# Oat Grass



## Spring (Dec 23, 2005)

Hello! 

Just wondering, does anyone give there rabbits oat grass? Like the kindyou buy in the little planters at the petstore? My rabbit adores it andif she sees me coming with it she'll race around her cage and nearlyjump out of the cage and start eating it while i'm putting it in hercage! I've given it to her before but stopped for a few months and nowstarted introducing it back into her diet.

How much should I let her eat? Should I give her free feeding with it?Is there anything to watch out for? I've been giving her a littlenibble (or should I say goble) for a minute in the night andday for the last day and I haven't found any problems.

I was thinking for the spring to add a large planter in her cage andgrow oat grass. It would be big enough for her to sit in and eat. 

Does anyone know the properties of oat grass? Could it be high inprotien or calcium? Anything to watch out for? Should it just beoffered as a treat? If given the chance, my rabbit would sit there andeat it all day!



Thanks!


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## bunnydude (Dec 23, 2005)

My bunnies love oat hay. Are they the same thing?


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## Spring (Dec 23, 2005)

I'm not sure. I'd think so? Hmm i'll have to see if I can find any websites.


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## Spring (Dec 23, 2005)

I've been reading it's an excellent source offiber and roughage. I looked at something called Cat Grass- not suireif it's teh same thing. It said (for cats) it's an excellent soruce ofnutrients, fiber, and moisture and helps in the aid of hair blockages.I'm just wondering, could this be helpful for anybunny in statis? Mybunny would eat this anytime! 

Maybe it's a new way to help GI statis?


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## Dolores Lindvall (Dec 24, 2005)

http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp?page=OatHay

This kind would be great for the bunnies.

The kind of oat hay I used to put up for my sheep many years ago, wouldnot. I let the oats get much more mature than what thisreads. So, with the more mature oat, you would have moreprotein. My ewes loved it. I also used corn stover,which is the dry corn stalks shredded up thru a machine andbaled. I put it out for bedding, but the ewes just loved toeat it, too.

~ Dolores


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## Spring (Dec 24, 2005)

Oh ok Thanks .

I was just wondering if (the still growing oat grass) in the planterswas of the same qualities as the oat hay, just less mature? If they areclosely related and share the same things then I think my rabbit wouldlike eating live stuff rather then hay. She hardly eats hay but lovesto graze on the oat grass.


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## kgarver (Dec 24, 2005)

I've read that oat grass is okay for rabbits butI don't think it should replace hay all together. rabbits need the_coarseness _of dried grass/hay for many things.


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## Dolores Lindvall (Dec 24, 2005)

Oat hay, made on the farm, the way I used tomake it, is coarse and dry. That is why it is calledoat hay. You plant the field to oats. Youlet it grow just like you were going to combine the oats and bale thestraw. Only, when the oathead gets to the particular stagethat you want, you go out and mow it down. You wait, usuallya couple/three days, for it to dry, and then rake it just like youwould a hay field. Then you go out and bale it. Wedid the small square bales. It's just like straw, but it hasthe added food value of the oat head. If you read the site Isent in, you will get the info on commercially grown oat hay.There could be a difference in the stage of the oat head if a farmer,like I was, harvested it.

Feeding a "living" plant ..... You have to take into consideration allthe moisture ... just like in veggies and fruit. Iprobably would not try it unless my rabbit was used to that kind of adiet.

~ Dolores


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##  (Dec 25, 2005)

You have been given good advice, the only difference between Grasses andHay is the moisture content , 

and as said in another post to another poster,
:""Intead of starting so many differentthreads try posting them all in one thread , itmakes it much easier for us to keep trackof what you want to know , I forone when I see 5 different posts from oneperson tend to ignore them unless someonementions a specific problem , 

Keeping them all in one post helps us help everyone else .""


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## Spring (Dec 26, 2005)

Ok I'll do that next tiem, I jsut didn't want to talk about something then go off topic


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## KatsMeowTree (Dec 27, 2005)

We planted Oats several years ago... and it'sreally interesting stuff. It seems to even smell different then say,Wheat Straw, and it's a tad softer too. . . we planted it again thisyear for the deer and didn't harvest it.

Kat


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## Spring (Dec 27, 2005)

Oh neat! I'd be amazed if we had deer around my area. I love deer

It's so cute seeing her with multiple strands of grass hanging out of her mouth! Hehe


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## KatsMeowTree (Dec 28, 2005)

haha. . . yeah, the definately are cute.Unfortunately, we haven't been seeing as many deer as usual around.That's usually how it goes though. ..

Kat


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