Hay Question..

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Amy27: I'm confused about it too. :?I always just buy hay and then nothing else. I really don't check over it, or "find out" if it's good quality, or however you find it. But did the other post you read say anything about it? Or no?



Karlee
 
I think you're supposed to make sure that it's not moudly or too moist, and that it's fresh not stale. There are probably other things to look out for but I'm not sure.
 
I know that it is easy to check for mold or moisture but how do you know if it is fresh or stale? Is there a certain brand that has really good quality hay.

FallingStar, I posted the thread in this forum just a few minutes ago, so far no response but hopefully someone can help us understand because I am confused to. I guess I assumed buying from a pet store it is good quality but I don't know how I know. If there is something I should be looking at. I understand the mold and moisture and with the Kaytee hay I have never had a problem with that. But when they say good quality hay does that also mean that it has good nutritional value? I wouldn't even know what to look for with that or to know how to look for freshness. I know the Kaytee brand I buy does have brown hay in it but I don't know if that is normal or not. This is kind of confusing. And I am afraid to believe what I read online because every seller states they are selling good hay. Going to go see if I can find some unbiased sites that talk about it. I will let you know if I do. Hopefully we will get some clarification.
 
And just to understand moldy hay would have a moldy smell and have mold growing on the hay? Like the normal green growing mold? I was thinking I would recognize mold on hay but then I started to question myself.


ETA FallingStarthe other thread I started is called what is considered good quality hay.


Thanks.

 
Yes, Amy27. Hopefully someone will clear up the confusion. And I think the mold would be like green/brownish...? Nevermind, I'm not really sure, I haven't seen "moldy" hay before..



Karlee
 
This is making me wonder more because there is brown hay in my timothy hay. I just thought it was a more aged hay. Do you find brown hay in the hay you feed your buns?
 
Yes,there are brown pieces of hay in the hay I give my bunnies, and I've been feeding them the same stuff for awhile now and no health problems have came up yet. *knocks on wood*
 
I am becoming a little anal about what I feed my buns due to calcium problems in both of them. So if I could feed them better hay I really want to, even if it is more money. What brand do you feed your buns? I feed Kaytee brand whether I am feeding timothy hay, timothy cubes, or orchard hay. I am hoping that is a good brand.
 
I think my comment about "cow" hay was misunderstood- corrected: no animal should ever be fed moldy or damp hay or hay that more likely resembles straw because it is so dry. The sugar contents in hay have to do with the amount of time it was allowed to dry in the field..ie... more drying time usually makes better "cow" hay as they really don't require much from the hay if being given grain and pasture. For ours, it just gives them something to keep them busy but provides little nutritional value. I can't reasonably devide "cow" and "horse" hay as there are always extremes of both. I feed what most people would think of as "horse" hay- great quality, very leafy, green with only slight amounts of dust. On the other hand, top horse enthusiasts would call what is fed as "cow" hay because it is mixed hay... alfapha, clover, timothy and orchard grass. I like the mix because of it's nutrients but on the same hand I can't feed too much of it because they tend to get way too heavy and we all know that isn't healthy.

What is so bad about primarily feeding pellets?
 
I found two great articles to further explain the different types of hay..I hope this helps to explain what is regarded as good quality hay. I know you can look at reviews on the types of hay sold under a brand name.. there are just so many.

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-7/hay.html

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/Ext/forages/publications/ID-190.htm

I know that they mainly reference hay for horses but really I think that's what most are going for- high quality. We have to realize that "horse" should not be synonomous with "good" and "cow" shouldn't be considered "poor"- there are always extremes of both. Different animals have different needs and as long as they are happy and healthy it doesn't make any difference.
 
When I contacted Oxbow about so much brown hay in their bags, they told me that was actually more nutritious hay. I think it has something to do with the nutriants as to why it turns brown. I know that our barn hay with Clover and alfalfa will do that sometimes.

Amy27 wrote:
This is making me wonder more because there is brown hay in my timothy hay. I just thought it was a more aged hay. Do you find brown hay in the hay you feed your buns?
Click to expand...
 
Color can kind of be a misconception about hay as it depends on what kind of hay it is. With grass hay brown usually isn't good as it has been dried too much and is pretty "stemy" ie. the leaves that really give nutrients have dried to the point of falling of during baling or transport. So no, brown doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad.
 
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