Dust vs mold on hay

[JackRabbit]

I buy hay in bulk.  One of the places I order from stores their hay in their barn and boxes it as ordered.  I normally dont have problems with the hay, but this last box of orchard grass hay is dusty — not the powdery stuff thats between flakes, but dust that makes a little cloud when I pulled a handful from the very top of the box.  Is it just normal dust or mold dust? It doesnt smell sour, and the farm is located in an area that has very low humidity and max 85 degrees in the Summer.  It has a stronger smell than lower down in the box but, and the smell is a little different than the rest but doesnt smell bad.  Also, I know they add extra to the box when I order more than one box (ex, box of timothy and a box of orchard grass).

I mix tim & orchard together when making my “weekly” boxes, and have already given my buns some of the new hay (one days worth).  Does it sound ok to give them or should I pull the hay, dump this weeks 3 “weekly” boxes and only give them the new timothy until I can speak with the farmer on Tuesday?

Edit:  I pulled most of the hay for he weekly boxes from the 2nd flake but it had some dust at the outer edges. Its not tons of dust but I’ve just never noticed this before.  Ive looked on line and nothing really explains how to tell if this dust is ok to just blow it off.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

It’s easy to tell moldy hay from ok hay-moldy hay is going to smell bad. Any hay that is ok to give will smell good-like hay. If you can stick your nose in and inhale without making a face after, it should be fine.

However I did get a batch of hay that was too dusty for my guys-we had sniffles and runny eyes (not bad but something was up!), I stopped the hay and cleaned the pen -bought some oxbow and they were fine-so it really was the hay was too dusty. So be aware that it may be too dusty and prepare to remove it if needed.

[JackRabbit]

Thanks.

I keep hearing everyone recommending Oxbow. Every time I’ve bought a bag at the pet store, the hay is super short pieces (2 to 3 inches max) and lots of powdery stuff. Usually very stalky too. I’ve thought about ordering it in bulk (Drs Foster & Smith?) but worry that its been sitting in a warehouse boxed up forever, and still wont know if I’m going to end up with the same thing as the store bag. Do you know of any US online sources with fresh 2nd cut Oxbow timothy and/or orchard grass hay?

[sodapop]

Hi,

Have you tried leithpetworks.com they deliver all sizes of oxbow hay but I don’t know if they carry the second cut by oxbow.. I do know they have second cut from American pet diner there.. and my bunny will only eat that kind. It’s a great website for your rabbits!!

hope this helps

[sodapop]

PS sorry it’s leithpetwerks.com oops! confusing

[JackRabbit]

I started out using Small Pet Select but the hay they gave right now in 2nd cut timothy is so stalky (and they apparently bought a ton of it). I ordered some of their 3rd cut but my storage room got too hot and humid before I could use much and I was afraid it had gotten moist. Right now, SPS is my backup plan.

Edit:  I tried APD last Fall (ordred direct).  It had rope and other non-hay things in it and shipping was outrageous. I’ve also tried KM (30% brown), and SweetMeadow (very brown, seemed damp, and actually had moss in it).  I got a sample from Bunny Bales – was green, but apparfently they only sell 1st cut.  Haven’t tried Farmer Dave (?). I went on a hay sampling spree last Fall!

Edit again:  I’ve never bought hay from leithpetwerks but have bought lots of other things from him.  He’s so nice.  I would trust him to tell me how long the hay had been around and what it looked like.

[sodapop]

Oh wow, never had a problem with the quality with APD and yes the shipping is horrible from there website. so I go with the rabbit website instead. I have been wanting to try small pet select but I don’t dare buy a big box just in case he won’t eat it. Do they offer in smaller than a 5lb. box?

i too have been hay obsessed He’s so picky!

[JackRabbit]

The rabbit website?

You could call SPS and see if he’d send you a sample. The smallest I’ve ever ordered from there was 10 lbs but I want to say they sell 5 (cant remember if thats only when combined with pellets or not.) Dont know where you are but he’s now got a second location so hay ships faster to East coast now.

Bad thing about sampling hay is that each season’s crop varies with the weather.

[JackRabbit]

KandK – Ok, hubby and I both smelled the hay up close. It doesnt smell bad but is dusty. I pulled the top flake off and tossed it. Hopefully that will help. Will definitely keep an eye out for sneezing and/or runny eyes. They haven’t eaten tons of the hay yet, and it is mixed 50/50 with timothy hay that isnt dusty. I put out a basket of oat hay last night too so that’s all they were interested in (apparently oat hay is very special hay!)

Will I definitely notice runny eyes even though two of mine thoroughly groom each other?

[LongEaredLions]

I don’t know if this was mentioned, but the mini-bales in the BB store are good too!
You will notice runny eyes. Even if they groom each other the fur around the eye will likely not stand up normally. Bunny spit can only do so much.

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