Had to buy a bag for my daughter's hamster so got to wondering if any of you make this aailable to your birds too. Thought they might like to chew it and it might offer some nutrients too.

 

Opinions?

I dont know what Timothy hay is I assume a kind of hay. Not sure if its any good or not. Can harbour moulds.

Had to buy a bag for my daughter's hamster so got to wondering if any of you make this aailable to your birds too. Thought they might like to chew it and it might offer some nutrients too.Opinions?

No problem feeding Hay, any seeding grass is fine. I have fed Hay for years, don't know about the nutrients in it that would depend what grass was used and where it was grown, the soil etc. but my birds love it and it gives some variety, lets face it I would hate to live on just chicken. Clearwing

Had to buy a bag for my daughter's hamster so got to wondering if any of you make this aailable to your birds too. Thought they might like to chew it and it might offer some nutrients too.Opinions?

No problem feeding Hay, any seeding grass is fine. I have fed Hay for years, don't know about the nutrients in it that would depend what grass was used and where it was grown, the soil etc. but my birds love it and it gives some variety, lets face it I would hate to live on just chicken. Clearwing

What kind of hay is a good thing for budgies ? How fresh must it be ?

 

I was at my stock feed supplier the other day.....a customer was agonising over a choice of fish food for her fish. The container said for tropical fish and she was trying to decide if it was suitable for her goldfish. I said..if I can feed my budgies rabbit and guinea pig pellets, and whey protein powder designed for horses, then her fish would welcome any fish food despite what the specification was on the lable. She then told me her husband was out there feeding them crushed rice crackers the night before as they had run out of fish food and her husband was impressed with himself that he had chosen the rice crackers with seaweed,

 

I guess the key is............variety of all kinds of good things

SEAWEED!!!!!!!!!!!! :what: :laughter: :laughter: That's so funny!

 

Well, it was with you in mind KAZ that I asked this question since I remembered reading about your guinea pig pellets and also I remembered about other posts about Mr Pancakes the rabbit who lives in the bottom of Libby's aviary.

 

We used to have guinea pigs and they ate tons of timothy hay. In fact, it's an essential part of their diet. Timothy hay is the standard hay fed to horses and cattle her in North America. It is very dry so very resistant to moulding.

 

The bag I bought for the hamster is huge so just wondered about sharing it with the budgies...especially the nutty one nesting on the cage floor...now sitting on 7 eggs with some difficulty.

 

I might try a handfull at the bottom and see if it piques their curiosity.

As long as there is no sign of mould in the hay, the best way is to smell it if it smells fresh it will usually be okay. Lucerne[ ? on the spelling] is great for budgies but I have had success with wheat, Oat and Grass Hay. Clearwing

As long as there is no sign of mould in the hay, the best way is to smell it if it smells fresh it will usually be okay. Lucerne[ ? on the spelling] is great for budgies but I have had success with wheat, Oat and Grass Hay. Clearwing

 

 

i think what you call lucerne is what we call alfalfa. I imagine our timothy hay may be the same as your grass hay. Did you find they actually ate it or just sort of chewed on it?

I used to think Timothy and Alfalfa were the same thing. (Back when I owned guinea pigs.) Now I think I've learned that alfalfa is a legume? And it has round leaves and purple flowers. Does this sound right?

About 5 years ago we moved to a 4 acre place of which the back half was sown in hay and alfalfa. The farmer who tended it for us showed me the alfalfa, and said horse owners like to have a certain percentage of it in their hay. (I think that was to make it a more complete diet.) He retired a few years ago, and the hay is gradually being replaced with weeds, but the alfalfa seems to be going strong!

The farmer also told me that when you are harvesting the hay, it needs to dry in the sun until it gets to a certain amount of dryness. It needs some moisture, but not too much, or else it will mold. I wonder why it needs any moisture at all.

I'm sure they eat at least some of it, just as they do with tree bark. But ecen if they don't it gives them something to do, they really seem to enjoy it. Clearwing

I'm sure they eat at least some of it, just as they do with tree bark. But ecen if they don't it gives them something to do, they really seem to enjoy it. Clearwing

A breeder or two over here seems convinced that anything that makes a budgie happy, like playing with branches and leaves or chewing things up, even if it has little benefits, ....is a good thing. The "something to do" theory.

Well...my experiment to date:

 

I put a small handful in the bottom of both budgie cagiary (too big to call a cage, too small to call an aviary!) and that of the Grand Matriarch of the bird room - Moe, the Cockatiel last night about an hour before it was lights out last night. Moe seems to be enjoying chewing it and continued right away this morning...the budgies seem to have kicked it all out ...tossed or flapped-out I don't know...and the two in the quarantine caage completely ignored it. The kids and I are going to make some bird toys this evening so I might wind some timothy hay into chew balls and hang them in the cage...will let you know how that turns out.