Finding bird feathers in Oxbow timothy hay...

[Jenk]

A few days ago, I found a bird feather in the hay in one of my rabbit's litter boxes. Then last night, I found a similar feather in my other rabbit's hay. (Each feather came from a different hay flake within the same Oxbow timothy hay bale.)

I'm used to finding the occasional flattened grasshopper, but finding feathers in hay is a first for me. It seems very unhygienic and possibly unsafe, although it's not easy to waste nearly an entire hay bale and spend $64 on another one. I'm also scared at the idea of finding a flattened bird somewhere in this bale. :shock:

Has anyone else ever found feathers in hay? Did you remove the feathers and still feed the hay? If in this situation, would you complain to the supplier?


Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Watermelons]

Hay just comes from a giant field of grass, you're bound to get anything mixed in with your hay. Nothing wrong with finding a few feathers, though if you find a bird I would get rid of the section it was touching.

Though $64 for a bale of hay seems a little uhm overpriced.

 

[Jenk]

Watermelons wrote:

Hay just comes from a giant field of grass, you're bound to get anything mixed in with your hay. Nothing wrong with finding a few feathers, though if you find a bird I would get rid of the section it was touching.

In that case, I'll just continue to remove any feathers that I happen to find. But if I find a bird--or even a small portion of one other than feathers--I will dump the bale. Psychologically, it would weird me out and worry me too much. :shock:

Though $64 for a bale of hay seems a little uhm overpriced.

Such is the pain of people who live in the 'burbs and must have hay shipped. Shipping costs slightly more than the hay! If I lived near Oxbow in NE, a bale would cost me about $30. But with shipping to my home, it's about $63.


Jenk

 

[yamaya17]

30$ for a bale of hay? That seems like a bit much still, I get mine for 7$

 

[bunnychild]

$64 is way to much i never spend more than $15

 

[Jenk]

yamaya17 wrote:

30$ for a bale of hay? That seems like a bit much still, I get mine for 7$

As I've said, when you live in the 'burbs of a major metropolitan area, cheap hay isn't a luxury that we have. And Oxbow is known for being expensive even before you tack on shipping costs. I think that's why I'm disappointed about finding feathers in the current hay bale. It seems that we pay so darn much for it, that the hay should be pristine. Heh.


Jenk

 

[MagPie]

Maybe you can say something to Oxbow about the feathers.

Aaaah the thought of a dead bird in there is a little gross haha.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We used to get it for $7 in Calif. No I get it from Drs. Foster and Smith--cheapest way I can buy it now.

 

[Kipcha]

I can't even imagine buying a bale for $64 for a bale of hay, especially considering we go through a bale every 3 weeks or so, generally even a bit shorter then that.

There's no way you can just find someone who sells farm hay nearby? Are there no horses/cattle/sheep/etc. in your area that you can ask where they get their hay?

I actually find the farmer hay I get is better then anything I have ever gotten in a bag and now the rabbits won't eat the small bags of Oxbow hay I buy occasionally to add a bit of variety, they're too into the farmer hay that I get for about $10 a bale.

 

[Jenk]

Kipcha wrote:

I can't even imagine buying a bale for $64 for a bale of hay, especially considering we go through a bale every 3 weeks or so, generally even a bit shorter then that.

There's no way you can just find someone who sells farm hay nearby? Are there no horses/cattle/sheep/etc. in your area that you can ask where they get their hay?

I actually find the farmer hay I get is better then anything I have ever gotten in a bag and now the rabbits won't eat the small bags of Oxbow hay I buy occasionally to add a bit of variety, they're too into the farmer hay that I get for about $10 a bale.

I have the feeling that this thread has gone permanently off-topic. Ah, well...

We do have a horse community within a 20- to 25-minute distance from our home. Admittedly, though, I'm scared to go the route of local-bought hay--if it, indeed, exists. For one thing, most small/local farmers can't guarantee pure timothy hay; their stuff is usually a mix of various things. I like the idea of getting pure timothy hay when that's what I order.

My other fear is getting mites again, which we did the one and only time we ordered a cheap ($8) 50-lb. bale of hay from a local feed-store. Our house was turned topsy-turvy for about 9 months while we fought the mites that set up residence in our home. That "cheap" bale of hay wound up costing us nearly $2K by the time we were done with the treatment of home, animals, humans, clothes, bedding, etc. Admittedly, I've been too scared to even think about buying hay from a local supplier.

BTW, we don't buy small bags of Oxbow from the store; we order a 50-lb. bale directly from Oxbow. (That will change in Dec., when Oxbow will stop shipping directly to consumers. We'll switch to Drs. Foster & Smith at that time.)


Jenk

 

[Jenk]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

We used to get it for $7 in Calif. No I get it from Drs. Foster and Smith--cheapest way I can buy it now.

Hi, Nancy

Do you buy the 50-lb. bale from Drs. F & S?

Since Oxbow will stop shipping directly to consumers in December, I'll need to start ordering from Drs. F&S by then. It's not a cheaper option, since it'll cost us about $64 for a 50-lb. bale; at least it's very close to Oxbow's current pricing.

There's a local Oxbow supplier that charges $85--before tax--for a 50-lb. bale. And at one time, that supplier had raised the price to $100 per bale! I told Oxbow that I couldn't find a local supplier who charges a reasonable amount for their hay. Last I'd heard, the company was going to contact the supplier, who was breaking the promise to not go above Oxbow's recommended price point.


Jenk

 

[Watermelons]

Jenk wrote:

I have the feeling that this thread has gone permanently off-topic. Ah, well...

We do have a horse community within a 20- to 25-minute distance from our home. Admittedly, though, I'm scared to go the route of local-bought hay--if it, indeed, exists. For one thing, most small/local farmers can't guarantee pure timothy hay; their stuff is usually a mix of various things. I like the idea of getting pure timothy hay when that's what I order.

My other fear is getting mites again, which we did the one and only time we ordered a cheap ($8) 50-lb. bale of hay from a local feed-store. Our house was turned topsy-turvy for about 9 months while we fought the mites that set up residence in our home. That "cheap" bale of hay wound up costing us nearly $2K by the time we were done with the treatment of home, animals, humans, clothes, bedding, etc. Admittedly, I've been too scared to even think about buying hay from a local supplier.

BTW, we don't buy small bags of Oxbow from the store; we order a 50-lb. bale directly from Oxbow. (That will change in Dec., when Oxbow will stop shipping directly to consumers. We'll switch to Drs. Foster & Smith at that time.)


Jenk

How do you think Oxbow gets their hay they just buy it the same way horse people do, but then package it smaller and jack up the price If you talk to some of the hose people, you will find some that order their hay from a transport company. usually that means imported hay... in the case of here in BC, rather then buying local bc hay... i go to a transport company that brings in hay from alberta and washington and buy my hay from them. Its usually much higher quality, costs a bit more then the local stuff but its well worth it. Thats their business, bringing in other kinds of hay and selling it. Maybe post an ad on craigslist.

Once again, feathers are harmless, bunnies in the wild come accross dead birds and feathers and all sorts of stuff we would find disgusting.

 

[Jenk]

Watermelons wrote:

How do you think Oxbow gets their hay they just buy it the same way horse people do, but then package it smaller and jack up the price If you talk to some of the hose people, you will find some that order their hay from a transport company. usually that means imported hay... in the case of here in BC, rather then buying local bc hay... i go to a transport company that brings in hay from alberta and washington and buy my hay from them. Its usually much higher quality, costs a bit more then the local stuff but its well worth it. Thats their business, bringing in other kinds of hay and selling it. Maybe post an ad on craigslist.

Once again, feathers are harmless, bunnies in the wild come accross dead birds and feathers and all sorts of stuff we would find disgusting.

I know Oxbow gets its hay from multiple hay growers who devote their fields to a specific hay type for the company. The info. about a hay transport companies, though, is new to me. Hopefully, it might come in handy for me.

At the very least, I should call the few horse stables within a 30-minute drive from me to see what hay they (or their boarders) feed and from where/how they get it. (I'm also somewhat close to a horse racetrack. I once tried getting info. from them but got a very unhelpful answer.)

Admittedly, I'm still scared of the idea of getting mites from another (local) supplier's hay bale, since that was my experience the first time around. *sigh* But I know that many other people order local-ish hay, pay much less for it, and have never suffered a grass mite issue from it.


Jenk

 

[Watermelons]

In all honesty youre just as likely to get mites from oxbow hay as you are the local stuff. However like you said about the local... its usually a mixture. Between owning a bunny and some years taking care of some horses, I have never seen mites on hay, and the hay that was given to me for 2 of them was pretty disgusting stuff. So there had to be something seriously wrong with it for there to be mites.

When you look at the hay before you buy it, check it out, make sure its nice and green, smells amazing, no dust, no mould, stick your hand in as far as you can it should be dry, it should be kept covered in a barn. If hay is stored properly and cut and died properly you shouldnt have much of an issue. The big thing is alfalfa and bilster beetles. The people that grow the oxbow had dont do anything different then the people that grow other types of hay. Oxbow doesnt wash it or sterilize it before packaging.


Some transport companys may even get their hay tested and be able to offer a nutritional breakdown for you. But dont expect everyone to call them a transport company, their just people who import hay from out of state usually, then deliver a few tons to the barn and stack it for you lol

Here are 2 local companys for where I live just to give you an idea of what these people are all about and what you can expect from them.
http://www.wraytontransport.com/
http://www.tnthay.com/

 

[Jenk]

Watermelons wrote:

In all honesty youre just as likely to get mites from oxbow hay as you are the local stuff. However like you said about the local... its usually a mixture. Between owning a bunny and some years taking care of some horses, I have never seen mites on hay, and the hay that was given to me for 2 of them was pretty disgusting stuff. So there had to be something seriously wrong with it for there to be mites.

Actually, mites are so tiny that you won't see them. In fact, grass mites are so microscopic, that most experts--vets and dermatologists--can't view them under a standard professional microscope.

The reason why grass mites get into a bale of hay is if there is a food source there: insect larvae. The bale of hay that we had wound up having moths and silk worms in it--a fact that wasn't obvious until they started escaping the bale a week or more later. I spoke with an entomologist, who assured me that the mites came from the bale, since moth and silk worm larvae would've been in it. The pieces to the puzzle fit--unfortunately.

When you look at the hay before you buy it, check it out, make sure its nice and green, smells amazing, no dust, no mould, stick your hand in as far as you can it should be dry, it should be kept covered in a barn. If hay is stored properly and cut and died properly you shouldnt have much of an issue.

The hay bale that contained the mites was inspected by us humans before we purchased it. It smelled, looked, and felt fine--no signs of moisture, mold, etc. It had also been stored in a covered shed that had kept it dry. Whether the moths, silk worms, and grass mites got into it at the farmer's property or the retailer's property, we'll never know. Doesn't really matter, though, when the end result is the same. Heh.

Some transport companys may even get their hay tested and be able to offer a nutritional breakdown for you. But dont expect everyone to call them a transport company, their just people who import hay from out of state usually, then deliver a few tons to the barn and stack it for you lol

Here are 2 local companys for where I live just to give you an idea of what these people are all about and what you can expect from them. http://www.wraytontransport.com/ http://www.tnthay.com/

I will check out the sites for which you've provided links. Thank you. :biggrin: