80% hay, moi?

That's what my chin says and I wonder: Am I the only one to have a hay hater? And it is not the quality of the hay, I must say, because I have tried everything, including a box that woudl have paid for a romantic weekend in the Orient Express. It is not how it is served, either: tried racks, hand made bags, dishes (included a little Sèvres number, just in case he had délires de grandeur) and his response has always been the same Hay? Yuck!!! Only way he gets close to it, is to tie it up in a loop along with his apple stick, Then he chews through it, making a holy mess, but can that be considered eating it? With luck and a lot of poetic license his diet is not more than 20% hay and yet he thrives on it. Is the 80% of every single book, blog, video that negotiable? Is there anything I am missing?

It seems to depend on who you talk to, since I'm sure she will likely chime in, a certain breeder on here claims chins don't need any hay, I guess if your chin has perfect teeth and has very slow growing teeth (maybe by feeding a low quality pellet) pellets alone might be enough to wear them down. However as you pointed out, most people (owners, vets, at least several breeders) agree that hay is needed, which makes sense that an animal that evolved to eat mostly course grasses in the wild would still need to eat grasses (dried into hay) as a pet. Since they evolved to spend a lot of time chewing in order to get enough nutrients their teeth normally grow to deal with that. Chins simply don't chew nutrient rich pellets for long enough to wear down the teeth, most chins don't sit and grind up each pellet for a good minute or more like they do long stands of hay, it's normally a few chews and then swallow it.

It's more like 70%+ not 80%, or ideally a small handful worth of hay a day, the rest should be about 2tb (or about 30g since different spoons vary) worth of pellets a day. Sometimes reducing the pellets to just want an adult needs in a day (30g, if feeding a good pellet, contains enough nutrients for an adult chin, but do not limit if your chin is a kit) can encourage chins to eat hay since they have nothing else to eat after finishing the pellets. Even free fed most chins only eat about 30g of pellets a day in addition to hay. Keep an eye on his weight when doing that, if he is losing weight and not gaining back after a couple weeks then it clearly isn't working.

I know you said you already tried different hay, but have you tried hay like from specific small pet hay companies like Small Pets Select, Viking, or Farmer Dave's? Or just pet store hay? Another thing is the hay from a lot of areas in the US hasn't been great the past couple years, since most is harvested in the same area (Western North America) several brands are effected. I had been feeding Oxbow for example, but had to switch to a local hay because he started to refuse to eat it anymore, but happily eats the local hay. Also have you tried mixing types of hay, or even small amounts of chin safe herbs into the hay? Also, although it's not considered as good as loose long strand hay, have you tried hay cubes?

If you really tried everything and can't get him to eat hay at all, I would get him in for a dental check. It sometimes can happen that a tooth problem, like overgrown molars trapping the tongue, tooth spur, or a cracked tooth, can cause them to not want to eat hay but still chew on toys (which is done with the front teeth) as well as be able to eat pellets. If he checks out as there being nothing wrong with his teeth I would just let him be and get him in for yearly dental checks to make sure the teeth are staying in good shape.

Pellets and hay work on different parts of the mouth. I provide both for my herd. Even if they didn't NEEEEEED hay (which I believe they do), would you want your entire life to be nothing but a hard pellet?

I will say that I have had some chins who don't particularly care for hay, but they would eat the heck out of hay cubes. Others won't touch the cubes and want nothing but loose hay. Chins are weird. And, as Amethyst said, you may need to experiment a bit to find what works for your guy.

Many thanks Amethyst and Tunes for your input because now I know there is no need to worry. His teeth are fine (I take his once a year to the exotics clinic for a check up) and although he may not actually eat much of it, he definitely chews on the hay I loop every night together with his apple stick. Tried cubes also but he completely ignored them, something he cannot do with the looped bunch. Yes, chins are weird or as a friend of mine puts it, weird does not start to describe them. Thank god for forums because chin books do not tell prospective owners that they are taking home the most peculiar creature from Miss Peregrine's menagerie.