Bad Batch of Oxbow Timothy Hay?

[Bacuzoro]

I have been purchasing timothy hay for my rabbits for 4 years now.  I’ve gotten several different types and brands of timothy hay.  About a year ago I switched to the 50 pound boxes of Oxbow Timothy Hay due to the cost savings/free shipping.  The dust from the hay has always made me sneeze a little but that was the extent of the problems.  With this last box, I cant even touch it without my arms breaking out in itchy red bumps or sneezing uncontrollably.  It also started to make my throat swell up some.  I did give some to my rabbits and they would hardly touch it – it was much drying and more straw like than usual.  It also made their poops a much lighter brown color than usual.  I called the place I got the hay and they are going to send me a new batch of their “freshest” hay.

I’m just curious if this is common with this hay?  I’ve gotten the 50 pound boxes 2-3 times before with no issues, but this time it was almost unbearable for me and the rabbits would not touch it.  I went to a local pet store and got a small supply of hay until the new box arrives and have absolutley no problems with it. 

[Sarita]

It is common – many times the hay is grown in different locations of the country and you don’t control where your “batch” comes from. It’s possible that the batch you have comes from a place that has certain pollens that you are more allergic to.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I ordered once a 25 lb bag of oxbow hay to save on the cost. It was mostly brown so i contacted the company i ordered it from and they also sent me a new batch. I ordered a few months ago 50# bag of oxbow timmy hay for the first time. It is a tiny bit dustier than normal. My rabbits till eat alot of it!

[kinggoblin]

I don’t like oxbow timothy that much, its really dusty and the strands are always really hard, I’m trying to use up my last bag and the rabbit only likes using it to cover his poop in the litter box now that I have nicer hay ( sweet meadow farms ) out for him, he won’t eat the oxbow anymore.

[LoveChaCha]

That is common. I ordered a huge box of Orchard grass Oxbow and when I tried putting it into a container, my eyes turned red, I sneezed, and I was on the couch for a few hours.

Chacha is picky and ended up not liking it, so I took it to the shelter.

American Pet Diner tends to be less dusty, in my experience. I buy 5 -10 pound bales at a time, and I haven’t had an issue.

[Stickerbunny]

I buy 50lb oxbow and haven’t had a problem with it. I am not allergic, so can’t say if the dust is bad really… but the buns love it. Actually, they eat so much I have to order more soon, they go through 3-4 big piles a day. 😮

[bunnyfriend]

There’s a note in the 25 and 50 lb boxes of Oxbow warning that the quality will vary. The smaller amounts are hand sorted. I have bought the 25 lb once and currently I have a 50 lb box. Sorry that you got one that you were allergic to!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Oh, boy. You’ve got me started on my Oxbow rant…

I’ve been buying both the Timothy and Orchard grass for years but within the last few months am losing confidence in the company. I used the buy the huge bags of Orchard but the last 2 bags were dusty and the buns were not very happy with them so I switched to Timothy. Last month, 3 of the small, supposedly hand-sorted bags of Timothy had gross feathers in them. I e-mailed the company and they got back to me the next day asking for my address and phone number and said they were going to forward it to another department to better help me. I never heard back.

A few days ago, about half-way down the bag of Timothy, I found a big gross hairy thing. Looks like a hairball that a cat coughs up. Totally gross. I threw the bag out because I was freaked out. So I went and got another bag and this bag is just awful; just crumbs and dust with lots of stick pieces that look black and moldy. Not impressed.

[RabbitPam]

I currently am feeding an Oxbow bag of Oat hay but it’s a small bag. The only reason I have it is because BB had a bad year around 6 months to a year ago for Mature Oat hay, and had trouble getting enough to make the usual mini bales. (I think I’m remembering that correctly.) By bad year I mean that crops nationally had a generally off year, which makes me think that those large bags you all have been having trouble with might have come from a bad crop year that’s been stored. So when everyone gets sent a new fresh bag after complaining, it’s because the sellers know that they can now replace it with a better crop.

I can’t wait until BB gets her mini bales in stock again. Sammy eats the Oxbow, but she inhales like a starving waif her BB hay.

[bunnnnnnie!]

It’s nowhere as creepy as hair/feathers, but within the last 2 weeks I’ve bought 4 bags of Oxbow hay.  ALL of them were dusty, and ALL of them had those little plastic things that hold the bag closed at the top in them.  And it wasn’t the one that came on the bag that fell in, it was a random extra one in the hay.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I forgot to mention I also found about half a dozen grasshoppers and moths.

[Elrohwen]

I buy the 50lb boxes of Oxbow timmy hay and my recent box is “harder” than the previous one. My allergies also seem worse to it. Typically I have no allergies to their hay (even working in a rescue with dust everywhere), though I am technically allergic to timmy grass (and every other plant on the face of the earth). They definitely vary by batch.

I haven’t found anything gross in their hay, though I probably wouldn’t care since it’s grass and things do get in there (I’d probably care more in a small bag, but in processing 50lb boxes I’m sure things will be missed)

[angie-la]

I posted awhile ago that I too, was having the same problems. I started breaking out and sneezing uncontrollably, so I switched to Orchard hay. it’s been much better =]

[bunnyfriend]

Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 01/25/2012 01:26 PM
I forgot to mention I also found about half a dozen grasshoppers and moths.

Oh no :/ now I’m afraid to stick my hand in the hay box.

[LittlePuffyTail]

And that was in the supposedly “Hand Sorted” bags.

[Bacuzoro]

Oh boy, so it definitely seems like this type has a lot of issues. I am getting my new batch delivered today so I will let you guys know how that one works out. In the mean time I have been using Kaytee Timothy hay because that’s what they stock at the local pet store. Its way overprice, but I could stick my whole arm in the bag with no allergy issues.

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