Not eating hay

[B&E Chins]

Hello! This question has been on my mind lately. I read that chins can be picky with their pieces of hay and will leave them or toss them aside. So I've been discarding the piles on the floor and the remaining in their bowls every day or two. But it does seem like I toss out quite a bit. Is this normal? Could I be putting too much in? Or am I tossing it a bit too soon? Thanks so much

 

[Amethyst]

So long as the hay hasn't been peed on it's best not to change it out daily. Tossing hay is normal, mine will toss through the whole hay feeder but will go back and eat the tossed hay later. You can try different hay holders, some do better with the hay hanging in a hay holder, others prefer it in a bowl. If they end up peeing on it though you are better off giving smaller amounts at a time. You want them to always have access to hay but some chins if you just fill up the hay holder they get the idea that they can waste the hay and only eat the "best" strands and leave the rest and you will just give fresh. Some people only give their chins fresh hay once or twice a week, so long as their is still hay in the cage, only removing any soiled hay.

 

[B&E Chins]

Thank you very much

 

[ChinsForLife]

My chins have actually been doing the same thing, Lol. I have too much hay anyway (about 2 lbs. of timothy, alfalfa, and meadow grass hay) so I don't worry about tossing it. I also don't usually but oxbow hay though since its cut shorter now for some reason so my hay was less expensive. ($9 for 3 lbs)

 

[Jawramik]

I normally just gather up the hay my chin has pulled out of the holder and put it back in the holder. Once a week I dump everything and give her a fresh batch, but otherwise I'll just add a little fresh hay to what she already has if she's getting low.

I used to give her a fresh batch of hay every day, but realised how much I was wasting that way, so I started trying to salvage the stuff she pulls out, and there's so much less waste this way. Sometimes she pees on piles of hay on the ground, so obviously I'll toss that, but so long as she hasn't peed on it, it's still perfectly good.