Product description

Chamomile is the one flower in the small animal forage world that people buy for a reason rather than for the look of it, and at 5% there is a visible amount of it through this hay. It smells strongly of chamomile when you open the bag, which is the point: it gets a bored or off-colour animal back to the hay rack.

Underneath the flowers it is proper feeding hay. The declaration is 95% meadow hay, half of that Timothy, and 5% dried chamomile flowers, with nothing else and no additives. Vitakraft's figures put it at 26.0% crude fibre and 12.7% crude protein. It is sun-dried and hand-packed in Germany rather than heat-treated, which is why it still smells like anything at all. Feeding guidance on the pack is two handfuls per animal per day, spread around the cage rather than piled in one place.

500 g pack
95% meadow hay, half of it Timothy
5% dried chamomile flowers
26.0% crude fibre
No additives declared

Chamomile's calming reputation is folklore, not a claim on this pack. Vitakraft make no health claim for it and neither do we. What it demonstrably does is smell interesting, which is a real and useful thing for an animal that has gone off its hay, but do not buy it expecting it to settle a genuinely unwell rabbit. A rabbit that has stopped eating needs a vet, not a different hay.

Who it's for: rabbit, guinea pig and chinchilla keepers whose animals have got bored of plain hay, and anyone who wants a scented hay where the hay is still 95% of it.

Why we chose it

Chamomile is the forage flower most of our customers ask for by name, and this is the version where it is actually present at a declared 5% rather than sprinkled on top for the photograph. The Timothy proportion being declared matters to us, because Timothy is the part that works the back teeth. We keep it next to the plain hay so people buy both rather than one instead of the other.

— Matt, founder

Product details

Brand: Vitakraft
Food type: Complementary

Delivery, returns & payment

Delivery

Tracked UK delivery — your estimated arrival date is shown above and updates automatically. Standard delivery £2.99, and free on orders over £39. Full details on our delivery information page. Delivery information

Returns

14 days to change your mind (the shorter window for food, treats and frozen), no interrogation. Items need to be unused (sensory products unopened, for hygiene). Full details on our delivery & returns page.

Payment

Secure checkout by Stripe — cards, Apple Pay, Link and Klarna. We never see or store your card details.

Common questions

How much should I put in?

Two handfuls per animal per day, according to the pack, scattered around the cage rather than heaped in one spot so they have to move to get it. Hay generally should be available all the time.

Does chamomile calm a rabbit down?

Vitakraft make no such claim on this pack and we are not going to make one for them. It is a strongly scented dried flower that most small animals like the taste of. That is the honest extent of it.

Is 500 g enough?

Not as a main hay supply. A rabbit eating properly gets through a great deal of hay every day, so 500 g is a top-up bag to make a bulk hay bale more interesting, not a replacement for one.

Why does it analyse the same as the wild rose version?

We do not know, and it bothers us. Vitakraft publish identical constituents to one decimal place for both, despite the two blends declaring different percentages of hay and flower. We have quoted the published figures and would not rely on the decimal places.

How long does delivery take?

Your estimated delivery date is shown above and updates automatically. UK orders are sent tracked — standard delivery is £2.99, and free on orders over £39.

How do I track my order?

As soon as your order is dispatched we email you a tracking link, so you can follow it all the way to your door.

What if I need to return my order?

You have 14 days from delivery to change your mind (food, treats and frozen items have a shorter window). Just email us with your order number and we’ll send the return steps the same working day — see our delivery & returns page for details.