Looks like mold to me too, but I could be wrong. Either way, I know I would send it back.

Yeah, it looks like mold. Send it back ><

What brand of hay was it??

Yea I actually was thinking that it did not look like mold because it was not fuzzy or anything. But I might be experiencing hindsight bias (It is the “I knew it all along” phenomenon – sorry I have been studying for my psychology exam too much.)

Oh heck, I wouldn’t feed that to my buns either way…looks grody! >_<

Mice..yeesh! They are adorable as pets, but the wild ones just creep me to the max. Fortunately I have a cat who takes care of the voles we have here, but I still hate to see it happen to them. They’re hardy little things whose tracks you see on top of the snow even on the coldest days here.

Maybe you can invest in one of those sonic things that’s supposed to drive them away? (kind of like the pied piper in reverse)

Moonlight — Hay mold isn’t “fuzzy” the way you’d see it on human food — it actually does look very similar to those photos that Jersey posted. And I too would have said that is mold. Our supplier got a bunch of Oat that looked like that and they promptly returned it to the farmer. The way it looked was almost identical to your photos. Whether or not it was actual mold, don’t know, but they’ve been working with hay long enough to know but they seemed to feel it was — either way, it was not a “look” that could be sold.

Since this discussion made me want to be able to tell the difference between Rain Damaged and mold beginning to grow/or a result of mold so I decided to google it, though when I get a chance to talk to hay farmers, I’ll ask them about this.

Here is some info so far that I have found about rain damaged hay and I am sure learning more about this.

http://oregonfeed.org/mehren_art_0706.htm

http://www.usextension.org/animalag/forage/umd-evaluating%20hay%20quality.htm
From the source above: “Rain damage. Hay that has been exposed to rain or to heavy dews or fog has a characteristic dark brown or black appearance. Rain falling on hay between the time of cutting and baling can leach out soluble nutrients and reactivate plant respiration. Hard rain can also shatter leaves, especially if the rain occurs when the hay is nearly dry. The stems of hay that has been sun-bleached or discolored by rain are usually harsh and brittle. Avoiding rain damage is a goal in haymaking but delayed cutting must be balanced against the lower feeding value of late cut hay.”

Good stuff to learn — though I would never purchase hay that looked like that for resale — just a good FYI to keep stored in the brain cells.