Mycotoxin question

[LittlePuffyTail]

Okay so another mycotoxin concern from me.  I know there’s been quite a bit of talk about it lately. I found in my Timothy this morning a couple of pieces of sticks that are covered in black which looks to me like mold. Obviously I took them out but the rest of the hay looks and smells fine.Not dusty. I’m not overly concerned because I’ve found similar things in my bags of hay before and the buns were fine. When I find mold in my horse’s hay bales it’s huge black/grey blotches (like KokaneeandKahlua’s pic in Binkles Mold post), not just the odd piece.

My question is: Is Timothy hay less likely to harbour mycotoxins than other types of hay? Cuz I read that somewhere once that Timothy is much less likely to contain it. It’s more common in clover and alfalfa.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone’s bunnies actually getting mycotoxin illness? The articles Ive read make it sound so common and scary. And I’ve had many freakouts because of concerns and I now sort all my hay carefully before feeding it to the buns which takes quite a while.

The majority of my bags of hay (Sunseed) have the odd black/brown pieces that I throw out. There is rarely a bag that doesn’t. There’s no big mold spots, just the odd piece that looks kind of black which I toss out because I always sort through and inspect the hay before I feed it. I have no word of a lie tried EVERY brand available in my area (approx 8 diff brands) and they all looked much worse than the hay I buy.The Sunseed hay is very popular at my petstore, they are always running out and I doubt everyone sorts the hay like I do but obviously rabbits arent getting mycotoxin poisoning left and right from this hay or it obviously wouldnt be so popular.

I’m trying not to worry cuz it’s pretty much this hay or nothing (ordering hay would cost me over $100.00 a month, so that’s a no go). I’m gonna send the sticks back to the company in an envelope to see what they say.

[osprey]

Almot every bag or box of timothy hay that I’ve used has had brown leves in it, these are not a concern at all.  It just means that when the field was harvested, those particular plants had already gone to seed and died back.  The bunnies generally just pull these out and don’t eat them, but they are certainly not harmful.  Black stuff is a little more concerning, but it isn’t necessarily mold.  If hay gets moldy you can usually smell it, there is a musty sort of mildewy smell to it.  I think picking out the obvious black stuff is a good idea.  I have found all sorts of nasty stuff in hay like manure, sticks, rocks, live insects, etc.  Since hay is harvested from open fields, all kinds of stuff can get into it.

 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I know that the brown pieces are normal but sometimes on the brown pieces of hay I find blackish looking stuff. Little little smudges of black that rubs off. Those are the pieces I throw out.

[JK]

Thanks Osprey for reminding me I COULD find creatures in the hay! Ick. We have had this discussion before and I had FORGOTTEN about it!  It just creeps me out…thank you.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Puffy, try looking on kijiji.ca for someone selliing bales of hay. You can probably pick one up for less then four dollars near to you and it’s more likely to be better quality then what your describing is available.

[Author]

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