut stasis.

Hay is made from plants, specially dried to preserve their nutrients. There are three basic hay types: legumes (clover, alfalfa), grass, and straw. They are easy to tell apart. Legume hays will have stems and leaves (think of clover and its three leaves). Grass hays look like grass, with long leaves that merge with the stem. Straw stems are larger (and usually older) than grass hay and have a yellow-gold color. Grass and clover hays should be greenish.

Here in Wisconsin, the dairy state, most hay is grown for dairy cows. Alfalfa and clover hays are preferred for dairy cattle because these are rich in the protein (20- 22%) and calcium (1%) needed to make milk. However, bunnies aren’t dairy cows, and alfalfa and clover hays are too rich for bunnies. For some bunnies, the excess protein causes gut disturbances and messy poops from cecal bacterial overgrowth. The excess calcium can cause sludge in the urine and lead to bladder and kidney stones. Feeding alfalfa is okay for growing bunnies, but mature rabbits (over 6 months old) should be fed alternatives. Hay is so important that if you can’t find grass hay, then it is better to feed alfalfa or clover, rather than no hay at all.

Better choices are grass hays, which have the same fiber level as clovers (20-25%) but have much lower calcium (0.6%) and protein (12-15%). Good grass hays include timothy, brome grass, orchard grass, marsh hay, and oat hay (without the seed heads). A good farmer can tell you the kinds and amounts of grass and legume in his hay. We have found that grass hays can contain up to 25% clover and still be okay. Much higher than this, and bunnies tend to pick out the clover and ignore the grass.

Straw can be harvested from the same plant as grass hay, but is usually an older cut from the plant’s later stages of growth. It is lower in nutrients and higher in fiber than grass or legume hays. We normally don’t feed straw. Rabbits who have problems with cecal overproduction sometimes benefit from being fed just straw instead of hay and pellets for a few days. The high fiber and low protein of straw may help Bunny’s intestinal system back into balance.

Good hay should be greenish, with a fresh smell. There should be no musty or damp smell; sometimes we will open a bale and sniff the inside to confirm its quality. Hay lasts as long as a year without losing much of its nutrition, as long as it’s kept dry and away from sunlight. Storing hay in a closed plastic tub protects its nutrition while helping contain dust and pollens.

Hay can be obtained from several places. Grass hay is often fed to horses, and your local stable may be willing to sell you a bale or even a smaller flake of hay. Hay can be ordered through the mail, or at some pet supply houses, from companies such as Prairie Hay Company (Wilmette IL, 708-256-8888) or Oxbow Hay Company (Murdock NE, 800-249-0366). Minibales are sold at pet stores, but like mail orders, can be expensive. And, of course, you can purchase hay from WHRS, by calling 608-232-7044.

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