Question about Timothy Hay

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Ottomatk

Ottomatk

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Joined
Jan 20, 2012
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35
My chin loves his timothy hay, he eats it all the time. However, he loves to throw the hay on the ground and leave it untouched. I will wake up in the morning to find hay all over his cage. I think he eats a lot of it, but 50% ends up in the bedding. Is this normal? Do i need to supply fresh hay or will he eat the hay in the bedding? Should I switch brands?
 
I posted about Hay Mayhem the other day. My girls do the same thing. Pick what they want, throw the rest around. Mine never eat either hay or pellets that have gone to the floor. One of my girls thinks it's fun to turn over her food bowl. They are stinkers!
 
They sift through what they want and throw what they don't. He probably won't eat the hay in the bedding. You should always supply fresh hay, I replace my boys every night. You could try switching brands, what are you using now?
 
Also, I offer mine a variety of hay types but it doesn't change anything. They treat them all the same.
 
I'm currently using Kaytee Timothy Hay, but I think I'll be going to Oxbow soon. I just got my chin about a week ago.
 
I put the timothy hay in a little hay rack and right after I do that, Izzy goes at it like a dog digging in dirt. He pulls it all out and it ends up on the bottom of the cage!
 
Gizmo is the exact same way. I argue with him that as a poor college student, mommy does not have the money to put up with this habit!

Giz pours out his hay within about an hour...So I usually just put it back in the hay box...and he does it again. He never really pees on it (and if he does, I'll take it out of the cage), but he eventually ends up eating all of it.

Just keep a close eye on what your chin eats. The brand may also have something to do with it. Giz ate all of the Oxbow hay but is more picky with Kaytee.
 
All chins seem to do that. Some of mine pull the hay out of their racks regardless and eat whatever is on the floor, some don't. If you're concerned about waste, you don't have to feed hay every day. I alternate days with my chins and have noticed they waste a bit less.
 
Idgie does the same thing, too. And she won't eat the hay that she doesn't want to eat and has thrown aside. I give her fresh hay daily.
Since she does waste so much, I ended up buying a bale of hay from a farmer once a year. For the price of one bag of hay at the petstore, I have more than enough hay for her for the entire year! Makes us both happy.
 
I have had that problem with hay where the little brats throw it everywhere because it's so fun to make a giant mess. In the past I used to make sure that they had timothy hay at all times, but it seems that that just makes more waste.

The last few years I just give them hay at night. I give them A LOT of hay at night! By the time they get their hay they have already eaten most if not all of the hay that I gave them the day before. They seem to look at hay as a treat now and gobble it up.

They're still a little picky but because of the hay showing up all at once they tend to eat more and waste less. They will spend hours every night eating as much hay as they can because they know they're going to have to wait until the next day to get more! I'm actually using several pounds more of the hay every single night, but they eat more and that's definitely a good thing.

In the morning there is a lot less to clean up. There are hay cubes in the cages for the day time - they aren't as active and aren't eating as much.

Anyway, I'd just give these picky, wasteful chins their hay once a day at the same time. Put in less hay at first and work your way giving them more if they are actually eating it and not making a mess with it.
 
I, too, give a large amount at night to help with the problem of wasted hay. for most of my chins its works better this way. I do have a couple who insist, not matter what, on throwing it all on the floor as soon as I turn my back on them. Rotten little stinkers! I just keep putting it back in the morning and morning if they haven't peed on it.
 
Yeah, I only give Hay at night as well. Like susan they seem to think of it as a treat and their running to the cage doors just waiting for me when I come down.

You may see a difference when you switch brands too. I found with Kaytee there was ore waste. And once I switched to oxbow, they ate more than they tossed.
 
I love watching Dezzy eat her hay. It starts nicely contained in the hay holders, and then she'll start digging. She'll pick up a few pieces, take a few nibbles, and then toss the rest. Some, she rejects without even trying. Pretty soon there's hay everywhere--all over the shelf, hanging from the shelves and toys, littering the bedding and of course the floor. It's quite a production.

I combat it a bit by giving her smaller amounts of fresh hay throughout the day and whatever ends up on the floor of her cage (or the bedroom), I just throw out because I've discovered she won't eat it once she's rejected it. I've also discovered that she loves it when I give her fresh hay during playtime--I just put it on the floor (I have wood floors, so it's easy to clean up), and she really goes to town.

Sometimes, I think she just likes making a mess!
 
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