Hay: Mileage may vary?

[MissKris&Koji]

I ordered small bags, 1 each of Western Timothy, Orchard Grass, and Oat Hay when we got Koji. He liked everything but the oat hay, so I ordered bulk (around 5 months worth) of the timothy and orchard grass. Ordered from Oxbow again, though I waffled around, I didn’t want to order a lot of something new and have him turn his nose up at it.

Well, the timothy seems different this time. The small bag I had a lot of short bits, maybe most of the bag was 3-4 inch long pieces. Kind of hard to serve but we managed, and he ate it all up (unlike the oat hay, he’d eat the seedy bits and leave the stalks). Well, this time the bag has mostly long strands, they feel “crispier”, and a different color, I’m actually seeing some brown strands in this bag as opposed to the softer and rather green quality of the last bag. He’s eating most, I’d say around 80% of what I put in. It’s not the end of the world, I guess hay is cheap enough that it’s not a huge deal, I just don’t understand. I know it’s a plant, and cuttings tend to vary, but I would have thought that… being a branded product and that they don’t have separately bagged 1st/2nd cut, I could expect some consistancy. In fact I was curious before I bought this batch if their timothy is 1st, 2nd, mix, what, because I was thinking of buying hay from BB or something else instead, and I found online somewhere it said 1st cut but at the optimum time to be it’s softest.

Has anyone else seen this before? Should I just expect every bag of hay I get to have some variance? And if so, does that mean I should just buy whatever is handy, priced decently, etc because there is no “sticking with his preference”? I guess I’m just a bit miffed to have 10 lbs of hay I bought specifically to be consistent, only to find it quite different.

[foxtailskies]

I have gotten pretty variable quality hay from Oxbow, but I guess I just kind of expect that with any hay. It’s really finicky to harvest so there’s always going to be some variability with how the growing season went, when the hay was cut, what the weather was like during the cutting, and of course what cutting it is (1st, 2nd and so on… I hear in some climates they can get up to 5 cuttings!). Hay is always temperamental regardless of what company is growing it

That said, some of the most beautiful hay I’ve ever seen I’ve gotten was from Oxbow, so that’s why I stick with them! I do find it a little surprising that they don’t differentiate 1st from 2nd cut on their packaging, but I’m betting they think the majority of their customers would have no idea what it meant anyway. My rabbits actually prefer second cut hay, since it’s less “stemmy”, though they say that first cut is healthier. IMO, as long as they’re stuffing their face with a dried grass product, I don’t really care what cutting it is… the point is they’re eating it!

[Elrohwen]

Hay will vary a lot from year to year, based on growing conditions.

Within a year, hay will be harvested at least 2 or 3 times – each time it is harvested the qualities of the hay will change. I forget the specifics, but first cut hay (what is harvested early in the year) is very different from third cut (the late harvest hay). This is totally normal.

In general, feeding a variety of hay types is good for your bunny, so as long as he doesn’t turn his nose up at the difference, and as long as they aren’t moldy or bad (I’ve never seen bad hay from Oxbow) it should be fine. I find that hay coming from farmers has much greater variability than the hay that Oxbow ships.

[Free2Dream]

Hay varies a lot. I have found that the hay I buy in the store looks a lot better (fragrant, green, soft) than the hay my friend buys online (we both use Oxbow.)

Like Elrohwen mentioned, it also depends on whether it’s first or second cut, which affects the texture and look of the hay, as well as its nutritional value. As long as the hay has no stickers, smells fresh and isn’t dusty or moldy, you should continue feeding it.

[Sarita]

It’s true that hay varies from season to season and the factors that Elrohwen mentions.

I also think the bags may have shorter parts due to the fact that they are bags and the only way they can bag them is to cut the hay in smaller bits.

I myself am not a fan of Oxbow…however it’s been a very long while since I’ve tried it so I cannot judge it’s recent harvests. I do know they have farmers in different areas so their hay is not all from one particular farmer or harvest due to this.

As for cuttings, the second and third cuttings are softer than the first which is more fibrous.

[MissKris&Koji]

Ok, thanks for the input. I like to buy local whenever I can, so I did look for local farmers who would sell smaller amounts, but no luck. So mail order hay is really my only option, or whatever is sold in local pet shops. Unfortunately there are almost no stores that even sell Oxbow around here, let alone anything else nice – just Kaytee or generic brand Timothy.

There is a local pet store that sells both smaller bags of Oxbow and horse square bales, I was thinking of going to take a look but the guy on the phone seemed to have no idea what particular types of hay the bales were. I’m guessing it’s probably not safe to assume all horse hay will be okay for bunnies. :/ I guess I could start buying there so I can at least look at the bags and see if they look soft and green, which seems to be the preference here, but for cost and storage ease I really would prefer a larger amount than having to buy 10 smaller bags.

I will keep feeding what I have, I just wish so much of it wasn’t going to waste. It’s more the hassle of cleanup than the wasted $10 or whatever. Also I read changing diet can trigger molting, so I want to keep things as steady as possible. As for variety, that is why I am feeding 2 different kinds of hay every day – and it does seem to be working to get him to eat quite a lot of hay. My mother was visiting him yesterday and remarked how much he eats for a little bunny. So, I guess I should just suck it up and be happy he still eats a lot of hay, even if he’s leaving me to vacuum every day. XD

[Free2Dream]

I hate wasted hay… every time I see it on the ground, I see dollar signs, LOL. My solution is to sweep it up and put it in Oliver’s litterbox, to give him something to munch on while he poos.

[bunnytowne]

Yes hay is quite messy.   I bet bales from the feed store.  So I don’t worry too much about wasted hay.   What I dont’ like is that it falls all over the floor when I take it out the container to feed them.  

I usually pick it up by hand and put it in a litterbox.   The first time I saw Cotton eating it off the floor I told him what a good boy he was and he has continued to look for it.   However he doesn’t clean all the hay off the floor.   HE is still a big help  lol.

I find mine like what is called Canadian hay the best.    Yes the hay is longer and I have tried to cut it smaller but it is just too big a job.  They have no problem eating it like this so thats a good thing.

I would go broke buying from a petstore.

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