Is there a certain hay for nesting?

[daniel-delarosa]

My girls are due today and neither one of them has made their nest yet. I filled the boxes and pushed a nice hole in it four days ago. One doe hasn't even been in hers and the other one has pulled half of hers out. It is a Brome mix hay that I have. Should I go get timothy hay?

 

[oneacrefarm]

My girls are due today and neither one of them has made their nest yet. I filled the boxes and pushed a nice hole in it four days ago. One doe hasn't even been in hers and the other one has pulled half of hers out. It is a Brome mix hay that I have. Should I go get timothy hay?

No, it does not really matter as long as it is a grass hay. It should be fine...Mine are doing the same thing...just wasting it...

 

[Citylife]

My girls are due today and neither one of them has made their nest yet. I filled the boxes and pushed a nice hole in it four days ago. One doe hasn't even been in hers and the other one has pulled half of hers out. It is a Brome mix hay that I have. Should I go get timothy hay?

No, it does not really matter as long as it is a grass hay. It should be fine...Mine are doing the same thing...just wasting it...

Do you use hay or straw in your nest boxes?

 

[daniel-delarosa]

Timothy hay is what I put in the nesting boxes.

 

[oneacrefarm]

My girls are due today and neither one of them has made their nest yet. I filled the boxes and pushed a nice hole in it four days ago. One doe hasn't even been in hers and the other one has pulled half of hers out. It is a Brome mix hay that I have. Should I go get timothy hay?

No, it does not really matter as long as it is a grass hay. It should be fine...Mine are doing the same thing...just wasting it...

Do you use hay or straw in your nest boxes?

I use coastal hay in the nest boxes. I don't even know where to get straw....

 

[Genipher]

I don't know where to get straw either, so I use Timothy Hay. And Pine Bedding (from Walmart).

 

[CCourson05]

We have straw here for landscaping. They put it down after construction to prevent erosion. They sometimes use mixed hay too though

 

[hoodat]

Any hay will do but it is important not to have stiff stems, which can poke into the eyes of the kits, a common cause of nest box eye. I prefer orchard grass because it is almost all leaf with vey few stems and easy for the doe to shred if she is so inclined.

 

[bunnylovincowgirl]

I have always used straw, because the does are less inclined to pull it out and eat it. When the does do pull it out, just put more in. A few does get serious about nest building early, but I've found that most just play around with it or ignore it until right before kindling time, then they buckle down.