Hay Advice?

[MellowBuns]

Hi all! I need some advice about this bale of hay I have…or can anyone tell me what type it is?

So I managed to score a free bale of hay from someone who wasn’t sure what type of hay it was (he thought I was joking when I asked him about it…he simply said “it was for horses” and he bought it as a dance prop). I was also informed that it had been stored in a dry place, although there are some holes in the plastic, and that he’s had it in storage for 6 months. When I got it, I noticed it was more brown and drier than I had anticipated, and my mom was telling me that it was probably no good anymore, so I should get rid of it since it’s taking up space in our laundry room.

Does anyone know if it will be ok to feed this to the buns, or if I should just get rid of it? I have thought of using it as bedding/litter, but I already have wood pellets for that…

Some input would be great! I have attached some images.

Thank you!

[Bam]

I can’t say what type of hay it is, but if it’s been stored dry and smells good (no hint of mold or anything else bad), hay for horses is fine for bunnies – if they choose to eat it. Buns can be picky about hay. Here local hay is often stored for 6+ months since it’s harvested in August at the latest and then it has to keep until there’s new hay in June/July. But it must have a pleasant smell or you should throw it out.

[Mimsy]

it looks like straw to me. If so, it’s the heavy grass stalks. It won’t have all the more tender, thinner type and smaller pieces that hay has. They probably won’t eat it, however if it’s dry and clean it won’t hurt them if they do eat it.

You could easily use it as a litter/bedding.

[Bam]

I don’t think it looks like straw, straw is more uniformly golden and sort of shiny and it doesn’t have those thinner green grassy leaves you see in the middle of the picture, but it’s true that horses tend to prefer crunchier hay, hay of the same grasses but from a different cut. So it kind of comes down to if the buns are interested in eating it or not. It’s very difficult for a human to guess. My buns eat oat-hay, even if it looks like the yellow, coarse hay on your pic. But hay that’s not oat and look the same, they just ignore.

Litter/bedding is a nice suggestion if they won’t eat it and it smells good.

[BB & Tiny]

Looks like first cut timothy to me.

[tobyluv]

I think it looks like first cut timothy too. It’s probably good that there are a few holes in the bag, because you want hay to breathe. Moisture builds up if hay is tightly closed, and with moisture comes mold.

Lay down a clean sheet or tarp, pull the bale apart and check all the hay to make sure that none of the interior parts are moldy or smell musty. If it looks good and smells fresh, go ahead and offer some to your bunnies.

[MellowBuns]

Thanks, everyone! I will try to check for molds and all that, and then I will see if the buns are interested in them.

[BinkyBunny]

This could be possibly oat. But be sure it is the quality that actually fed to horses as cattle feed/hay is much too course for bunnies.

[MellowBuns]

I was told that it was for horses, but I’m not exactly sure if I can trust the guy on that since he told me he just bought it as a dance prop. :\

[Bam]

The difference between hay for cattle and hay for horses is that cows can and will eat just about anything. Hay for cows can for that reason be of poorer quality than hay for horses. Cows are foregut fermenters so they can eliminate toxins from their diet very efficiently, i e they don’t get sick from poor quality hay. Horses and buns are hindgut fermenters and much more sensitive.

Hay for cows isn’t always bad quality of course, and sometimes people have to feed the same hay to cattle and horses due to shortage of hay (like f ex in Florida a couple of years ago). Buns might not want to eat too coarse hay though and they might not be able to extract the same amount of nutrients as cows can, due to the differences of their respective gastro-intestinal makeups. Bunny-owners tend not to rely on hay only for nutrition though, we almost always feed them pellets as well, so our buns eat hay primarily for its fiber content. 

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