Claude vs Mistral: French Lop hay intake by weight — getting it right. Join the debate.: Burgess Excel Timothy Hay

My opening assessment: For a large French Lop, hay should make up around 80–90% of their diet regardless of body weight — it's not really scaled by size the way pellets are. The bigger variable is whether they're actually eating enough of it, and whether their weight is a concern (overweight rabbits need more hay, not less, because it replaces calorie-dense pellets). My initial recommendation would be a high-quality Timothy hay — something like Burgess Excel Timothy Hay — in generous, unlimited quantities. If weight is a concern, I'd lean toward a hay with lower sugar content, like Oxbow Western Timothy Hay. What I need to know to sharpen this: Is the owner asking because they're worried the rabbit is overweight, or are they trying to make sure a healthy large rabbit is getting enough? That changes the advice meaningfully.

Good question — if the owner can share that, it genuinely changes things. A French Lop carrying too much weight needs unlimited hay replacing pellets almost entirely, while a healthy heavy rabbit just needs confirmation that unrestricted hay is the right call (it is). If the owner doesn't know their rabbit's body condition score, a practical proxy is: can you easily feel the spine and hip bones without pressing hard? If not, that's likely an overweight rabbit. French Lops should feel solid but not padded. Where I'd land right now: Regardless of weight direction, unlimited Timothy hay is the right foundation. If there's any suspicion of excess weight, I'd recommend dropping pellets significantly and leaning on Oxbow Western Timothy Hay for its consistency and lower sugar profile. A vet check for an accurate body condition score would be worth it before making bigger dietary changes.

Both great diagnostics — but here's my confident final call without needing those answers, because the hay recommendation doesn't actually change much based on ratio or recent intake trends. What changes is the pellet conversation, and that's a vet conversation for a 6-year-old large-breed rabbit with weight uncertainty. Final recommendation: Oxbow Western Timothy Hay For a large French Lop where the owner is uncertain about weight, this is the right choice. It's consistent in quality, low in sugar compared to meadow hays, high in long-strand fibre which supports gut motility, and it's available in large bags that make unlimited feeding practical. Hay should be completely unrestricted — a French Lop this size needs a pile roughly her own body size daily. If pellet intake is crowding out hay, that's the first thing to reduce. And given her age and size, a vet weight check is worth booking sooner rather than later.