Sun-bleached hay

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DharmaBuns

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Traverse City, MI, , USA
Let me tell you, I'm not a farm girl, hehe. I've didn't grow up on a farm, so I'm really unsure of what hay is *supposed* to look like other than the stuff you buy in bags from Petsmart.

Yesterday my husband and I went to the local feed store and bought a small bale of hay. This is the first time I've ever bought it this way, I've always bought the large bags in the store before for my guinea pigs. I figured that since I would eventually be having quite a few rabbits that I should start buying hay by the bale.

We purchased the hay and then headed around to the back of the store. That's when I saw the hay.

On the outside of the bale it looks to be very yellow, and almost looks like straw. Is it safe for the buns to eat? I've smelled it and looked at it carefully and I see no mold, or white spots or anything like that, it just looks yellow. Further inside the bale though, it looks greener. When I asked about it, they said that it was just sun-bleached.

Does that just mean that there are less nutrients in the hay now, or is it unhealthy for them to eat the yellower stuff? Quite a bit of it is yellow, so if they can eat it, that's great. Otherwise...I guess we'll have to throw the whole thing out!
 
Theres are many many kinds of hay and often their mixed types.
There are also many many levels of quality when it comes to hay.
Good hay should look like what you get in your plastic bag at petsmart.
However.... So long as it looks good, smells good, isn't moulding or filled with bugs, you can offer it to your buns and if they eat it, yay :)
PERSONALLY id just feed the greener stuff but thats just me being picky.

Try looking on local classifieds next time, usually in the farm section local growers will be selling their own and may even have pictures.
 
I will definitely do that. Stupidly, not knowing what to expect, we paid beforehand THEN went to look at the hay. They also acted like it was not a big deal, so I wasn't sure if I was over-reacting or not.

I've picked off as much of the yellow hay as I can, and tried feeding them only the nice green bits. It smells lovely (even though it sure does make me sneeze! whew!) and they absolutely love it so...Thank you for the information :)
 
Can you post a picture? I have excellent hay here but it is definitely not the same color as what you would find in the pet store...maybe you are in the same boat?
 
Sure, I will post a picture tomorrow :) I was planning on taking some pics of my buns anyway, but my camera ran out of battery. Grrrr. In any case, pictures will come tomorrow!
 

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