Buying a rabbit hay rack: tips and recommendations

Hay is an elementary part of rabbit feeding and should be accessible to them daily in sufficient quantity. To ensure that the daily hay ration is not contaminated or distributed throughout the area, the specialized trade offers various options for clean hay feeding. This not only keeps the hay clean, which allows for economical feeding, but also keeps the rabbit busy in a meaningful way.

However, some points should definitely be considered when buying hayracks for rabbits to avoid accidents and bad investments.

Metal hayracks

One of the common ways to feed hay to his rabbits is to use a metal hayrack. These wire basket-like bars are simply hung in the bars of the rabbit cage and can be conveniently filled with hay from above.

Metal hayracks are available in powder-coated, galvanized or chrome-plated versions. There are also metal hayracks for cages with solid walls that have holes instead of brackets to screw them to the cage walls.

Unfortunately, this form of hay feeding brings with it some undesirable side effects. Since rabbits like to look out in an elevated position, the hayracks are readily climbed from above. Instead of peacefully plucking hay from the bars from below, the munchkins prefer to make themselves comfortable in the hay. However, this can easily be avoided by placing the hay basket high enough so that it cannot be climbed from above. A top cover also solves this problem, but is not usually offered for this type of hayrack.

Dangers for the rabbit

Climbing on the hayrack poses additional risks, because slipping feet through the bars can cause serious injuries to bones and ligaments.

The bar spacing of normal grid hayracks is usually around 3 cm, which is narrow enough for normal-sized rabbits to prevent the rabbit from sticking its head through and strangulating itself. Or the distance between the bars is large enough to allow the rabbit to pull its head back without any problems. The decisive factor for safety is that the size of the rabbit and the hayrack fit together!

Wooden hayracks

Wooden hayracks are often favored by rabbit owners. On the one hand, because they are visually more appealing than grid hayracks, on the other hand, because they are made of natural material and can also be gnawed by rabbits.

For a wooden hayrack, however, the rabbit owner must also dig a little deeper into his pocket. Depending on the variant and design, they can take a significant cost factor in terms of interior decoration of the rabbit home.

To note when choosing the right wooden hayrack is the “fit” of rabbits and hayrack! The size of the hayrack should be aligned according to the number and size of the rabbits, the dimension should be chosen so that hay must not be constantly replenished, but one filling per day is sufficient.

Also, the grid spacing, which is mostly thick logs, must be chosen so that rabbit heads can not be poked through. Also, the bars should not taper toward the bottom to prevent possible strangulation.

A top cover is also useful if you don’t want your rabbits in the hay. Since the top cover of wooden hayracks is usually also made of sturdy wood, you can kill two birds with one stone when buying this piece of equipment. The hayrack lid is used namely with pleasure as a view platform, nevertheless the hay remains protected from uninvited guests and impurities.

Erect hayracks in a stable manner

Wooden hayracks must have a stable stand if a free-standing version is chosen. Otherwise, wooden hayracks that are too light are often misused as toys. This misuse pleases the long ears, but the owner less.

Other hayracks for rabbits

Unsuitable hayracks

Using firewood baskets, fruit baskets, bag dispensers and other objects of human use as hayracks should be strictly avoided. They pose high risks to the life and health of rabbits due to their construction.

Alternatives to hayracks made of metal or wood are offered by the specialized trade in the form of hay bags and hay nets. Both variants are located in mostly favorable price level, before the strong teeth however usually not for a long time immune. This not only results in a loss of material or even the unusability of the hayrack alternative, but even the smallest materials are eaten by the rabbit and can lead to health problems in the long term.

Summer is free-range time:

Do something good for your rabbits and give them more exercise and run than last year.
Free running doesn’t have to be expensive!