Oxbow builds its whole range around grass hay, and that is the right way to read the catalogue. For rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas, unlimited grass hay should make up the bulk of what they eat every day, and pellets are a supplement to it rather than the meal. If you are only buying one Oxbow product, buy the hay.
Choosing a hay
Western Timothy is the default grass hay for adult small herbivores. Orchard Grass is softer and more aromatic, and often works for an animal that has gone off Timothy. Oat Hay is cut before the seed develops, so it is mostly husk, and is best treated as variety rather than as a Timothy replacement. Botanical Hay and Hay Blends exist for the same reason: fussy eaters. Harvest Stacks are the same Western Timothy hay under compression, which cuts airborne dust and storage bulk, and suits a small hutch more than a big appetite.
Choosing a pellet
Essentials, Garden Select and Organic Bounty are three routes to the same nutritional place. Essentials leads with Timothy hay and is the workhorse of the range. Garden Select is non-GMO, with Timothy, oat and orchard hay as its first three ingredients and no soy. Organic Bounty leads with certified organic grass hay. Choose on sourcing preference, not on nutrition.
Life stage matters more than which line you pick. The Young formulas are alfalfa-based for the extra protein and calcium a growing animal needs, and that same calcium is the reason to move a healthy adult onto a Timothy-based Adult formula instead of leaving it on Young.
Guinea pigs are not small rabbits
Guinea pigs cannot make their own Vitamin C and have to get it from their diet. Oxbow's guinea pig pellets carry stabilised Vitamin C and the rabbit pellets do not, so the two are not interchangeable. Vitamin C also degrades as a bag ages, which is what Natural Science Vitamin C is for.
Treats and enrichment
Simple Rewards are baked Timothy hay with a single flavour added and no added sugar. Timothy Club hideouts, tunnels, mats and twists are hand-woven hay: edible, chewable enrichment rather than food.
