Color of timothy hay

[KimandCocoa]

The other day I wentto Petco to buy some hay for Cocoa. (they are having a sale -buy one get one free) I picked up two bags of LM Animal Farmstimothy hay, that is what I always get him. I thought the haylooked ok, but I opened up the one bag and it just doesn't lookright. The hay seems brittle and mostly an off whitecolor. There is some green though. What should Ido? Is it ok to give him? I really don't want tothrow out the whole bag.

I feel bad because I wanted to buy the hay from Oxbow but the shipping is expensive and I'm on a tight budget!

:saddened

 

[missyscove]

Some stores carry oxbow hay. I gotmine from a local feed store. It's always good to look at thehay before you buy it, if there are multiple bags, pick the bestone.

 

[Pipp]

KimandCocoa wrote:

The other day I went to Petco to buysome hay for Cocoa. (they are having a sale - buy one get onefree) I picked up two bags of LM Animal Farms timothy hay,that is what I always get him. I thought the hay looked ok,but I opened up the one bag and it just doesn't look right.The hay seems brittle and mostly an off white color. There issome green though. What should I do? Is it ok togive him? I really don't want to throw out the wholebag.

Definitely don't throw it out, take it back and get a betterbag.Check through all of them until you find onethat looks good on the outside, then open it in front of them to makesure. They will take it back as long as you have yourreceipt.

LM Farms unfortunately is Hartz, the worst pet product manufacturer onthe planet in my opinion (although I just took a look at a bag ofRussell Rabbit Food, and boy was that scary!). Butthe feed store just returns it to Hartz, shouldn't be a big deal forthem.

Personally, I'd check the classifieds under horses and see if there'ssomebody around selling hay by the bale. I think a two poundbag here is $6, but I just bought a 90 lb bale for $14 (which waspricier than usual), so that's a pretty big difference! And it'sWAYbetter stuff. If you can't store awhole bale, try and find bunny people in your area to split one withyou. Or try and find a friendly farmer who willjust give you just part of a bale.

Goodluckwith it!

sas

 

[maherwoman]

I agree...take it back, and trade it for a better bag.

Also, look and see if they have Alfalfa King brand there...I alwaysfound it to be a very fresh, green, and much more prefered brand withmy Maisie. If you can, I would suggest getting a bale of hayfrom a local tack and feed place, as it lasts about a year, and is MUCHfresher! Bales of hay around me cost approx. $20, but I'veheard that other places it is much cheaper. It's SO worth it!

Here's a picture of Alfalfa King bags of hay:

Hugs!

Rosie*

Pipp wrote:

KimandCocoa wrote:

The other day I went to Petco tobuy some hay for Cocoa. (they are having a sale - buy one getone free) I picked up two bags of LM Animal Farms timothyhay, that is what I always get him. I thought the hay lookedok, but I opened up the one bag and it just doesn't lookright. The hay seems brittle and mostly an off whitecolor. There is some green though. What should Ido? Is it ok to give him? I really don't want tothrow out the whole bag.

Definitely don't throw it out, take it back and get a betterbag.Check through all of them until you find onethat looks good on the outside, then open it in front of them to makesure. They will take it back as long as you have yourreceipt.

LM Farms unfortunately is Hartz, the worst pet product manufacturer onthe planet in my opinion (although I just took a look at a bag ofRussell Rabbit Food, and boy was that scary!). Butthe feed store just returns it to Hartz, shouldn't be a big deal forthem.

Personally, I'd check the classifieds under horses and see if there'ssomebody around selling hay by the bale. I think a two poundbag here is $6, but I just bought a 90 lb bale for $14 (which waspricier than usual), so that's a pretty big difference! And it'sWAYbetter stuff. If you can't store awhole bale, try and find bunny people in your area to split one withyou. Or try and find a friendly farmer who willjust give you just part of a bale.

Goodluckwith it!

sas

 

[jil101ca]

Hay will lose it's colour if it sits in the sun,doesn't mean it is bad. Smell it, if it smells dusty or moldy then itis no good,if it smells as hay should then it is fine. Ifyour still not sure then like the others said return it for another ofbetter quality. It it does smell moldy/musty then it has beened rain onor harvested before it was dry enough to bale. I buy mine by the balefrom a local farmer and smell iteveryday before i feed it just to besafe. I smell alot of bales before i pick the ones i want. I always tryto get the ones that smell the best like hay should.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

jil101ca wrote:

Hay will lose it's colour if it sits in the sun, doesn't mean it is bad.

Hay turns a brownish gold color which is very different than an offwhite that is being described. Out of the hundreds of bales I've beenaround, I've never seen nor heard of hay turning white which makes methink something is not right with the bag of hay and I would mostcertainly not give it to my bunnies (even for bedding). But anyways, Idon't feed old hay at all because it severely cuts back the amount thebunnies are willing to eat which means less fiber.

 

[Jace]

I'd be very cautious with the ammount of e. colicontamination going around. Seems not onlythe bagsofspinachbut some beef back in Aug. wascontaminated. It was more in the southern states though I believe andwas caught fairly fast I think, just saw something about it in the newsa couple of days ago though. Its starting to get scary at thecarelessness of people these days.

 

[NZminilops]

Our hay has never been green here, it's always agolden colour. I always thought that hay was gold till I saw thiswebsite and saw green hay . The only time I have seen white hay waswhen it was mouldy.