Perfect timing for this question!
First, before I go into my boring “hay facts” speech – as long as the hay smells fresh, the brown strands are not black, dusty and moldy, then the brown hay you are seeing is probably just part of mother nature’s work and does not decrease the fiber content. Some bunnies don’t like the taste while others will actually seek out the softer brown strands. If it doesn’t matter to your bunny, then it won’t matter.
So now onto what I have discovered about brown hay:
I have been actually researching this quite a bit as I was confused after finding such dramatic differences in opinions about brown hay. But the more I research, talked to suppliers, farmers, checked out the Agriculture sites, and The National Hay Forage Testing Society,, the more amazingly complicated it became and so it’s no wonder why there are so many thoughts on this.
Even the best hay farmers have bouts of brown. I have learned so much about hay. The growing and curing process is a real science. The more I look into why brown occurs, the more questions I have, but so far I have learned that brown hay can be from a million different things. And the shades of browns can reveal what happened. Part is just mother-nature – as hay grows, not all strands reach the full light of sun, some strands are stuck in shadows below the taller strands. And especially after the first cut, hay can grow in sort of a bushy sidways manner, which can cause more brown hay. The moisture in the air, the time of day it was cut, the temperature of where it was grown, how it was cured and stored, plus a ton of other things can alter the way hay looks. But this does not mean it loses it’s fiber and nutrient content. Some brown hay may have less carotene, but rabbits eat hay for it’s fiber content more than anything.
Depending on if it’s brown due to weather conditions or growing position, etc then some of the vitamin A and other nutrients may not be as rich. But again rabbits normally get fiber from hay anyway due to hays small amount of nutrients in the first place.
As long as the hay is not moldy (black and dusty spots) then brown hay in general still holds the most important part for a rabbit – the fiber.
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