Really Dusty Hay - Okay to feed?

[BrittsBunny]

So I went and bought a compressed bale of timothy hay from The Tractor Supply. It smells good but once I started to separate the flakes I noticed that the hay was very dusty. I am familiar with compressed bales typically being dusty.

Should I take it back and get a regular bale? Or is it okay to feed to my rabbit?

 

[Watermelons]

If its still mostly long strands then just take it outside and shake it out over a tarp or something and just collect the large pieces on top into a bin for bunny.

 

[ladysown]

do you mean dusty with specks or dusty as in numerous small leaves falling off?

One is okay, the other is "be alert for mould".

You said it smelled good... that's usually a good indicator.

 

[BrittsBunny]

it's very fine but there are long stems too

 

[BrittsBunny]

it's very fine but there are long stems too

Here are a couple of pics: View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1427670966.861034.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1427670979.105535.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1427671046.671436.jpg

 

[Watermelons]

I don't see anything wrong with that hay... shake it a bit loose in a bin and the really fine parts will fall to the bottom and you can make bunny or horse cookies with those bits.

 

[ladysown]

looks fine to me too.