Poor hay quality

[Sunshine's Fine]

I reside in the Sierra foothills in Northern California, and I sometimes obtain large bags of locally sourced hay for a huge discount, but the quality and variety (grass vs. straw) of hay varies wildly. Most of the hay I feed my two lovelies is from the Oxbow 96 oz. bags. They are a bit pricey, but I've found that the quality is more consistent than other brands.

I guess everyone commenting on this thread is in the US. Iive in Canada and I've been SO disappointed with Oxbow hay for well over a year now. I used to buy other brands, and they were fine, but then noticed how green and sweet-smelling Oxbow's bags were. I bought Oxbow exclusively - no matter what the price. I buy other Oxbow products all the time, too. Suddenly, the hay was very dry, more like straw, very hard and lots and lots of 'tops' (don't think they're called flowers or seeds, but the leafy top part) ALL of it was so dry my rabbits were hardly eating any! I bought TWO of the 90 oz bags. The first one, I ended up throwing away. The 2nd one, I looked through the outside of the bag and tried to choose the best one of all they had. I brought it home and it was so bad that I ended up throwing that away too. Now, we don't have the luxury of buying 1st cut, 2nd cut, etc the way you do there. I think Oxbow does mark their bags that way in the US, but they don't here. I started buying Kaytee brand Timothy and it's been fantastic! My girl is eating much more hay, so I'm not worried about her now. I'm not saying it had anything to do with it, but during the time the hay was so awful, one of my bunnies passed away. I'm not saying it DIDN'T though, either. I guess I'll never know for sure. She was in great health, she was very active, in great physical shape, I don't feed them many treats - once in a while a dried blueberry, or tiny piece of apple or strawberry. I got up one morning and she had passed away several hours earlier. She was lying on her side and l thought she was still asleep. She was cold, so it had been a while. I pay a lot for hay, and always try to do my best for my bunnies, so it was extremely disheartening to find Oxbow shipping such an inferior product here, and for the stores to keep them on their shelves. I did buy a bale of hay one time when I first adopted this pair. It was SO huge and I live in a one bedroom apt. They went crazy for it, and had a great time, but then I went out and bought the biggest Rubbermaid tote there is. I drilled holes all through it, then put 3/4 of the hay in it. By the time they finished that first 1/4, the 3/4 had gone moldy. I had to throw everything out. It wasn't worth all that hassle, and cost me more in the long run.

 

[NorthernNevadaHollandLops]

I have heard that there was a hay shortage in the summer, my sister who lives in a rural area in the US said all her neighbors were short on hay for their livestock. Maybe it's a trickle down from that and there were some bad boxes. I need to get a refund on a bad box too from chewy. Stringy brown hay that smelled moldy. I have a 10 lb box of Stanley on auto ship that has been out of stock for months. The 25 lb box comes every 3 months so far with no issues.

 

[Sunshine's Fine]

I have heard that there was a hay shortage in the summer, my sister who lives in a rural area in the US said all her neighbors were short on hay for their livestock. Maybe it's a trickle down from that and there were some bad boxes. I need to get a refund on a bad box too from chewy. Stringy brown hay that smelled moldy. I have a 10 lb box of Stanley on auto ship that has been out of stock for months. The 25 lb box comes every 3 months so far with no issues.

That makes sense. I figured it was probably something to do with the source. I'm sure Oxbow must use a lot of farmers though, so you'd think they could get more from suppliers in different states, but I don't know how any of it works.

I am just disappointed in Oxbow. If their suppliers aren't growing hay that isn't up to their usual standards, then they shouldn't be selling it. Or at least reducing the price and warning consumers. I have a car, so I can easily return things, or try different stores, but not everyone is in that position. No matter what your situation, though it's a pain in the butt to have to return it, and even when I did the bag I chose that looked the best still wasn't good. It was like straw! Also, right around the time that happened Oxbow sent me a survey to fill out. I spent a long time filling it all out and it was the longest customer survey I've ever seen. I thought there would be some spot on there to write comments, but there was no where to do that. After such a very long survey, you'd think you'd get a coupon for money off their products or something but there was nothing.