hay

[rosalie68]

i just bought two bales of hay. they are timothy grass and orchard grass (or meadow grass?) mixed. i put them in a garbage bag while they were in my car. i have them in the basement now and im wondering what i can keep them in.  do i keep them in the garbage bag or can i put them in a container? do i put a lid on the container? can i keep them in a leaf/lawn bag?  i have also noticed that there are brown strands. some of the handfuls have quite a bit. do i pick out the brown? does having brown mean that its not a good batch? this hay looks different from the timothy hay that we buy from the store in the bags. the store hay is more thick and straight and this looks like long grass.  do i need to buy the store hay and mix it? i have also noticed some weeds or flower like pieces mixed in, are these ok for the rabbits?  sorry for so many questions but this is the first time i have ever bought a bale of hay other than the store bought timothy. thanks for any advice!!

 

kim

[KytKattin]

I am kind of doubtful of the quality of the hay if you are finding weeds in it. Perhaps you can post a photo of the hay? That will really help. Brown hay is normal, but it is a problem if it is moldy (maybe get a really good, close picture of some brown strands and I or others will be able to tell you). It should smell fresh too, not musky. If it smells musky it is no good at all. It should also be free of dust, (for the most part). Dust pretty much always equals mold from my experience. As for storing it, a lot of people use a large storage container. A garbage can would certainly work though, as long as no moisture can get in. It would pretty much be the same thing, just a different shape.

Also, do you know what the hay was supposed to be for? Cow hay is a HUGE no-no for rabbits (and horses) unless I am mistakin’. Horse hay tends to be higher quality, but you do have to be careful what you are buying there too.

[Monkeybun]

Hay needs to be able to have air get at it too, so don’t use a sealed container for it.

[BinkyBunny]

Some brown in the hay is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be seasonal and weather related during growth, and it’s fine to feed. If you see any dark black spots on strands or it smells musty, that would be bad.

It sounds like you got a large amount of hay. Full bales? If so the strands will definitely be longer than the kind you will find in the bags in the pet store because the hay strands that are put in smaller bags and mini bales will have been cut shorter.

Also depending on the cut of Timothy(1st cut being courser than second cut) then you may notice a texture difference. There is actually different types of Orchard, some softer and wider, while others may have strands than are thinner.

As far as storage goes, stay away from plastic (unless you cut holes it it) because even though hay is dry, it still has moisture that can cause mold if it doesn’t get air. I think a cardboard box OR a large cotton laundry bag would be good options.

[rosalie68]

i bought it from the rabbit rescue while i was in michigan. i was told that it is timothy hay and orchard grass or meadow grass. i just called the store where they get it from and the guy told me that its alfalfa and timothy. i asked him what the ratio was but he is not sure. i have to call back when the owner is there. he said he thinks its 2nd cut. i have no idea how to post a picture. i have tried before and they are too big. for the life of me i dont know how to resize a photo. i have tried before with no luck. isnt alfalfa only for babies? my boys are on timothy hay but julia has been on this for months. all of my rabbits are 7 months old. should i just throw it out? it was only 7 bucks for a huge bale. im going to talk to the rescue and the store owner and figure out what kind of hay this really is.

[Deleted User]

you can easily see alfalfa in your timothy hay. I will post a photo for you.

the alfalfa has thick stalky stems that are hard to bend. The flower part will be visible and turn to dust easily. The timothy just looks like grass,  thin and more flexible, it has no flowers and is greener than the alfalfa.

 

timothy left, alfalfa on the right

alfalfa up close

timothy up close

I bought one bale this year that is mixed for my youngest bun. I can’t wait for it to be gone, it is the messiest hay I know.

Now that my youngest eats timothy I use the alfalfa in litterboxes. My rabbits eat some of it but mostly it gets peed up. It is nice enough in the litterboxes because the stalks are strong enough to form a dry grid for the rabbits to sit on, and the pee just runs through. However, it does nothing for absorbing odor.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I was going to say-I bet the ‘weeds’ you are seeing are alfalfa Not a bad thing to have in hay-avoid if you have an obese bunny of course

A container with holes is best-in a cool (not hot or humid) place Mold is easily identifiable (smells and is black and white and yucky) so if it molds you’ll notice

[wiseleyd]

I am glad that someone started this thread! I have a box of hay that a farmer friend gave me and there are a lot of weeds and stuff in it too. I have a box of alfalfa and this is different. The hay she gave me is horse quality hay that she gives to her horses. Does anyone have pics of good vs. bad hay?

[Deleted User]

Well, bad hay would be hay that is rotten in any way or contaminated with thistles or other toxic weeds. Weeds aren’t necessarily a bad thing in hay, depending on the quantity and type of weed. Generally, adult rabbits should eat only grass hays and this means no “weeds and stuff”. However, dandelions are weeds and won’t harm a rabbit at all. A little birdsfoot trefoil hay treat can be a pick-me-up for a rabbit in the winter when fresh greens are harder to find even in the produce section. Why don’t you post a photo of your hay mix? Horse hay maybe a coarser cut than for rabbits but it should still be mainly timothy.

[Bren]

I hay for horses on our farm. We have a mixture of different hays to include some types of flowers that are also good for horses. I think it is called vetch?  anyhow, We didn’t do the seeding, we have only taken over haying the fields for the last 4 years.  I can tell you that brown is fine.  Sometimes you will have that depending on weather or especially in 1st cut. Our 2nd cut always looks very green and what I LOVE to feed! This was the 1st year we never got a 2nd cut because the weather was way too wet!  Horse hay needs to be super dry, many more steps and you have to be very picky before baling!  Sometimes what would appear to be a weed, may not be, you will want someone experienced to tell you.  I have a friend that I will not take any hay from because they just have too many weeds in them.  Truly the best way to tell is if your bun will eat it and if he/she does well on it. We have purchased what appeared to be quality hay (price wise too) and our horses dropped weight.  I imagine a bun would do the same thing.  This has been the worse year for us to harvest hay and alot of it is brown, yet my bun prefers that over the green nice sweet smelling of the store bought timothy hay. go figure!!! I combine them.

[wiseleyd]

 <img alt="" s170.photobucket.com="" albums="" u259="" dwiseley="" target="_blank" src="” /> This is the hay. It is stemmy and Mellow doesn’t seem to want it. I am pretty sure it is first cut, so its full of fiber. 

<img alt="" s170.photobucket.com="" albums="" u259="" dwiseley="" target="_blank" src="” />  The hay on the left is store bought and soft. The hay on the right is what my friend gave me. There isn’t a lot of difference in the pictures, but in person, and to the touch there is. There is to Mellow, as well….

[Deleted User]

Hey you actually took a picture! Here I thought I was the only hay-photographer ! that looks really nice. It appears that the hay on the right is less green and more stemmy like you said. Most buns go for the green rich stuff. I would use the stemmy hay in the litterbox more than, and put the green hay into the rack.

[wiseleyd]

Thanks! I hate to waste it, but if he rejects it…

[rosalie68]

 

this is a pic of the flower/weeds i found in the hay.  my batteries died in my camara while i was trying to take pics of the hay.  they don’t seem to have thorns or spikes on them.  the flowers are yellow and some of them have a white fuzzy part on them like they were getting ready to seed.  what the heck are these??

[Barbie]

I’m so glad you started this thread rosalie. The pictures are helpful but oh goodness… I think I might have been feeding Leroy the wrong hay for the past 5 or so months?!?! He’s just under 2 years old so he should be on straight timothy now and I told the woman I got my hay bale from that I had to have a timothy or grass hay and I couldn’t feed alfalfa to Leroy… but I’m wondering if I ended up with alfalfa anyway?

Also it’s pretty brown compared to these pictures and compared to the timothy hay I bought at the pet store but my understanding was that it’s ok if it’s brown as long as it’s not rotten/moldy? I do know that it’s not rotten or moldy – smells like yummy hay

The hay is very messy though which I hate. I can never get out a nice handful, the pieces are so long that it just keeps coming and coming when I’m pulling There are no flowers/weeds/bugs in it, but I have stuck myself on these nasty thorns in it on occasion! I don’t know where the thorns come from from, but there don’t seem to be many and I just assumed that was just part of the plant. I am kinda worried about Leroy getting stuck by one of those buggers, but they’re so rare and since he eats hay one strand at a time, I don’t think he’s likely to pick up a tiny thorn – the thorns are always just lose in the hay, never attached to a stalk.

Also in the hay, there seems to be a lot of thick/strong stalks of the hay… more like twigs than anything.  Leroy likes them too.  He’s never very discriminating when it comes to eating.

Leroy hasn’t had any trouble with this hay. Like I said I’ve been feeding it for 5 or so months and he loves it. I just figured he likes it because he likes eating anything! I know alfalfa tastes better than timothy to most bunnies, but he was a voracious hay eater when I fed him the expensive store timothy hay too. Please let me know what you guys think. I have about half a bale left stored in large carboard boxes… the plastic tub is just for quick access when I’m doing litter boxes. I can always donate it to my local shelter for their baby bunnies if it turns out to be alfalfa.

 

Leory helped me take pictures!

(I love how it looks like Leroy is peeking into the container in the three pictures above but…. my training came in handy! I taught him “up” and since he does it on command now, I was able to get some cute pictures! )

Above: close up of the hay

[Monkeybun]

It looks more like alfalfa to me… too yellow/gold to be timothy really.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By Bren on 02/03/2010 11:38 AM

This has been the worse year for us to harvest hay and alot of it is brown, yet my bun prefers that over the green nice sweet smelling of the store bought timothy hay. go figure!!! I combine them.

It’s been like that for many farmers.  Even some of the top large companies who have all the resources at their fingertips still have had more brown hay.  I also think brown hay is looked at as bad,  and though it does have some nutritional loss, hay strands are consumed more for trhe fiber quality and that does not diminish.  It has also been rumored that some companies have used safe veggie type dye to alter the color of their hay,  but the dye is so expensive that many small mom and pop companies couldn’t use it even if they wanted to, but unfortunately then they suffer as their hay is looked at as lesser quality.    

My bunny Rucy also used to prefer the brown pieces.  Jack definitely eats the greener pieces first and then eats the rest.  Vivian just shoves it all in her mouth.   

 

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By mellowzmom on 02/03/2010 11:59 AM

 <img alt="" s170.photobucket.com="" albums="" u259="" dwiseley="" target="_blank" src="” /> This is the hay. It is stemmy and Mellow doesn’t seem to want it. I am pretty sure it is first cut, so its full of fiber. 

<img alt="" s170.photobucket.com="" albums="" u259="" dwiseley="" target="_blank" src="” />  The hay on the left is store bought and soft. The hay on the right is what my friend gave me. There isn’t a lot of difference in the pictures, but in person, and to the touch there is. There is to Mellow, as well….

That does have a “first cut” look on the right, and the softer stuff would definitely be 2nd cut. (Though, like you said, 1st cut is higher in fiber and that is important)  If it’s mostly stemmy and harder, then it is is 1st cut.  Looks pretty good!  Some bunnies do prefer the softer second cut though.  Does your bunny have any teeth issues?  I know that for Rucy, who did have teeth issues, she couldn’t really chew up the courser first cut.   

[BinkyBunny]

 

 Barbie – Now that hay is more brown that I am used to. (except for mature oat that is golden brownish)  I mean, brown is fine, but there doesn’t seem to be any green.  I do understand though that could be just the way it is showing up in photos.  I’ve had very green hay look very dull in photos. 

I also am wondering if that is alfalfa because of how thorny you are saying it is.  Alfalfa is hard to handle! 

[Barbie]

Posted By BinkyBunny on 02/04/2010 12:54 AM

 Barbie – Now that hay is more brown that I am used to. (except for mature oat that is golden brownish)  I mean, brown is fine, but there doesn’t seem to be any green.  I do understand though that could be just the way it is showing up in photos.  I’ve had very green hay look very dull in photos. 

I also am wondering if that is alfalfa because of how thorny you are saying it is.  Alfalfa is hard to handle! 

Thanks BB and Monkey for your input.

Hmm… maybe I’ll take some to my local HRS and ask them.  Then I can compare what I have to what they feed. 

I think so far Leroy’s been ok on weight.  I don’t have a scale that is accurate enough to weigh him, but as far as I can tell from sight/feel he hasn’t gained any weight.  But if it does turn out to be alfalfa, I’ll definitely switch asap since Leroy is such a little piggy and rexes are prone to weight gain anyway.

[Deleted User]

Barbie, I say that’s alfalfa. Uncut Alfalfa is very hard to handle in terms of fitting it into a rack, and yes, it is messy, dusty and little pieces can get stuck in your hands from it. I don’t think it hurt Leroy much that he’s been eating it since your batch seems to consist mostly of stems. I would buy some grass hay now and mix the alfalfa in with it to use it up.

Kim, I think the plant in your picture is a clover. Clover is often mixed in with timothy as well. Clover is another member of the legume family and can be fattening for a bunny. Give in moderation.

[Deleted User]

Posted By Bren on 02/03/2010 11:38 AM

I hay for horses on our farm. We have a mixture of different hays to include some types of flowers that are also good for horses. I think it is called vetch? 

Are you sure it is vetch? Can you check? — Common vetch is toxic to non-ruminant species. I guess, it would take a cetain amount to affect a horse, but for a rabbit i would make sure the hay is free from any forage vetch.

[rosalie68]

 

the left is the store bought timothy and the right is from the bale.  this seems to be softer from what i picked off of the bale a few days ago.  i have 2 bales and my husband put them away so im not sure which one i took from the first time. the first one had lots of stick looking things in it.  is the timothy on the left 1st cut? are those fuzzy things the seeds? i talked to a lady from the rescue and she said she was told that thebale was timothy mixed with orchard and marsh grasses.  anyone have any idea what kind of hay this is?? i can try to take more pics if u need more up close.  thanks for the help.  i think i’ll just pull those flowers out when i see them. 

[Deleted User]

Kim, that brown hay from the bale looks actually off to me. That dark brown color I have not seen in hay. If you look in Barbie’s photos of Leroy’s hay it’s brown but not like yours. Colors can vary but your hay really looks off. I can see the marsh grass in it but marsh grass shouldn’t be brown like this.
Yes, the fuzzy part on the timothy is where the seeds were.

[rosalie68]

they arent eating the brown stuff. do u see any timothy hay in there?? when u say off do u mean its no good? it looks like dead grass to me. they love the green stuff its gone in a few minutes. what should i do?

[Deleted User]

There could be timothy in it, I can’t tell.
I would get rid of this batch, don’t even put it into their litterboxes. It is not just dead grass it is beyond that. It must have been stored wrong and for too long.
What does it smell like?

[rosalie68]

it smells like a farm. i don’t know how to describe it, but when it was in my car it reminded me of when i went to a petting farm. i tried sniffing the bales but i really can’t tell. it doesn’t smell like my timothy hay from the store. it doesnt have any mold on it that i can see. i feel really bad if theres something seriously wrong with it bc they have been feeding all the bunnies in the shelter this hay. looking at barbies pics it doesnt seem that i have any alfalfa in this bale. is alfalfa brown like oat hay? i wonder why the store said it was only mixed with alfalfa and timothy hay if it does have marsh grass in it? wth?? it makes me wonder what it really is.

[Sarita]

Alfalfa hay isn’t really hay at all. It is like little bitty leaves on some sticky stalk and it’s kind of a green/brown color.

[Sarita]

What I mean to say is that alfalfa is not grass like hay.

[rosalie68]

it seems that there is no alfalfa at all in this bale then. i havent seen anything like that.

[Deleted User]

It is sad that the rabbits in the rescue where you got Julia have to eat this.
I can’t make out alfalfa in the picture.
Your hay looks like a grass hay, the wide blades do seem like marsh grass to me. Whatever it is, this hay must have gotten wet at some point, either harvested wet or been rained on to turn this mudbrown color. At this point, it has no nutrition or palatibility even if didn’t make any rabbit sick.

[Deleted User]

It is strange that some of the hay from your bale is green, though. You said it came in a bale? I suppose in a marsh setting this could happen that a part got soggy and baled up with the drier stuff if someone didn’t take care.

[rosalie68]

yes there is quite a bit of green in there. i have 2 bales. i would say its about 60/40 green to brown ratio or maybe 70/30. do u think the green is ok? or is it bad since it was in with the brown? i havent even heard of marsh grass being given to rabbits, is it even good for them? i guess its good i only spent 7 bucks on each bale. poor shelter bunnies.

[Deleted User]

I wouldn’t use any of this brown bale. Even though you didn’t notice any mold, it could have spores since it seems to have been exposed to wetness at some point. You can’t see the mold spots on such a brown color. These spores could easily be on the green part too. What’s $7 compared to an ill bunny? Don’t take the chance.
Marsh grasses are enjoyed by marsh rabbits of course, and some regular rabbits like them too. My Lint is a big fan:

Marsh grass is stiff and has sharp edges. It has hollow stems and grows in tufts. you have to pick it very young when it’s tender for rabbits.

I have no idea about the nutrient composition of this grass so I wouldn’t feed it in large quantities.

[rosalie68]

wow your grass looks a lot better than mine!! i’ll have my husband throw them in the dumpster. im going to let the shelter know, but im kind of wondering with all of the ppl that volunteer for them and claim to know hay, why they were giving this stuff. thank u so much petzy! im so glad i posted on here and didnt stop giving timothy hay to them.

[wiseleyd]

 No teeth problems, thank goodness. He was at the vet’s two and a half weeks ago for his neuter and his teeth are beautiful. The store bought smells more grassy than the other. he will eat really stemmy alfalfa, no prob!!! he also chews his baskets… I think I will use both hays, just to make sure that he is eating enough of it. He is a really good hay eater and I want him to continue. He is 7.5 months now and i am switching him from all alfalfa, (from the same farm), to grass hay. he is still getting a handful of it a day and it is far stemmier than the picture of the above hay. He just prefers the grassy smelling hay to the other. This is a great thread!! I am learning so much! 

[wiseleyd]

What a cute bunny!!! Those pics look just like the alfalfa that I have from a local farm. The lady I got Mellow from grows it and she gave me a box of alfalfa and a box of grass hay. I am weaning Mellow from the alfalfa now. How do you say no to your bunny’s cuteness? 

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By rosalie68 on 02/04/2010 09:26 AM

 

the left is the store bought timothy and the right is from the bale.  this seems to be softer from what i picked off of the bale a few days ago.  i have 2 bales and my husband put them away so im not sure which one i took from the first time. the first one had lots of stick looking things in it.  is the timothy on the left 1st cut? are those fuzzy things the seeds? i talked to a lady from the rescue and she said she was told that thebale was timothy mixed with orchard and marsh grasses.  anyone have any idea what kind of hay this is?? i can try to take more pics if u need more up close.  thanks for the help.  i think i’ll just pull those flowers out when i see them. 

 

The left looks like first cut to me (it actually looks very similar to the Timothy First cut mini bales we sell.   (though our latest  batch I just picked up is a bit more brown)

 The right  looks more like 2nd cut or Orchard, but just more brown.  (However it could be another type of grass that  Petzy mentioned)  Having that much brown does not mean it is bad though as some bales, especially this year are browner. (not as in darker, but just more)  They brown hay in the photo does look a little darker though – does this photo represent what the hay actually looks like?  Are the brown pieces that dark?   IF it has sort of musty smell instead of a fresh hay smell then that can cue you in to what  may be really going on.  And look really closely at the leaves – if you even spot some dark spots sprinkled on, that is very bad.    Just double check with the rescue as I’m sure they don’t want to cause an unnecessary panic, but at the same time they would want to be aware of any potentially toxic issues that you feel you may have found. 

ETA: I meant to clarify about brown hay – though yes, moisture and sun damage makes hay brown, and in that case you would have to watch carefully (as people shouldn’t sell moldy or  dark brown hay), but there are other reasons that hay turns brown that do not pose any risk and so I don’t want people to get freaked out if they have brown in their hay.  it can also depend on how the hay lays, when it is harvested, the weather (not just rain, but sun bleached) and many other factors.   

My understanding is it more about the shades of brown you need to watch out for.   Dark brown (not good) and medium and lighter brown is okay.  

I collected a bunch of stuff about this about a year ago. I’ll see if I can dig it up and offer more references and links.  

---

   Okay…found some of them!

 

http://ag.udel.edu/extension/agnr/pdf/af-13.pdf

http://extension.umd.edu/publications/PDFs/fs644.pdf

http://hubpages.com/hub/Hay-Evaluat…Your-Money (refers to horse hay, but it the explanations of color reference are still the same)

The above resources are not affiliated with any particular product so they should be  objective.

The next quote is from Oxbow – but I can’t find the link where I got it. I’ll post it when I find it.   

“Hay is a variable product, the quality of which is largely dependent upon Mother Nature. The softer hays, such as second cut timothy and second cut brome, are more inclined to display brown leaf because the plants grow short and lush, which reduces the amount of sunlight to the lower leaves, thus causing more browning. Oxbow works closely with Mother Nature to bring to you the best hay possible. Please remember Mother Nature’s variable disposition when you evaluate any hay product. There might be more brown leaf than anybody wants, but this is just what Mother Nature says we can have.”

While bunnies are smart and will often bypass the brown and painstakingly pick out the green strands in later-harvest hay, there is nothing wrong with the brown hay, and most bunnies will eat it if their preference is not available. 

 

I personally found all  of it, especially the first resource very educational (the second one is similar with a slight variations).  It’s really amazing how “difficult” growing hay is! 

Edited to change the crazy font size I posted earlier:

[rosalie68]

the brown pieces are the color of dead grass or dead leaves that you see in the fall. its pretty much the same as the pic. there are quite a few green pieces in it though. i asked the rescue about the hay and they are telling me that its good. im not so sure since i know nothing about hay. here are some parts of the email they have sent me

—–I can tell you that this is the nicest hay that we have been able to acquire for our bunnies in the 2 1/2 years that I’ve been working at the shelter. Our bunnies have been eating it for at least one year and we’ve not had any problems healthwise that we could point towards the hay.

This hay has been consistent over the last year. It is always got brown strands in it and some bunnies are really picky and don’t eat those and some do. Same thing with my bunnies at home. I have seen the timothy in the bales in the past. Maybe this last batch that I bought didn’t have a very high concentration of the timothy, but I can tell you that it’s been in there for sure in the past.
I really don’t think the hay is wet. I’ve had wet hay before and if it gets too much moisture in it, it grows mold and gets really stinky. It rots and you’ll know it.——-

——-We have been getting “feed hay” which is a MIX of marsh and field grasses, with Timmy mixed in it. And usually there is timothy in it-no alphalfa. I too, haven’t seen much timmy in this last batch though. The brown strands are the grasses-safe but some bunnies won’t eat it at all.
I assure you what we have-even this last batch is safe, unless it gets wet. When hay gets wet it goes moldy quick, and gives off a funky smell. That is what is dangerous.
For over three years now, the Michigan Farmers have been having a hard time with the crops because of the weather we have been getting.——

i was wondering, if it has mold in it would that kill my rabbits?? arent rabbits not supposed to ingest penicillin which would be in the mold? would they know it had mold on it and not eat it? thank u so much for the links and for the help.

[Sarita]

When in doubt just throw it out.

I don’t think that penicillin even though it is derived from a mold and the mold in hay are the same thing at all. And rabbits can do pen-g injections just not any oral penicillin.

I know that mold in hay though can be bad.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for posting those links, BB.

It really depends on the shade of brown. Sun-bleached hay would be more straw-color, that is a light brown and would not harm a rabbit. It would just be lower in nutrients as the sun sucks those out. A hay would not turn this dark brown color from exposure to sun. However, Kim, I did not mean to say that your hay was wet NOW. I meant it may have been wet at some point, prior to baling, for long enough to turn dark brown. The rescue would not know about that.

Moldy hay is not like penicillin. Moldy hay can even kill a rabbit.

I suppose it is safe to feed if the rescue’s rabbits have been eating it, including Julia when she was there, without any problems.

I personally would not use a hay that is mudbrown in color. I do use brown hays when I have them but never this dark of a brown.

[rosalie68]

i know u didnt mean wet right now. i explained that maybe sometime before or during bailing, before they had gotten it, and that would be what turned it brown. thats just the reply i got back lol. im not going to use it. i don’t want to second guess if im doing the right thing or hurting them by letting them eat it. i just wondered what was going on with it and if it was bad then i wanted the rescue to know and see what they had to say about it. it doesn’t look like the sun bleached it. it looks dead. its not yellow or gold or tan or light brown, its dark brown like dead leaves mixed in with green leaves that look fine. i hope its ok for the sake of the rabbits at the rescue. i hope that i can find some greener or more healthier looking bales. we have so many farms out here that there has to be somewhere that sells it. i really appreciate all of the help and im so glad i was able to post the pics on here and figure out what was going on with the hay. thanks!!

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Just to put in my two cents, I buy hay from a local farmer and I find it wonderful! It smells great, looks great and the bunnies love it.

It does have brown bits in it, but not too much and it is mostly green. The biggest test of the baled hay is, ‘will the bunnies eat it.’ My bunnies do and they love it! They like it better than the store bought hay so I guess that’s saying something. It does have some weeds in it and some hard twig-like pieces, but I find my bunnies LIKE these twig-like pieces and fight (not really) for those pieces. The cutting that I found had the most weeds in it was the third cutting. The first cutting I have not gotten yet, I like my farmers second cut, it is nice, not too coarse or fine and not too many weeds.

I really like getting baled hay because it is five dollars for a bale, and for the little bags of hay it is ten for a good sized bag that might last me a week or so. I find with the baled hay my bunnies eat more hay so that is always good. One time I ran out of baled hay and had to rush to the store to buy a bag to last until I could pick up a bale. The bunnies hay consumption decreased dramatically and they were not nearly as excited when I filled their hay rack (this was oxbow hay I had gotten from the store).

To store the hay I actually use my old (commercial ) bunny cage. I cover the cage with a sheet and put the bale inside the cage (its actually only the wire portion of the cage). I I raise the hay on two bricks so that it has air circulating it. It is stored in my basement and the sheet is there to prevent hay from going everywhere. The top I leave uncovered and it works out pretty well. I just get a garbage bag and fill it and take it upstairs when I need more hay.

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