I bought standlee Timothy compressed hay bale (50 lb) for the first time; there were brown mixed in throughout as well as dust. It smelled musty too, not sweet. I have three rabbits, and they barely ate it. The quality is very different from the 10 lb Standlee Timothy I buy from Amazon. Can you guys look at the picture and tell me if this is good hay or are my rabbits too picky? Thanks! I was also told by a store manager at Tractor Supply that hay that looks vibrant green were dyed to be that color to attract the rabbits. Is that right?
Is this good hay?
- Thread starter Lilsakli
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I've found with the Standlee, it's a good deal, but you occasionally get a bad bale. My current bale is amazing, but this isn't always the case...
The mustiness would concern me. It's probably old and got wet in transit or storage. Were it mine, I would throw it out and get a new one. Maybe ask the store if you can swap it out. Any feed store should understand that feed grass that's musty isn't good for animals.
Even if they won't, I'd still throw it out and get new hay!
The mustiness would concern me. It's probably old and got wet in transit or storage. Were it mine, I would throw it out and get a new one. Maybe ask the store if you can swap it out. Any feed store should understand that feed grass that's musty isn't good for animals.
Even if they won't, I'd still throw it out and get new hay!
The hay itself looks fine, as far as I can tell from the photo, but it's the musty smell that would concern me too. Good grass hay should have a sweet grassy or tobaccoish smell to it. Bad hay with mold growth, will smell sour or musty, may have white or black spots, may be damp in the bale, and may have a whitish dust to it.
If your rabbits won't eat it, and it is in fact musty smelling, this is a pretty good sign that it could have mold growth, which would make it very bad to feed to your rabbits. Moldy hay can make them very sick. I would return it. Exchange it if they have hay from a different batch, otherwise get hay somewhere else.
Standlee hay can vary in quality. I've ended up with some perfect bales from them and some that were absolute crap. It is a good deal if you manage to end up with a good bale.
If your rabbits won't eat it, and it is in fact musty smelling, this is a pretty good sign that it could have mold growth, which would make it very bad to feed to your rabbits. Moldy hay can make them very sick. I would return it. Exchange it if they have hay from a different batch, otherwise get hay somewhere else.
Standlee hay can vary in quality. I've ended up with some perfect bales from them and some that were absolute crap. It is a good deal if you manage to end up with a good bale.
Niomi
Well-Known Member
I have had problems getting good hay last year, so now I get my hay from Chewy.com. I get Oxbow Orchard grass. It is very expensive in bags from the store. I get it in a 50 pound bale from Chewy, and it is still expensive compared to buying it from a farm, but cheap compared to a pet store. I don't believe that the hay is dyed green. The reason it is better quality is because it is hand sorted, and the brown has been picked out of it, and you pay extra for that. It also has less waste. When I was getting good hay from a farm, there was always some brown in it. My rabbits would eat the green and leave the brown. It was a much cheaper price, but my rabbits went through it faster. I agree with JBun. I have gotten some very good hay from farms, and I would still be buying from a farm is there was a good one in my area.
Deludedbyreality
Well-Known Member
This exactly! ^^^ I have fed mine Standlee for years and there are always some that are no good depending on storage conditions. I try to be very careful when picking mine from their stack; no holes in the packaging type of situation. Even then you'll get one every now and then. Their bales will definitely have lots of silt or dust just because of the length of time in storage and handling in transit. The stuff is massively harvested and the compacted not shaken and loosely packed. I've never bought a large quantity of hay packaged this way where this wasn't a problem. Inspect the hay closely and look for moldy bits as JBun said. The brown mixed in is just overripe and dead when they harvest, still fiber and good for your buns though, and they will eat it or pick thru it depending on the rabbit...If your buns are used to another kind you should try blending that in with the new. I sometimes also blend in some of the botanical mix from Oxbow as a treat or if they're getting snooty and not eating their hay as much as they should.
I have to say that I don´t think Rabbits really can be too picky about hay. If they don´t want to eat it they might sense something in there that my human nose cannot. But they sure can be picky about a lot of other things 
Bonnies are simply just amazing
❤
Bonnies are simply just amazing
❤
Deludedbyreality
Well-Known Member
Oh they definitely can in my experience. Consider yourself blessed if yours have not been. I've had a couple pull their hay baskets out of their enclosures, toss it all around and then track it through the house, pushing it out of their space. They were very opinionated on that batch and let me know rather quickly it didn't pass inspection.I have to say that I don´t think Rabbits really can be too picky about hay. If they don´t want to eat it they might sense something in there that my human nose cannot. But they sure can be picky about a lot of other things
Bonnies are simply just amazing
Thank you so much for your reply Deludedbyreality. That´s what I like so much about rabbitsonline. A loving and caring community where we can do life together and learn !!!
!!!Idk about if that hay is good or not. But I can comment on the picky part.Oh they definitely can in my experience. Consider yourself blessed if yours have not been. I've had a couple pull their hay baskets out of their enclosures, toss it all around and then track it through the house, pushing it out of their space. They were very opinionated on that batch and let me know rather quickly it didn't pass inspection.
I’m a foster and I was given hay that my divas wouldn’t touch so I tricked them by mixing it with the sweeter smelling hay now they will eat the hay they wouldn’t before. Kind of like mixing veggies in with Mac n cheese for kids.
Actually if you know of any farm or ranch that has cattle or milk cow, you could give the hay to them. Then it wouldn't be wasted. And maybe they would give you a few bucks $ for it.
Cattle/Cows can eat it, even if it's moldy.
I buy this all the time. It’s not sweet smelling like the stuff at petsmart but I think it’s because it isn’t 2nd cut or something. The dust is just breakage from compressing 50lb of hay to a small cube.
I actually just sifted an entire bag today. You just need to take a handful and shake it off. I’m trying to find a better method.
