Softer Hay/Grass?

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Angelyco

Angelyco

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Joined
Feb 25, 2011
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207
Location
Yonkers, NY
Hey all,

My chins have gotten incredibly picky about their hay in the last month or so. I give them Oxbow timothy hay right now, and they will NOT eat the hard stalks, they literally pull them out and toss them aside (all over their cage). They waste about half of their hay because of this.

They are eating Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe pellets, which are primarily alfalfa, so that's why I've been giving them timothy loose hay (I read in several places to give the opposite hay than of the pellets - so alfalfa pellets means give timothy loose).

Can I switch them to something else? I know there are several kinds of grasses and such that Oxbow also sells and are available locally for me, but I don't know if they can have any of these on a regular basis alongside their normal pellets. I want something that doesn't have any/as many of the harder stalks.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
I had noticed the same thing with my guinea pigs. Tons of waste with the Timothy hay. So I started feeding them Oxbow Orchard Grass. They will eat ALL of it.

I ended up with a 50 pound box of the stuff... long story, I only have 2 GPs. So I am now feeding it to my 2 new chins. I am hoping it is ok.
 
Orchard is a grass hay and is definitely ok to feed every day, if your chin prefers orchard over the timothy than I would offer that. I feed my chins a mix that I get which consists of mostly timothy and orchard and a few other types of hay that offer a variety of textures.
 
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Orchard is a good alternative, especially if you want to get it in the pet store. Another option if you want to buy hay online in larger quantities would be to go through Kleenmama's hayloft or another supplier that lets you pick the cut of hay. That way you could pick something like 3rd cut Timothy hay which is softer and leafier. Her bluegrass was also a softer hay last time I got it.
 
Thanks all, I was thinking about trying the orchard grass. I saw some people on here gave it to their chins, but only along with other hay, so I wasn't sure if it was nutritionally okay to give alone.

I'll definitely pick some up and try it, I appreciate the feedback!

Alli - thanks, that's really good to know, I had seen info about different cuts of hay but didn't see anywhere that actually offered anything specific.
 
I've noticed oxbow will vary in softness. Sometimes I get it at petsmart and it's tough and dry, and sometimes it's super soft and perfect. I always open up the bags in the store and squish the hay to check it out myself haha.

I was wondering about the orchard grass too. Would it be nutritionally the same to feed it instead? Or would you have to switch it up?
 
I have started using Orchard instead of Timothy. I just haven't found a brand of timothy that I can get locally for a decent price, so I bought this bale of Orchard to try. I had previously bought bales of timothy and the chins threw most of it around. This orchard though they eat the majority of and seem excited when I put it in the cage.

I look at it like this: The best hay that your chin can have is the hay it will actually eat. I prefer timothy, but if they aren't eating it, it isn't doing anything. Orchard is softer so it doesn't wear the teeth quite as well, but the chins here are actually eating it, so it is wearing the teeth more than the timothy hay they weren't eating.
 
Also, if you're worried about wearing teeth down due to the softer hay, some chins also really like Oat Hay, I know mine do when I only offer it occasionally, and it's a really coarse hay. So you could offer that occasionally along with your main hay to change it up as well. And Oxbow also sells Oat Hay.
 
Annabelle normally digs through the hay bag to find the brown, wrinkly pieces of timothy hay, so there is lots of waste. I tried the orchard grass and it's messy too, since it tends to be smaller pieces. She makes the biggest mess with the botanical hay, since she digs through it to get to the chamomile & clover. Recently I tried oat hay and did not expect her to like it, since it is very coarse and not at all what she ususally goes for, but surprisingly she LOVES it. It's so funny to watch her gnaw on a foot-long piece.
I alternate all of them though, just to break the boredom.
 
Essentia said:
I look at it like this: The best hay that your chin can have is the hay it will actually eat. I prefer timothy, but if they aren't eating it, it isn't doing anything. Orchard is softer so it doesn't wear the teeth quite as well, but the chins here are actually eating it, so it is wearing the teeth more than the timothy hay they weren't eating.
Click to expand...

I'll second this statement. Well spoken. :)
 
I like that philosophy. :))

I might try both orchard grass and oat hay, then. I'm lucky that one of the stores by me carries both the big AND smaller bags, so I wouldn't be losing much if they didn't like one or the other.
 
i say try everything. nothing like a good variety to appeal to both the tastebuds and ability to wear down the teeth.
 
I switched to the orchard grass Friday night and they barely made a dent in the box since then (they usually go through about a full box of timothy a day). I see them eating it, but they must not be big fans of it. They are STILL throwing out the stiffer pieces, which are nowhere near as hard as the timothy stalks.

Picky picky. I didn't get any oat hay yet, but if it's a coarser hay, I doubt they'll touch it just based on what they're throwing out of the orchard grass. I'll give the orchard grass a few more days, but then I might just have to see about getting 3rd cut timothy. Frustrating!
 
What brand of orchard did you get? Whenever I buy the 40oz bags of Oxbow they are all really soft and most of my chins like it more than timothy. I'm not sure if Oxbow organic meadow hay is sold in stores, but my chins can't resist it. They like the meadow hay more than any other hay besides alfalfa.
 
a couple of mine do not like the orchard hay. maybe do a mix in one serving. my guys seem to like a big handful of timmy & 1 small handful of orchard and a nice pinch of alfalfa (well they would like a bucketful of that but i limit it on all but 1 or 2!)
 
I got the 15 oz Oxbow orchard grass. I don't remember if they had meadow hay, I know they had alfalfa, timothy, oat hay, and botanical hay.

As for mixing - I would still have the problem with them wasting the hard pieces they don't like. They love timothy except those stupid stalks.
 
I picked up some meadow hay today, it's not Oxbow, but some other naturals/organics something brand, I'll have to check the bag later. It costs more than Oxbow. For Oxbow hays, I did see brome hay, and that was the one I couldn't remember.

Going to try the meadow hay tonight and see if my increasingly picky girls will go for it. As much as I hate wasting money trying different kinds, if I can find one they won't waste, it will be worth it.

If meadow hay doesn't work, I'll just have to stick to timothy, at least they'll eat it. Then I'm going to try to order some 3rd cut later this year (October) when Kleenmama starts selling it for the season.
 
What did they think of the Meadow hay last night? Was the hay you bought soft? I've only used oxbows meadow hay.
 
Here is the hay I got: http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/hay_meadow.html

They started going crazy just smelling it through the bars when I was going to put the box back in the cage; it has a very sweet fragrance to it. They were eating it off and on all night. I couldn't see if there was any waste yet since there was some timothy still all over the cage (didn't get a chance to clean it last night). It's very different, it's long, stringy hay instead of short, cut pieces, but it IS soft. There was a lot of brown in the package, though, which I wasn't thrilled about.

Hopefully I'll have a better idea of how much they ate of it when I clean the cage tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed!
 
I watched for a few more days before responding again. Between Thursday evening to Friday evening they ate a full box of the meadow hay (I use a small tissue box for hay - a full box is what they would go through with timothy in 24 hours). They still managed to find some harder pieces and threw them on the bottom of the cage, but it wasn't bad. I refilled it Friday night, and by last night (Monday), only half the box was gone. I shoved some timothy into the box and they went crazy and sat there eating for a good 20 minutes. Of course, I woke up this morning to stalks all over the cage again.

So...I guess they made up their minds, they really just prefer the timothy over anything else. The waste wouldn't bother me so much if they didn't PEE in the pile of stalks they leave behind. :impatient:
 
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