Thanks Petzy and P&W. No it doesn’t look THAT bad, but I’m finding it hard to separate the strands with black spots from the rest. And yes, it’s really dusty, moreso than past deliveries.
I don’t really have anything outdoors I can put it in where I can access it easily, except maybe …of course! *foreheadslap* the arctic entry, but not sure that’s cold enough? (it’s sitting at anywhere from 10 above F to -20) It’s pretty certainly watertight out there, but will that cold kill anything else in the hay or is this box just a loss?
I wonder if I should tuck the bluegrass out there too, just to be on the safe side. At least THAT hay is still green in color.
I’m in the middle of cleaning the buns right now, but I’ll try to snap a pic of the inside of the box of timmy, so you guys can see what I’m dealing with a little better.
Thanks for all your help!

Yeah, I’d been concerned about that. I don’t think Mimzy really started sneezing again till I fed the 3rd cut I just got. So I’m thinking the three moose in our yard lately (two fat babies and a male with half a rack…odd grouping) will enjoy the extra treat they find in the back corner of the property. (I’ve seen these creatures eat some nasty stuff, I think even this dusty box has a leg up on the competition.)

It’s unfortunate, but has prompted me to look for more local sources of hay. I wound up taking the Standlee link at the top of the page here and found that Alaska Feed stocks it. It’ll be difficult to haul home (provided they still have some) and it’s 2nd cut, but it’ll hopefully be fresher than what I’ve got.

I’m wondering about the bluegrass from the same place as the bad timmy…it’s a little dusty, but not as bad as the timmy. Perhaps it’s okay to use? (provided I can get them to eat it, which so far has been a bust) I just wonder how likely it is, being that they came in separate boxes, that the blue is also contaminated? They have not been stored in the same room. I know some spores are aerobic, so I try to keep anything suspicious isolated. Who knows how the distributor stored this stuff.

Hubby will not be pleased if we have to toss all this, I’m sure he realizes I had to drop some serious coin on the whole load, but hey…what price a bunny’s health?

In the meantime, I do have BB hay, but it’s going fast. Unfortunatley they won’t eat much of the Binky Blue (picky things) which they used to love until they got the 3rd cut.
Another thing that might work is brome hay, which apparently we have loads of up here. I can get this at AK Feed too. Does anyone here have experience with brome? I understand it’s supposed to be a lot like 3rd cut timothy.
Also, if I can’t get anything but cubes…should I go ahead and at least give them those? And if so, how long could they eat those without having digestive trouble due to lack of coarse fiber?

Ugh…if we can just make do until spring…. >.<

Pam: Unfortunately the blue is open, and it would have to go back to Washington to be returned, so it’s kind of moot. Ah well…live and learn.
If the brome is anything like the hayseed I have out back, we’ll probably have a winner.
The buns will eat BB.com oat, mature is their fave…but it just takes so long to get here, even with Priority…they’ll be out before I can order another shipment. So I have to hope that the oat here, if they have it in stock, it acceptable to the ‘royal family’… >.<

Jerz: I don’t smell anything funky about either of these hays…and yes, it’s pretty rain damaged (the timothy) but it’s the black spots and that one piece I found with the white on it…plus the dust. All I have to do is pull on the hay strands and the dust is flying everywhere. I seriously don’t understand why the buns prefer to eat it anyway, despite having other hays right next to it, but they’re not getting any more. I just can’t take the chance.

On a side note, I don’t think this particular hay was the original cause of Mimzy’s nasal troubles, since we’ve only been ordering it for the last year or so and he’s been a sneezy bunny since his first year indoors with me, but I can guess it’s aggravating an already dicey situation there, so I often wonder if hay in general is the cause, and if cubes would be a better alternative for him as long as they get eaten.
Plus he’s shedding still, and each time he grooms he sneezes…so just about anything will irritate that precious nose of his. But I hope to hear less kertsychoos since removing and cleaning up after the last of that hay.

I’ve already told the hub we’re tossing it. He didn’t react too badly and said we can go look for better feed in town.
Darn, Petzy, you’ve got me wondering now if any of MY symptoms are from breathing in that stuff? 0_o

BTW…a few days now with no 3rd cut and Mimzy isn’t sneezing as much again. Hmmm. He’s plowing through the oat though. >.<

I used to give Mimzy cubes quite often, till he started having to get his teeth filed so often, I was afraid the cubes weren’t helping that situation. I know MY nose would be happier if I could give them all cubes, but I’m not going to risk their gut health for it.
Yeah, they really like the oat. It’s just so fibrous that Fiver can’t move it through his system well. And I notice they eat all the little pieces, but they usually discard the larger chaff. I don’t suppose there’s any way to encourage them to eat that part? Cut it into smaller pieces by hand maybe?