Help choosing TImothy hay

[meow1]

I have been giving Sunny Oxbow timothy hay, without problems.  Then, I decided to buy the large bag of it, and it was just not good. There was a LOT of brown, gross, dirty hay in there. I noticed it, and so did he! He pulled out all the gross pieces. But the entire bag is pretty much crap.  I never encountered this with the smaller bags.  Is this normal with the big bags?

ANyway, I need to order some more timothy hay. Do you think I should give the big bag another try? How about that mini hay bale in the BB store of timothy? Sunny likes the mature oat that they carry. I know all buns have their own tastes and preferences, but what would you do?

[Stickerbunny]

Was it the same cut of hay as normal (1st, 2nd, 3rd)? I have a large bag of oxbow timothy and it’s fine… though since I let Powder try orchard grass he doesn’t want anything else lol

[meow1]

Are you asking about the oxbow hay being the same cut? If so, I have absolutely no idea. All I know is I had been buying it in the smaller bags and it was fine, then I bought one of the giant bags. I thought they were the same, but I could be wrong.

[Stickerbunny]

It’s possible it was a different cut – since it’s hand sorted (or that is what they say) they shouldn’t have brown gross hay in the bags though. It’s also possible the store let the bag sit for way too long on the shelves or in storage (or the warehouse). Since you already picked it out, you can’t really do much about it – but if it happens again most stores will exchange for you if the food is bad. You can call oxbow and let them know you were unsatisfied with the bag you got. But the stuff I have is perfectly fine, so I don’t think it’s a problem with the large bags as much as that batch of hay.

[meow1]

Ok, thanks for that information. I think I will get another big bag to try out, and get it from BB (NOT where I got it before). This time if it’s bad, I’m just not going to get the big bags anymore.

How long, once I get a big bag of timothy hay, should it stay good?

[misdh]

I recently bought a big bag also and there was a note in with mine. It said that they don’t hand sort any of the bags over five pounds and that there would be brown pieces. My bag had a lot too.

[NaturalRabbit]

You can always try hay that is grown locally so you can look at it before committing.

The hay quality situation has been getting really bad and will be bad for the next five or so years (in California, hay is -2/3 the amount it used to be due to the economy). I also own a horse to whom I only feed top quality hay- and I often have to travel or give up more +$ for it. Definitely worth it though. With animals who’s main diet should consist of roughage (hay) you can never be too careful in picking it out.

[Noy]

I found that the larger the bag the more brown there is as well. Hay will keep for a good amount of time. Main thing is to smell it, should smell sweet and not too dusty. Other thing to look for is color, most will be best when green. However I have been told by a local Rabbit rescue that hay with more brown in it has more fiber, be sure it still smells good though. My rabbits won’t eat the brown since they are spoiled with fresh local hay. Washington state doesn’t seem to be haveing a issue with hay production so if your state doesn’t seem to be doing well you could buy out of state. Mine seem to prefer 2nd cutting or even third cutting if available. Keep in mind that hay needs to be able to breath so it doesn’t sweet and mold. We buy 25 lbs at a time for our 6 rabbits. it is stored in a cardboard box kept off the ground with the lid folded over. We get Timothy since all out rabbits are over a year and done growing. They do get Orchard grass as a treat every now and again.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By Noy on 08/11/2011 01:31 AM
However I have been told by a local Rabbit rescue that hay with more brown in it has more fiber, be sure it still smells good though. 

My understanding is It’s not that brown does not have more fiber– it is the same, but green hay has more nutrients — HOWEVER, with hay, there are not enough nutrients really in general — rabbits eat it for the fiber anyway, not for the nutrients, so brown hay still is fine as it provides the fiber that they need.  After that, it’s just bunny preference. 

Meow1 — So far we have gotten very good Oxbow Timothy and Orchard hay. Very green — hardly any brown. I was really surprised because with so much complaint about Oxbows more brown season, I expected to see more brown, but it’s just the opposite. I haven’t seen it looking so good before!  However, we only sell at this time the 40oz bags (around 3lbs) so I don’t know if you were talking about larger bags.  If so, I don’t know about those as we don’t sell them yet. 

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