Best hay for Jersey Wooly rabbits

Switching away from supermarket hay is one of the best things you can do for a rabbit's long-term health — so you're already thinking about this the right way. Hay isn't a nice-to-have; it's the foundation of everything. It should make up around 80% of your rabbit's daily intake, keeping the gut moving and grinding down teeth that never stop growing. Pellets are a small supplement, not the main event. Before I point you toward a specific hay, tell me a bit more: how old is your rabbit, are they in good health right now, and what exactly are they eating at the moment?

Good — healthy rabbit, normal gut, eating well. That's the ideal position to make a switch from, because you're not trying to fix a problem, you're just upgrading the quality. Jersey Woolies are a long-coated breed, which means they ingest a fair amount of their own wool through grooming. High-quality, high-fibre hay is especially important for them because that fibre is what helps move ingested fur through the gut and prevent blockages. The supermarket stuff is usually dusty, stemmy, and low in nutritional value — it does a job, but not a great one. Can I ask: does she have any history of GI stasis or fur-related digestive issues, and roughly how much hay does she go through in a week?

She sounds like a textbook good hay eater, which makes this straightforward. For a healthy 4-year-old with no dental or digestive issues, my clear recommendation is Oxbow Orchard Grass Hay. I'd suggest that over Timothy for a Jersey Wooly specifically because orchard grass has a softer texture and slightly finer strands — it's easier to pull through a long coat without matting around the mouth area, and many rabbits who are fussy about coarser hay take to it readily. It's also genuinely dust-extracted, which matters more than people realise for respiratory health in longer-haired breeds. Oxbow is one of the very few brands where the quality is consistent bag to bag, which you don't get with supermarket hay. It's widely available on Amazon UK in 425g and 1.13kg bags — I'd start with the larger size given how much she goes through.

You can go straight over — hay transitions don't need the gradual mixing approach you'd use for pellets or fresh food. The gut flora isn't affected by switching hay types the way it is with other foods. Just put the new hay in and let her explore it. Most rabbits are curious about the change in smell and texture and take to it quickly. What I would do is keep her old hay available for the first two or three days alongside the new stuff, just so she's never in a position of eating nothing while she adjusts — but don't worry about a strict blending ratio. Watch her droppings over the first week: they should stay consistent in size and quantity. If anything changes, that's worth noting, but with a healthy rabbit and a quality switch like this, you're very unlikely to see any issues.

Good call. You'll probably notice a difference in how much she pulls from the rack — better smell and texture tends to encourage rabbits to eat even more hay, which is exactly what you want. Keep pellets to no more than a tablespoon a day at her age and weight, and the rest of her diet should take care of itself. If the orchard grass goes well and you want to add a bit of variety down the line, Oxbow also do a botanical hay blend that some rabbits really enjoy — but that's for later. Start simple, see how she responds.