brown timmothy

[bigmak5]

is timothy bad if its like half brown half green?

i recently got a bale from a local horse stable 2nd cut timmothy.

[Snowytoshi]

Does it smell fresh and is it damp?

[bigmak5]

yes it actually has a pleasent grassy smell (although sometimes it can smell like grassy urine i guess from the overpowering smell).

[bigmak5]

heres a image i think it looks greener in picture

[Snowytoshi]

Then I wouldn’t be worried, second cut tends to not be as fresh anyway, and your hay looks like the hay we get

[BinkyBunny]

Snowytoshi – 2nd cut should be just as fresh as the first cut. It has to do with the growth period and when it is cut during that.

Bigmak – brown hay gets a bad rap. Plain brown hay isn’t as nutrient rich as green hay, HOWEVER, hay is mostly consumed for the fiber content, not the nutrient content. You just have to watch for dark dark brown hay — blackish hay, that doesn’t smell fresh. If the hay is brown and mixed with green and it all smells fresh, not overly dusty (like mold particles flying up), then your hay is probably fine. My bunny, Rucy, actually used to prefer the browner pieces. Go figure.

Seasonal and growth aspects can cause normal brown hay. Sometimes if hay bends over itself and doesn’t get as much sun, it can cause browning — totally normal. Also, less sun, or too much sun can change the color. Weather, harvest times etc can all contribute to hay color changes. Though the lovely greens are aesthetically pleasing and do have a higher nutrient content, rabbits digestive systems are MEANT to get the most out of nutrient sparse foods and so it doesn’t cause a problem for them to eat high fiber, brown hay.

Again, you just have to make sure it’s not darker/black hay that smells musty. That’s the real difference.

[bigmak5]

What about the twigs and stuff inside i found one like dark brown blackish (with small fuzzy whitish parts) i threw it out (i didnt anaylize it to much just threw it out so this is from memory). is that mold? does it contaminate the hay?

[Enzo's Mommy]

Sorry to interrupt, but last night I found a rope-like substance in my Timothy hay. At first it looked like a long pink worm holding a clump of it together. I examined it further and noticed it looked more like the twists of a rope. I figured since it is in this package, it must be okay? I was not sure. Then I threw it out!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Enzo’s Mommy: I’ve found bits of rope in my Oxbow before. It’s frustrating since it’s so overpriced.

What brand of hay is it?

It’s probably baler twine which is used to tie up bales of hay. That’s what I found. It’s a good idea to look through the hay quickly before giving it to them, just in case. I would hate for any bunny to eat that stuff. Could cause a lot of problems.

[Enzo's Mommy]

It was kaytee brand. Good thing I took it out!

[LittlePuffyTail]

You might want to e-mail the company to let them know.

[Enzo's Mommy]

Have you done this before? Will they send me a new package?

[Hokankai]

I bought a bale of hay from the feed store and got a chopped up snake in it…I’ll have to toss out the surrounding hay because it is NASTY.

Mine are picky and leave the brown stuff aside. I think my bale is 75% Timothy and 25% Orchard grass though.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Ewwww….. a snake! That takes the prize for worst thing found in hay. I’ve found some bird feathers, dried grasshoppers and something that looked like a wad an owl coughed up, which was pretty disgusting. It was like this little hairy ball with feathers. Nasty business.

[Hokankai]

Yeah and it’s a large one too, about a nickel size in thickness. I didn’t know it was there when I was moving it so I got decaying snake juice on my hand and just about barfed from the smell. 

I love owl pellets! I like to dissect them to see what little bones I can find

[Author]

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