How to encourage chins to eat hay?

[ying5883]

My chin tends to lose interest in hay pretty quickly. I have tried Oxbow timothy, orchard, and oat, as well as APD 1cut and 2cut. When I first got APD, he was so happy with it that as long as he smelled it, he would stop anything, even sleeping, to eat it. But even given that, within one month and two, he just lost interest in it.

The same thing happens to his chew toys. I have tried apple, mulberry, yucca, willow, pecan and so on. He was excited at first, and now hardly touches them.

Back to hay, what can I do with him? I start to think this is more his problem than the hay problem because I really like the quality of APD hay. I also try to mix the hay together, it doesn't seem to help. On the other hand, he just seems to cannot get enough of oxbow pellets. Now I have to limit the amount of pellets to keep him a little bit hungry so that he can go and eat some hay. I know this is not right, but I cannot think of other ways to push him to the hay.

BTW the way I store hay is to open the bag or the top of the box so that air can circulate. And I put hay where it is dry (humidity <60%) and there is no direct sunlight. Is this the correct way?

 

[Tanya]

Chins may lose interest in a particular hay. You can try rotating hays. Also, you can sprinkle some safe herbs (chamomile, nettle, calendula flowers, hibiscus flowers, etc.) and mix in a small amount of alfalfa. You can see a picture of my foraging fun hay here: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45199

Chins' preference is usually for the hay that contains greater sugar and starch concentrations. It is also the reason why herbivores prefer hay cut in the afternoon or evening over hay cut in the morning (the level of total nonstructural carbohydrates is reduced during the night).

I would not leave a box/bag of hay open if hay is dry. Usually, hays that are sold for small animals are low moisture content hays (so, bags/boxes do not need to be open). Once hay loses its original aroma, chins are likely to lose interest in it.

Many chins prefer pellets because they contain grains and molasses. You may consider offering pellets in the evening before you go to bed, so your chin only has access to hay/herbs/wood during the day/evening.