Concerns about hay…again

[LittlePuffyTail]

I had a bag of Timothy hay I fed about 1/2 to my buns already. It looked pretty  good, nice and green. This morning while I was sorting through it I noticed a big clump of  roots and dried mud and it was pretty moldy. I’m very concerned because I already fed 1/2 the bag to my buns and had to give them a bit this morning because I have no other hay. Do you think it’s okay? I’m all paranoid about mycotoxins. I remember reading somewhere that Timothy hay is unlikely to cause mycotoxins though. I’m so worried

I wish I hadn’t of read all those articles on mycotoxins, I have myself all scared and it’s absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for me to find a perfect bag of hay (well my standards are pretty high). I use Sunseed. I looked into ordering Oxbow as I heard it was good but it would end up costing me about $30.00 for a 20oz bag so that’s pretty much not cost effective

 

[rabbitsmba]

Toss it immediately! Moldy hay can kill your bunn! In fact, take it back where you go it from and tell them that they should be removing any other bags from the shevles and alerting the company. Is there a phone number on the bag of hay? Call it immediately and tell them what you’ve found.

How are your bunnies? Do they seem okay? I don’t mean to frighten you, but moldy hay is like poison. I think you need to keep a super close eye on them – and a vet check might be in order.

At least, that is what i would do. Poor bunns.

[JK]

That’s just awful.  You need to report that to the company.  Does Binky Bunny ship to Canada?  They have the best, cleanest hay.  I really do swear by it. I only buy it now from this site.  I know it’s pesticide free and kept inside air conditioned facilities.

[rabbitsmba]

PuffyTail, is there a Bulk Barn near you? We use Bourne Free hay that we buy there, it’s very reasonably priced and the bunns gobble it up. It’s ina birhgt yellow bag – usually at the front of the store with the bird seeds. It’s from Ontario….

[LittlePuffyTail]

My buns are fine. The hay I fed them wasn’t moldy. They seemed to enjoy as much as always. I always check it very carefully. Just that one clump was moldy. I’m just worried about mycotoxins. Is that true that it’s rare in Timothy hay?

I highly doubt bringing it back to the store will ensue any action, they will just tell me to send it back to the company.

[JK]

I think you really should notify the store or the company.  They should not be selling hay with muddy moldy parts in it.  There’s some lack in quality control going on and you should bring it to their attention. That’s my feeling anyway.

[Beka27]

i agree with knowls. you should def. tell the store. if they have any amount of pride in their products, they’d investigate it. i would also call the company. do you still have the packaging? if not try to look them up online for a number or email address.

[babybunsmum]

i agree… i think both the store and the company shold be made aware of this.  the store manager should be aware of the quality of the products in their store & be in contact with their suppliers about it, especially if it’s a continued problem.  but they wouldn’t have any way of knowing it’s a problem unless you mention it. 

what does moldy hay look like anyways?   i’m a little worried now.  i buy the bourne free hay too rabbitsmba (didn’t know bulk barn sells it – i’ll have to check that out) but my buns also love timothy so i get the huge bags of kaytee.  i’d love to find a local farmer to buy timothy from.  i live up the road from the st jacobs farmers market so i thought i check to see if any of the vendors have timothy bales for their horses.  if i find any i’ll need to know enough to do my own ‘quality control’.

puffy… i know nothing at all about mycotoxins.  i really hope some one hear can offer some more info for you.  i hope your buns are ok (((vibes)))

[JK]

Also, the next bun may not be so lucky. If my dear husband was filling the hay rack, trust me he would not notice mud or mold! better safe than sorry!

[rabbitsmba]

Definitely important to let the store and company know. I went to buy hay at a petsmart once and as I was paying for it, I saw that the date on the bag was six months past. I didn’t buy it and brought to their attention that the hay could get moldy and they should take it off their shelves. They didn’t seem too interested and that made me mad. I said “What if I took this home, fed it to my rabbits and they DIED?! Would you care about it then? Or all the other rabbits that could DIE?!” That made them move fast.

loud voice + many customers = action

[poopy]

I had a similar experience with a bale of hay I got except there was no mold…just clumps of mud & sticks. The person at the hay feed store said that occasionally bales will get the mud clumps in them when they happen to be from hay cut close to the ground (from the blade hitting the ground). It’s luck of the draw whether you get this, because theres no way for the hay staff to know which bale has been cut a certain way. My bun got sick after a few weeks of eating this (GI stasis) so I bought another bale which was fine.

If there’s no mold mud won’t kill them, but yes definitely be concerned about mold. Buy some fresh hay and hand feed them plenty to try and flush it out.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Oh God. I’m so worried. But like I said I’m sure there was no actual mold in what my rabbits ate. I spread it all out on a plate and check it over before I feed them.

I will e-mail the company and tell them about what I found. They will probably tell me to send them the moldy clump but I already threw it out but I will let them know anyways. It was a clump of dirt just a bit bigger than a quarter.

[Scarlet_Rose]

You go rabbitsma!!! LOL Oh I’ve done that before *chuckle* Especially when a pet store worker was advising a new rabbit owner to buy the honey sticks and crap food! I butted in and they gladly let me take over..LOL I intervened because the customer was saying, well I read that they should NOT have these things…then the customer went and compalined to the manager about selling the stuff. I am such a trouble-maker. LOL

LPT, the hay sounds like is O.K. although it is a concern. Did you smell the hay before you gave it to them? It is adviseable not to feed any hay that has been near mold as the spores can spread easily. I would definately contact the store and the manufacturer. So what if they don’t listen, at least they are made aware of it. If you don’t say something, someones rabbit, chincilla or guinea pig could die.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yes I plan on e-mailing the company tomorrow. I’m also a troublemaker when it comes to animals

Scarlet Rose- yes I smelled the hay. It smelled fine and was nice and green. Not dusty. None of the pieces in the bag were moldy except that one chunk. If hay ever smells bad or is dusty I throw it out. I’ve thrown out many a bag, Id rather chuck it then worry and I tend to be a worrier when my buns are concerned. I have to hid it in the garbage so my bf doesn’t see all the money were wasting on hay! This bag seemed fine until I found the clump otherwise it would have been thrown out.

[Scarlet_Rose]

LPT it sounds like your two will be fine. You are such a good rabbit parent I would not worry too much about it and just keep an eye on them. Be sure when you e-mail them, have any codes on the bag handy that they might need to identify it.

[kimberleyanddarren]

if you dont get through that bag you could buy smaller bags, i pay alittle extra to have a smaller bag because i know i wont get through the huge bags and i get abit freaked about stuff being ‘ok’ so i tend to by small bags more often rather than a big bag every couple of weeks

[Author]

Messages