Alot depends on where you keep it.  Remember too that the hay you are getting may have already sat and in fields and warehouses for awhile as well unless you are harvesting it yourself.

I keep my hay in a closet in the rabbit room – I usually take it out of the plastic and just keep it in the box.  You want to store it in a dry place.

I just stored up on 2nd Cutting American Pet Diner Timothy Hay for the winter so I expect it to last quite a while.

Here’s a good article on mold in hay:

homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/myco.html

Your probably right about the alfalfa! You might consider giving him 2nd Cutting Timothy hay from American Pet Diner – it’s very soft and green and he might like that too – my rabbits love it.

I’ve read that some rabbits will eat their healthy hay if some of the hay they like is mixed in with it…Maybe try giving the alfalfa with your other hay (timothy)

hay can certainly get stale, even if it’s not moldy. How old is your container of hay? If he’s not eating it, I’d toss it and get fresh. Since it’s the single most important thing in bunny diet, it’s important to offer fresh hay.

Although, if you’re giving him alfalfa that very well could be the issue. Alfalfa is way yummier, so that’s likely why he’s snubbing the timmy hay.

This is a question I, too, was wondering about.  The hay I bought initially for Finn is Kaytee brand Timothy Hay (no other kinds are in it), but came in a plastic bag.  After I bought it, I read online not to store it in a plastic bag.  I haven’t figured out exactly what to do with it yet, but I wonder about how long it lasts. Mold would obviously mean to throw it out, but I’d sure rather get a fresh bag before then.

At this point, Finn is going through it so fast that I may never have that issue, LOL!

I keep my hay in a big cardboard box – my boyfriend and I buy Timothy hay by the bale because we have so many bunnies. We used to get bales of Oat Hay when we lived in LA and we would keep the bales in my garage which stayed cool and dry, and that way, my bales stayed very fresh for almost 3 months. We had super fresh hay because we got it straight from harvest though, so that may have added to the reason it was so well liked by bunnies that much later. Also, it was oat hay which looks to me like it would stay fresh longer because its so much stalkier. I think the fact that buns like alfalfa so much better than regular hay might be why he’s not eating the Timothy. For my bunnies, as a treat sometimes we mix the alfalfa into their hay, and they usually eat a bunch of everything that way.

How can we tell if the hay has mold?? Will it be highly visible?

I check my hay everyday when I feed it…but I’m not totally sure what I’m looking for!

Are there discolored patches of brown or white?
Also, be sure to take a whiff. You can smell mold. Fresh hay is always clean, leafy and sweet smelling.

Good stuff then! I always smell it -reminds me of the barn smell (so I guess it smells like hay hehe)
Thanks for letting me know what to look for!
I want to buy that hay on this site sooo bad but they can’t ship to Canada! I’m sooo sad-I’m sure my bun’s could go for a change of hay type!