All about Hay| If you have ever purchased hay for your small
animal pal, you’ve probably looked at the wide
selection of 1st cut hay, 2nd cut hay, oat hay,
brome, alfalfa hay, orchard grass and others and
wondered “What’s the difference between all this
dried stuff”? |
| | Grass hay and legume hay | | There are 2 basic types of hay, grass hay and legume hay. Grass hays have a high fiber content and low protein and calcium contents. Grass hays should be available to your pal at all times. Legume hay is a much richer hay and should be free fed to pets with special nutritional requirements, such as a growing or convalescing animal. Legume hay should be used as a treat for adult animals. Most people feed a ‘base’ hay diet of one type of grass hay and rotate in other varieties of grass hay to promote healthy eating habits and provide well rounded nutrition. |
| | Hay Play | | Critters also love to play with their hay, and that is A-OK. Hay play mimics what they would do in a natural habitat and provides nice mental stimulation. Go ahead and give your critter big handfuls of hay and let them eat and go to town! |
| | Timothy Hay | Timothy Hay if the most commonly used variety of hay. It is a grass hay with a high fiber, low calcium, and low protein content. The stems of the plant contain the highest amount of fiber and the least amount of protein, (perfect nutrition for hay eating critters). The soft leaves and delicious seed heads have less fiber and more protein than the stems. Just like a child leaving the veggies on the dinner plate, critters often choose the seeds and leaves first, but they really need the high fiber content of the stems too. Make sure you leave the uneaten, unsoiled portion of hay with your critter for a couple days so they don’t learn to just wait for a fresh helping of their favorites.
Some companies, like Oxbow, combine timothy hay harvested at different times of the year and from different regions of the country into one mix. You may notice a degree of variability in the color and texture from bag to bag because of this practice. The variations are perfectly fine for your pet. In fact, it’s great for maintaining a robust digestive system and preventing finicky eating habits.
Other companies, like American Pet Diner which grows hay in one region of the country, sell hay from the 1st and 2nd harvests of the year separately. This is known as 1st cut and 2nd cut timothy hay. If your pet has a preference for specific attributes of hay, having the choice between 1st and 2nd cut can be quite helpful.
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| | 1st and 2nd Cut Timothy Hay | 1st Cut Timothy Hay
1st cut timothy contains lots of long stem and seed heads, and is a greener, coarser cut of hay. The 1st cutting has more fiber content than the 2nd cutting. The 1st cutting can also have a higher percentage of indigestible fiber. Some critters don’t care for timothy when it has lots of flowers on the seed heads.
2nd Cut Timothy Hay
After the grass has been cut, it tends to grow back a bit bushier. This means 2nd cut hay is softer and has shorter stem pieces with more brown pieces and much less seed heads than 1st cut.
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| | Green vs. Brown Hay | Lots of people feel that the color of timothy hay is indicative of whether it is a good batch of hay. Here’s the skinny on green and brown hay.
Green = more protein, fat, and other nutrients, less fiber. Small animals often prefer the flavor of greener hay.
Lots of green = too rich, may cause diarrhea.
Brown = less protein, fat, and other nutrients, more fiber. Has the higher fiber content that small animals need.
Too brown = too much indigestible fiber, not as many usable nutrients, unpleasant taste.
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| | Alfalfa Hay | Hay eaters cannot live on timothy alone! Alfalfa hay is a legume hay and is much higher in protein and calcium and other readily usable nutrients than any other hay. Many animals absolutely love the taste of alfalfa hay, but it is too rich to use as a daily food for healthy adult animals. Alfalfa hay can be fed to pregnant, nursing, young and very old animals in unlimited quantities. Alfalfa can be fed in moderation to a convalescing pet or to a pet with appetite problems. Alfalfa can be fed as an occasional treat to healthy adult pets.
There are a growing number of people who feel that adult animals can safely eat more than just treat quantities of alfalfa, while others feel that alfalfa should not be given to even young animals to prevent finicky eating and never to animals with urinary tract problems. You may wish to research these positions further.
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| | Orchard Grass | | Orchard grass is a grass hay very similar to timothy hay. It looks a lot like timothy, but has a slightly sweeter smell. Nutritionally, timothy and orchard grass are very comparable, with orchard grass having slightly less protein and fiber than timothy. Lots of folks whose critters won’t eat timothy hay serve orchard grass as an alternative base diet. |
| | Brome Hay | | Brome hay is another grass hay with a high fiber, low calcium, low protein content. It has a slightly different flavor and can be mixed with other hay to encourage finicky eaters. |
| | Oat Hay | Oat hay is a grass hay with the same wonderful nutritional qualities as other grass hays. It is the same stuff that our oatmeal comes from, but it is harvested before the oat is mature. Some folks think it looks like straw, and it certainly does have some golden strands, but it also has more delicious green strands than straw. Most hay eaters think this stuff is just delicious so it makes wonderful rotational hay and can help attract finicky eaters to the base diet. hay.
See also the Why Hay Eaters Need Hay info page. |
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