# Oat hay vs. Timothy



## jordiwes (Aug 27, 2007)

Hi there,

I found a nice looking bag of green oat hay, but I did not purchase it as I do not know how it compares to timothy hay. My buns love and do well on timothy hay.

Does oat hay have more or less nutrition, more or less calories, and more or less calcium?

Thanks!


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## tundrakatiebean (Aug 27, 2007)

Oat hay is as good as timothy, one of our extremely knowledgeable mods (randy) suggests it for buns who don't like timothy. As long as your bun likes it and eats the same amount as usual it should be fine.


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## maherwoman (Aug 27, 2007)

Here are a few sites that has a bit of a breakdown of protein, calcium, etc. per hay type:

http://www.tamaris.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=1

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id146/id146.htm

http://www.c-r-alpacas.com/Alpaca Tips/types_of_hay.htm

http://www.guinealynx.com/hay_chart.html

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2432/haychart.html

Here's a site that lists a bit of information about each type of hay:

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/diet/hay_grass.html

I don't know much about each type of hay, myself, but I will add the fact that people use oats to help buns gain weight. I don't know what, if anything, that means to oat HAY, necessarily, but thought I'd jot that down here.

Hope all that helps!

Hugs!

Rosie*


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## naturestee (Aug 27, 2007)

Oat hay is a grass hay, so it is good for bunnies. Actually, if you want to get really technical the best hay for rabbits is a mix, not a single species. And my buns loooooove oat hay! I need to find it locally so I can get some more.


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## maherwoman (Aug 27, 2007)

Hmm...sounds like we'll be checking to see if the tack & feed places near us have a mix! I try REALLY hard to give them the best of things (without killing us financially). 

*naturestee wrote: *


> Oat hay is a grass hay, so it is good for bunnies. Actually, if you want to get really technical the best hay for rabbits is a mix, not a single species. And my buns loooooove oat hay! I need to find it locally so I can get some more.


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## jordiwes (Aug 27, 2007)

Excellent, sounds good! At my local feed store it 2.75 for a huge and fresh bag of local stuff.


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## HoneyPot (Aug 28, 2007)

ARGH! I am moving to your area Steph - Oat hay is like an arm and a leg here. I'm going to get more of it from Oxbow for my guys cause they LOVE it - although they go after the seed pods first. But they go nuts for it like they go nuts for treats.

_____________
Nadia


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## jordiwes (Aug 28, 2007)

Yes, please, move here! You and Dawn!

Anyhow, do you think it would be worth it for me to ship you some? How much do you pay for it?


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## aurora369 (Aug 28, 2007)

I dunno about shipping it to me, but you should bring some with you next time you come to the mainland... I'm trying to find some different varieties to give my guys along with the timothy. I'll traid you oat for orchard!

--Dawn


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## MyBabyBunnies (Aug 28, 2007)

I have a really hard time getting anything except Timothy or Alfalfa here. We have a lot of mixes (oat hay is not common here) with brome and orchard grass in them but 95% of them seem to be Alfalfa mixes and the other 5% I can't get at because 'it's a waste of time for a farmer to sell me a bale or 2'. While I'mfortunateto have access to plenty of great Timothy here, I wish I could get more variety but the bottom line is take what you can most easily have access to. Grass hays all vary slightly in nutritional value, but they are all good for the rabbit. If you can get a mix, then go for it! More is better.

We had a discussion on different types of hay not long ago. It's somewhat pertinent to this discussion because offering a variety means your rabbit can eat the one it likes the most and will often times consume quite a bit if they like the hay. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27269&forum_id=1


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## Pipp (Aug 28, 2007)

*maherwoman wrote: *


> Here are a few sites that has a bit of a breakdown of protein, calcium, etc. per hay type:


There's also a whole section about hay in the Bunny 101 Library. 

Hay: All About it 
and how to get them to eat it



sas


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## maherwoman (Aug 28, 2007)

Oh, what a doof...I don't know why I didn't post that section of the forum! :?


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## Ivory (Aug 29, 2007)

Here ya go. Basic hay analysis.

Alfalfa
Protein- 16%
Fiber 28%
Calcium 1.5%

Grass hay (this includes oat hay)
Protein- 14%
Fiber- 31%
Calcium- .4%

Timothy
Protein- 8%
Fiber 30%
Calcium- .5%

There you go.


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## Maureen Las (Aug 29, 2007)

My rabbits gained wt on a lot of oat hay..maybe it is just mine but if I was to feed it again I would definitely mix it with orchard grass and timothy.


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## Ivory (Aug 29, 2007)

Personally I just prefer timothy. Lower protein.


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## MyBabyBunnies (Aug 29, 2007)

While that may be a basic analysis of hays, the percentages can change drastically based on cut and time. Some values fall the longer the hay is left in the field. So it's really hard to say how accurate that is. It also depends on how much stem to leaf there is because certain parts contain different percentages.


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## ra7751 (Aug 29, 2007)

Hi All,

Just wondering about those nutritional values that were posted. What reference did you use? I really question those figures...could you posta link to that article? All grass hays have about the same protein values....usually around 6%-8%...and as noted there might be _small_ differences due to varying growing conditions, cuts,etc....but not to the extreme of 14% protein. Now alfalfa hay is a different story. Timothy is a grass hay....just as brome, oat, orchard/meadow, bermuda, etc. I also noticed a post regarding weight gain when feeding oat hay. That would be interesting to further explore.I feed oat hay a lot. Never had any excessive weight gain on any rabbit eating oat hay. 

Randy


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## cheryl (Aug 29, 2007)

Yeah,i only feed my bunnies oat hay,as we don't have timothy hay over here in Australia,and oat hay is the next best thing to timothy,all my bunnies do well on it,and they absolutely love it,i love listning to them munch on the little seeds 

Cheryl


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## Ivory (Aug 29, 2007)

It wasn't from an online article, it was from one of my veterinary textbooks. Wish I could help ya out there otherwise.

I'll go find it and give you the name, because I don't remember which one it was off the top of my head.

Edt: It's from Rabbits: Health, Husbandry, and Diseases by Virginia Richardson, or as it says on the title page, V.C.G. Richardson, MA VetMB MRCVS. The particular copy I have has been published in 2000. It's in the chapter called Nutrition, page 11.

It's a fantastic reference book. Dad has used it in his practice in the past. It's not a huge textbook, but sort of a "pocket guide", it goes into the basics of many of the systems, diseases of those systems, development of the young and potential problems in young bunnies, problems in older bunnies, explains some about medications, clinical exams, anesthesia, and dosages....

Lol, I'd recommend it to pretty much everyone.


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## Ivory (Aug 29, 2007)

Actually Randy, you've got me curious now, because I thought the same thing about the timothy hay/other grass hays. It said "Grass hay", but perhaps it meant a grass mixture, like Readygrass, as it was mentioned in the previous paragraph.

I will have to look it up in another book or attempt to find something online.


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## ra7751 (Aug 29, 2007)

I'm curious too Ivory....it seems the values of oat hay top out at about 10% protein....but I bet the ones with alfalfa or legume mix is much higher. Most of our buns love the oat hay....and we have no weight gain and great GI tracts. But the real benefit of this thread is that I have found some excellent hay sources....will do some more research on them and post their info if their product appears to be high quality.

Randy


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## Ivory (Aug 29, 2007)

I've never tried the oat hay before. I've used Bermuda, brome, timothy, and orchard, and given some alfalfa as a treat hay. I will have to order some, I'm running low on the Bermuda/brome mix I give my buns. 

One interesting thing, the younger any hay is cut, whether grass hay or legume, the higher the protein levels. As the plant matures, the protein is replaced by cellulose and starches. This can make a larger difference- even between an 8% protein level and a 14% protein level. So perhaps that is why there is so much different information- because some crude analyses will give different levels for the same kind of hay. For instance, I've seen a particular brand of grass hay give an analysis of 12% protein- just timothy hay, no legume hay mixed in. And yet there are some (most) that give an analysis of 6-8%.

I am still curious, however, and will read up some more on the subject when I have a little more time.

Edit: Because I am silly and misspelled something.


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## MyBabyBunnies (Aug 30, 2007)

*Ivory wrote: *


> This can make a larger difference- even between an 8% protein level and a 14% protein level. So perhaps that is why there is so much different information- because some crude analyses will give different levels for the same kind of hay. For instance, I've seen a particular brand of grass hay give an analysis of 12% protein- just timothy hay, no legume hay mixed in. And yet there are some (most) that give an analysis of 6-8%.


Sorry this took so long to post, I was having login problems!

This is very true. I wish I could find were I got this comparison from. But I found charts of comparison of protein and fiber levels over the weeks that hay is left in the field. I can't remember exactly what type of hay but it was a grass hay that the comparison was done on. At week 3 of growth, the hay had 14% protein, but by the end of week 12, the protein was at 6%. Most first cut hay is cut at around 6-8 weeks and the protein levels at that time were about 8% - 9%. Second cut hay will have even less protein. And, as time goes on, fiber actually increases. At week 3 the fiber was at 27% but at week 12 the fiber was at 34%.

As you can see, the percentage differences _are not small _based on the time it was cut, they are rather drastic. Also, keep in mind that the area it's grown in can have an effect, soil differences can affect the hay.


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## ra7751 (Aug 30, 2007)

Hi All,

This thread really got me curious so I have doing some research. I have never seen any grass hay go much over 8% or so in protein. However, I have found one, a second cut timothy offered by American Pet Diner, that advertises a minumum of 13% protein. I am going to contact APD and find out some specifics. I am looking forward to hearing their findings on this hay.

Actually I am quite happy that I am not feeding that hay if the protein content is accurate. I would have some extremely obese bunnies. I'll post their reply to my inquiry.

Randy


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## ra7751 (Aug 30, 2007)

Hi All,

I just received a reply from APD confirming that their "Timothy Gold" is a grass hay and is a minimum of 13% protein. Wow is all I can say about that. This calls for more research so off I go.

Randy


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