Can Rabbits Eat Horse Hay?

I was in a bit of a jam the other day, running out of food for the rabbits without a good chance to go out and buy more.

This doesn’t usually happen as I always have so much food stockpiled, but I’ve been so busy recently I didn’t realize it had all gone.

I needed to give them something otherwise they would go hungry, but I had no food for them.

One thing I did have in abundance was hay for my horses—I wasn’t sure if this would be okay for them, so I decided to look into it.

So, can rabbits eat horse hay?

Yes, rabbits can definitely eat horse hay. Ideally, they should really eat something more suited to smaller animals, like timothy hay or Meadow hay. But horse hay will work fine in a pinch. Alfalfa hays may be too rich for olde bunnies, so be careful of that.

Horse hay is perfectly okay for rabbits to eat from time to time, when nothing else is available.

You shouldn’t make a habit of feeding them horse hay, though, so after you’ve given them some horse hay to get by on, make sure to get out and buy something more appropriate for them.

Let’s look further into the question.

Can I feed my bunny horse hay?

Yes, you definitely can feed your bunny horse hay.

Horse hay, like most kinds of hay, is quite a simple food, so it’s easily broken down by most herbivores.

Horse hay comes in much larger quantities at a much cheaper price than rabbit hay or feed, so if you have both animals, you’re likely to have more horse hay than rabbit feed.

That said, you shouldn’t be regularly feeding horse hay to your rabbits.

If they’ve got nothing else to eat, then it’s miles better than nothing, and they will enjoy it.

It will also be perfectly safe for them—again, it’s just dried grass. There’s not much to it.

Horses and rabbits, it goes without saying, are very different animals.

Horse hay is often very nutrient rich in a way that rabbits do not need.

Thus, they can quickly become overloaded with nutrients if they eat too much horse hay, especially hay like alfalfa hay.

So, just give your rabbits a little bit of horse hay to tide them over, and try to get out and get some proper rabbit food as soon as you can.

Rabbits should also, I should mention, be eating a variety of foods; they should have fruits and vegetables, too. Not just horse hay.

Can rabbits eat any kind of hay?

Essentially, yes, rabbits can eat any kind of hay.

The most popular to feed to rabbits, as I mentioned, are either timothy hay or meadow hay.

These are both really great options that aren’t too nutrient rich as to pose the risk of harm if the rabbit were to overeat.

Horse hay is a bit denser and more nutrient rich, but if it’s just standard hay, there will be no problem.

Alfalfa hay is really the only thing you need to avoid.

If your horse’s hay has a lot of alfalfa in it, then it’s almost certainly going to be too nutrient rich for your rabbit.

This is even more true of older rabbits, but younger rabbits stand a chance of being affected too.

So, alfalfa hay is the only thing you really need to avoid.

What hay is bad for rabbits?

For adult rabbits, the only hay that’s truly unhealthy is, as I’ve said, alfalfa.

It’s too protein rich for adults who are fully grown, and can cause a host of problems.

Alfalfa hay is best avoided for rabbits of all ages.

That said, rabbits that are actively growing may benefit from the extra protein in alfalfa hay.

Younger, growing rabbits can certainly eat pretty much any kind of hay.

Nonetheless, they are still likely to get all the protein they need out of ordinary hays like meadow or timothy.

So, there’s really not much need to feed them alfalfa hay in any case.

What about hay cubes, then?

Can rabbits eat horse hay cubes?

Cubes or pellets of concentrated horse feed are another option, and many opt to feed their horses entirely on pellets rather than hay.

Rabbits can certainly eat horse hay cubes for the most part, although again, you need to be wary of the nutrient and protein content.

Since cubes are, by their nature, more concentrated, you need to be careful of what’s in them.

Your rabbits could easily overeat on horse pellets and make themselves sick, so just be wary.  

So, ultimately, you should really not do what I did and try to always have appropriate food around for your rabbits.

If you are really stuck, horse hay is perfectly fine to feed to your rabbit.

You should not make a habit of it, though, and you should get out straight away to get some rabbit feed for them.

In a pinch, though, horse hay works just fine.