Bird Feathers in Oxbow

[LittlePuffyTail]

This is the third bag of Oxbow Timothy that I’ve found bird feathers in. It’s totally gross. I thought it was hand sorted? For the price, it should be. Should I be worried? I know the rabbits won’t eat them and only once did a feather make it into their condo’s, the other times I’ve seen them and picked them out.  It still grosses me out. Should I be worried? Like bird germs?  They are black feathers.

The first bag I threw out, but with the price my pet store charges I really can’t afford to keep throwing these out.

[Monkeybun]

I would call or email Oxbow’s customer service and see if they can reimburse you.

[RabbitPam]

I wouldn’t throw it out. Take the bag and the feather back to the store where you bought it. They should be able to give you a refund or at least a store credit (have the receipt? Not always necessary but helps). Meanwhile, write to Oxbow and tell them about all 3. Sounds like a problem with that particular lot. They definitely need to know.

[Sarita]

Definitely email them. I’ve heard good things about their customer service. They definitely need to know.

[Sarita]

I doubt it’s hand sorted though. They probably just do spot checks.

[KatnipCrzy]

Call Oxbow. I called them once about a piece of corn that I found in a bag of pellets- I found it when I was refilling the snapware jar that I use on a daily basis. I called the company since the pellets have no corn in the formula and I wanted to know what they would say. The customer service rep I talked to was very nice and she explained that their pellets are not made on site at Oxbow- they have a company that manufactures their pellets and that corn could be used elsewhere there. But since it was not an issue- I did not ask for a replacement, etc- I was just wondering how a kernel of dried corn ended up in a bag of Oxbow pellets.
But they do NEED to know if you are finding feathers in your pellets- if they don’t know they are having quality control issues- they can’t do anything about it.

[TBpony414]

OMG. I found a single black feather in my rabbit’s oxbow hay about two weeks ago. I thought my boyfriend put it on the hay pile as a joke and I really chewed him out over it – citing possible bird germs so LPT we must think alike! I love to joke around, but not when it comes to the health of my animals – which my boyfriend knows, but his face turned beet red and he couldn’t stop laughing when I showed him the feather so I was convinced he did it. Very weird. I also found a clump of like, brown dried moss (?) in the bottom of a bag of hay around the same time. Paying $4+ per bag is a lot, especially when it has unwanted contaminants, so I’m pretty paranoid right now.

[bunnyfriend]

I’ve never had a problem so far but definitely tell Oxbow, I just bought a bag yesterday so I’m going to do a quick check through mine. I emailed them once with a question and they got back to me right away. Oxbow or the store you go to should give you a refund or exchange.

[LBJ10]

Hmm… maybe there are starlings in the processing place that they use.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Wowza-yeah I’d call them. Do you still have the bag? It should have the lot numbers on it so they could track what happened.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Just e-mailed them.

Then bag says “Hand Selected” “Hand Sorted”.

[Sarita]

Let us know what they say…wonder exactly what does “Hand selected” “Hand sorted” really mean…

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yeah, I can’t imagine that someone actually sits there and sorts it all but they shouldn’t write that on the bag if it’s not true.

They e-mailed back this morning and said they were going to send my e-mail to the technical department and wanted my address and phone number.

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