Moldy Hay?

[Dee]

For anyone not familiar with my situation, I recently lost one bunny to GI stasis resulting in intestinal obstruction, then my other- extremely hardy and healthy bunny- got sick with GI issues and got better, then got sick again, and has gone back and forth a couple times between normal and “not quite right”. I thought some of the hay I had from before felt a little damp and that a few spots smelled a little musty, so I tossed it all. Over $100 worth. Then I ordered some from another place I used to go, and all was well. THEN I decided that I wanted Luke- remaining bunny- to have first cut hay with clover because he’s molting. I ordered that from,another place I had used with no issues before. I thought the hay looked and smelled fine. Added that in to his diet, and Luke got sick again. After a little trial and error, I began to suspect the first cut hay might be causing this illness. So I inspected it and found a few stems with black spots, that tasted moldy when I tried them (what we won’t do for our bunnies!). I also found some stems with black spots that looked like dirt, and some with a fine white fuzz. I’ll post pics later, once I figure out how. I would really like some opinions on whether this looks like mold.

Neither of these hays has smelled bad when I first smelled them- I would never have looked at them twice if my bunnies hadn’t gotten sick. I’m starting to wonder if I’m just paranoid and wasting a lot of time and $$ messing around. These are also companies that I really like- small places that would never sell bad stuff on purpose. I’m not saying anything to them unless I know there is a problem, and then it would be a heads up rather than accusatory.

Has anyone else experienced issues with moldy hay lately? I’ve tried searching but couldn’t get the feature to work. But I hate to keep tossing large quantities of hay. I would think if there was a current problem with moldy hay, other people with have noticed at too.

[Bam]

I’m sorry you’ve been having these problems. If weather is damp when the hay is harvested, you can get a mold-problem. Some summers are rainer than others in some areas – during such summers, the hay produced tends to be of lower quality.

To upload pics: If you do it from a phone, you need to get on a PC and edit the pic after for it to show on the forums. You can upload and sent a PM to a forum leader and ask us to edit the post (it’s just “edit” and the pix magically appear in the post, then press “submit”).

If you upload from a PC the pic must be under 500 Kb. You must check “insert” for the pic to show after you’ve uploaded it.

Another alternative is to upload to an external source like Flickr or imgur and then paste the link to the picture into your post.

[Deb]

Hi Dee,
I’m also in the Northeast and have an insulin-resistant horse who can only eat hay, so I’m very familiar with hay! What you describe definitely sounds like mold, so I don’t think you’re being paranoid. Are you getting the hay in bales? It’s not always obvious whether a bale is moldy until it has been opened. Just this morning I opened a new bale of first-cut timothy for my horse that looked and smelled fine until I started separating the flakes. Then I could see discoloration and when I sniffed it, it smelled musty. I get my hay by the ton from a reputable dealer I’ve been buying from for years, but a few moldy bales in each batch are almost inevitable. If the hay is baled before it’s thoroughly dry, mold can grow inside so it depends on the weather at the time of cutting/baling. For future reference, sometimes you can tell if a bale is bad without opening it — moldy bales are typically extra heavy and sometimes if you pick them up and drop them they puff white “smoke” (though this can look similar to just plain hay dust, and it can take a little practice to tell the difference). If you get your hay from a good dealer, they might replace the moldy bales. It could at least be worth looking into.

Hope this helps!

[Dee]

Thanks for your replies, Bam and Deb!

Bam, it has been rainy around here, and I know some of my hay is from New England. I appreciate the help with the photos- I’ll follow your suggestions!!

Deb, I get my hay in boxes, but I used to work at horse stables so I know what you mean about the heavier bales and the puff of mold when you drop them. The first questionable hay I had recently did have dust in it, but the 2nd hay didn’t.
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Lukie is doing great today, which furthers my suspicion that the hay is the culprit. I’ll get pics on soon! Thanks again ☺

[Deb]

I’m so glad that Lukie is feeling better!

[Dee]

Thanks, Deb! I’m uploading hay pics to my email now, hopefully will be able to post them and get some opinions. I hate to waste hay, but I would hate even more to give it back to him and have him get sick again! I had asked in another thread if red clover was bad because people seem to pick it out. I need to check back into that thread, but I’m curious to know your opinion on it too. And if course anyone else who may be reading this ☺.
Ok, if I am at all technologically capable, pics will be up soon!

[Deb]

I’ll have to bow to someone more experienced to answer the question about red clover. I’ve only had Marshmallow for a month and he’s my first rabbit in almost 40 years (and 40 years ago, when I was a child, we did everything wrong…). I’m knowledgable about horses, but still learning about bunnies.

Best of luck with the photo upload. I am technologically inept, or I’d give you some pointers.

[Author]

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