GRRRRRRRRR @ hay companies

[LittlePuffyTail]

I am getting so freaking frustrated.  I’ve searched forever and finally found a hay company I’m happy with. I’ve been using Sunseed Timothy hay for a while now and been pretty happy with it until the last month or so. I’ve ended up wasting about $30.00 of it so far.

I buy the hay and it looks fine, all nice and green and then I bring it home and notice it doesn’t smell as sweet as usual and that pretty much every brown piece of hay has what I think is mold on it. Can that be mold when all the green pieces are perfectly fine?

So now I diligently sort through my hay for 20 minutes before feeding it to them, checking all the brown pieces because I know mold can make them sick.

It also sucks that to get my $ back I have to send the remaining bag back to the company which would cost me like twice what I paid just to ship it to the company.

 

[Sarita]

Well brown pieces aren’t necessarily moldy pieces. Most of the hay I order always has brown pieces and depending on many factors sometimes it has more brown than others.

You would want to be concerned more about the dusty type hay at the bottom of the box than the brown pieces.

[ConnBunnies]

I don’t know where you are getting your hay but I was not happy with the commercial types of hay. I bought two types from Oxbow and Hopscotch nibbled on it but I threw most of it away. I called the rescue where I found Hopscotch and they gave me the name of two local farms that sell hay by the bale for $6.00. Have you ever seen a real bale of hay?! It took up the whole back end of my Suburban! We bought a large Rubbermaid tub to store it in and all is well. The rescue also said that they would be able to set me up with another bunny owner to ‘share the bale’ if I thought that it was too much to purchase at one time.

Have you tried contacting your local rescue or looking for adds in the paper or on Craig’s List to see if any farms sell hay locally?

It is worth a try.

Valerie

[skunklionshow]

I had major hay issues…trying to find what was Yummy and nutritious.  I contacted agricultural schools and local farms.  I even posted on craigslist for input.  I was directed to several feed stores, but they were in the next county and just not convenient to get to.  I now getting binky hay.  The other thought is I know some feed & farm places sell their hay on ebay, if you’re up for that do a search on ebay.  Else I know that you can order hay & food directly from Oxbow—I’m not sure if that’s true for Canada.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I just spent like literally an hour sorting through their supper hay. I’m so frustrated over this.

I know that the brown pieces are not all bad but the brown pieces I’m concerned about are brown with little black spots on them. It’s weird, while I’m looking at the hay some brown pieces have black spots and some don’t so I just take em all out. The green pieces and fuzzies are nice though. I know I’m being way overcautious but I sort of scared the crap out of myself reading about mycotoxins.

I’ve totally depleted any and all possible hay sources. I literally have tried every brand of store bought available in my area. The most consistent is the one I’m using now.

I have a horse and can actually get free hay if I want to by the bale but I don’t 100% trust that hay either as when I am doing chores at the barn sometimes I end up tossing out some flakes because they have mold clumps.

I’m so frustrated. My only other option is to order hay online which would be very expensive because I would probably have to buy from the states and have no guarantee it will be any better than this hay.

[LittlePuffyTail]

How common is this toxin disease in rabbits? I’m pretty sure no other rabbit owner who buys this brand sorts through it for an hour like me.

[Gravehearted]

I’d be very frustrated too! I am not sure about the black spots – that does sound strange. but – the brown spots is pretty normal. I don’t think the toxin disease is all that common, but looking at some articles online hay doesn’t even have to be moldy to have the toxins developing: http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/myco.html

I order my hay from kmshayloft.com and it’s excellent quality – they’re up in Washington state, so it may be the shipping isn’t quite as bad as other places.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Thanks Gravehearted. I will check out that hay site. I guess shipping may be cheaper than throwing out half the hay I buy. If you say it’s good, I trust your judgment

[Lo]

I also use the Sunseed Timothy hay but I’ve never noticed any problems with it. I’ll go through the bag when I get home tonight and take a closer look….

[Lo]

alright I went through the bag last night. Still smelled really sweet and there were minimal brown pieces – no spots.

Maybe there was a bad batch sent to your area? Have you tried purchasing the same brand from a different store?

[osprey]

It could also be that the hay left the factory in good shape, but was not properly cared for in transit or at the store.  If hay is allowed to stay for any length of time in a humid environment, the mold can develop while it is in the packaging.  I did this once by sealing a flake of hay in a plastic trash bag in my garage.  The hay never got wet, but spoiled from the trapped moisture in air in the bag.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I just emailed those guys to see how much shipping to my neck of the woods would be….How much hay is 25lbs? I think that’s must be tonnes hey?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I e-mailed the company too but they have yet to respond.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Well when we move and start a shelter we can split the shipping on the hay

[LittlePuffyTail]

That would rock.

[kimberleyanddarren]

i just buy my hay from a pet store and i have had no trouble with it although i do mix it with good quality hay which i have to have shipped to me

[Author]

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