How to tell if hay is bad?

[somebun]

I ordered 15 lbs of 3rd cut timothy from KMS a couple weeks ago. I’ve been keeping it in the cardboard box it came in with a bunch of holes cut in the sides in the closet in my bun’s room.

Today I went to grab some and noticed that it feels kind of different… not wet, but not as dry as it felt before (or I think… I may not have been paying attention before). It’s also clumped together tight in some places, but I think I noticed that when it first came too. I’m not sure if this means it’s getting moldy. I don’t see any mold, and it’s still green and soft and smells fine. I don’t want to feed him bad hay, but I also don’t want to wait another 2 weeks to get more!

[Bam]

Tricky question! Sometimes hay is partly clumped togeather. I’ve had hay like that, bunnies seemed fine with it. It was like that from the start (I only buy hay in kilo-bags, the alternative is a 100 kg bale (ca 220 lbs, which is obviously crazy impractical in an apartment) and it was completely dry. I was suspicious of it, bunnies were not.

Farmers who are used to hay often determine its quality by tasting it. I don’t know of any other way except smelling, feeling and looking at it to test hay unless you do a proper laboratory testing of it.

[somebun]

Thanks bam!

I dug through the bale and in the middle I found a lot of darker, dull green pieces, and a lot of brown and golden pieces. I did some searching and it looks like that probably means it’s getting moldy. I also found a few pieces with what I think is patches of mold 

*sigh* I’m not comfortable feeding it to him so I guess I’ll just toss it. The problem is what to do for hay now. This is the only stuff he’ll eat. It took almost 2 weeks for it to get to me, and faster shipping is really expensive… maybe I’ll just order a smaller bale to hold him over. Not sure if I want to order from KMS again though… I’m not sure if the hay came moldy or if it was something I did 

[Sarita]

Here’s my experience with 3rd cut – it is MUCH different than 2nd cut and it does have a softer texture which leads people to think it is “moist” – brown and golden pieces do not mean it is moldy.

I will tell you that any hay you order is going to have sat somewhere for awhile before you get it – no matter who you order it from.

[somebun]

 To be honest I think the majority of it is fine. But I can’t grab a handful without getting some bad pieces. Not just brown, but dull and grey and not green like it was. This pic isn’t great, but:

I found a few pieces that are definitely moldy:

My question is whether some bad parts will hurt him. The worst was in the middle, so I think if I get some from the top it’ll be at least a little better. I just ordered a smaller amount with priority shipping from KMS, but it’ll still take a few days to get here. I don’t have anywhere to get hay, other than the pet store, but he won’t eat that.

[Sarita]

I would contact KMS directly with concerns about the batch and send photos – they will hopefully be able to tell you more about this batch of hay.

[Author]

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