On the left of the picture is a bowl of grass – I’ve been cutting one each day since the grass started growing this spring. It’s totally free. On the right is a bag of hay, it costs £2.25 and the rabbits usually go through one of these about every 10 days. However I’ve noticed the last bag I brought is still half full and checking back I got it a month ago. Eating more grass means they eat less hay.

With a little bit of maths that means the bunnies hay budget has dropped from 22p per day to 4p. In other words that bowl of grass is ‘worth’ about 18p. That doesn’t sound like much but it adds up, that’s £5 per month (i.e. the cost of getting pet insurance) or if you prefer £65 per year – more than enough to cover vaccinations and some new toys.

So grass is good for your bunny and good for your pocket – are you convinced? What will you spend your savings on?

Note: Don’t forget to introduce grass gradually if your bun isn’t used to it.

Can you spot Scamp? No, me neither, that would be because he’s sitting under the work top in the veg rack practising his “Who me?” face. The onions are safe (removed after the previous invasion) but we may need new potatoes.

He was a bit miffed at having fun spoilt:

I think most naughty bunny behaviour is just bored bunny behaviour. Wild rabbits would usually be to busy eating to make trouble, so the obvious solution for Scamp’s boredom is food too. I cut him some grass and scattered it around the floor so he could ‘graze’. It kept him quiet for a little while at least.

Look what I found whilst cutting grass…

Do be careful this time of year if you’re mowing grass, as there are frogs and soon baby froglets crawling in it looking for bugs and shade. I was using scissors so this chap hoped off safe… maybe he’ll eat some of the slugs.

Poor bunnies, still a bit of a wait before there is anything to eat. Later on this month I’m going to be starting my proper carrots off and I’ll post some easy instructions in case anyone else wants a go.

Hay

Hay is fed to rabbits as a substitute for fresh grass. It is grass that has been cut and left to dry. Good hay should be green and smell sweet, not be dusty or smell musty (excuse the pun). The greener hay is the closer it is nutritionally to grass. Old brown hay will have plenty of fibre but is not so good for providing all the other nutrients a rabbits needs. It’s also less tasty… not that I’ve personally tried it.

There are different types of grass such as Timothy, Meadow and Orchard. Sometimes grass is also grown with legumes like Alfalfa. This increases the protein level which makes it too fattening to feed as the main diet for the average adult rabbit, although it can be good for growing youngsters or putting weight on an older rabbit. Alfalfa is also higher in calcium, again good for growing youngsters but too much can be bad for adults.

Straw

Straw is the stalks from grain crops after the grain heads have been taken off. It’s yellow and the stalks are hollow like a drinking straw. Straw is great for insulating so it is used for bedding to keep rabbits warm on cold winter nights. Straw has a lower nutritional value than hay so it’s not suitable to feed as a replacement for grass. If you use it for bedding, add some hay on top for your rabbit to snack on. It’s perfectly safe if your rabbit does nibble the straw a bit too though.

It is tasty, if you are a rabbit, and will often tempt rabbits who turn their noses up in disgust at hay. It is also high in fibre, great for wearing down teeth and the rabbit digestion system has been perfected to digest it.

So why do many rabbits never get to eat it?

There is often a worry among rabbit owners that fresh foods can upset the gut and cause diarrhoea. It’s true, if you suddenly gave your rabbit a large pile of grass it probably would upset their gut, but a large pile of a different brand of dry food or treats would have the same effect. New foods need to be introduced to rabbits gradually. Start by feeding small quantities of grass daily and build up the quantity gradually over10 days of more.

If you are picking grass, rather than letting your rabbit graze, then use scissors or pull it up. Do not feed lawn mower clippings. The heat and crushing action causes the grass to start fermenting which will upset the gut if eaten.

Don’t have a lawn? No problem. Grass is easy to grow and can be grown in trays, window boxes or pots on your window sill.  Put some general purpose compost (available at garden centres/DIY shops) in a tray or pot and sprinkle grass seed on top. Water if it gets dry and wait.

You can either cut the grass or put the whole tray/pot in your rabbits pen.  If you put the tray in your rabbits pen take it out again after they’ve eating it and allow it regrow. In a few weeks it will be ready for them to eat again. As well as being tasty it is an excellent form of enrichment to prevent your rabbit getting bored.

Normal lawn grass seed is fine to use but you you can also buy Timothy grass seed or seed/weed mixes that contain other plants such clover, dandelion and thistle (as shown below).

The different plants help provide different vitamins & minerals, mimicking a wild rabbit’s diet which contains a varied assortment of plants in addition to grass.