Year Old Orchard Hay?

[PeanutsPlace]

Hey everyone!
I was looking for a farm to buy hay from, found one that sells orchard hay, but he just informed me that it was grown last year. It’s still fairly green, is this okay for rabbits?

 

[Preitler]

Don't know where you are, but here it is way to early in the year to make hay, we will use last years hay until fall.

 

[Blue eyes]

Year-old hay should be fine. However a number of factors play into that. Hay keeps up to 3 years if stored properly -- out of direct sun and protected from enclosed humid environments. If it gets moist, it can get moldy and that's really bad. That can happen to even newly harvested hay. If it's baled with high levels of moisture, mold can develop. Moldy hay will smell musty, not fresh.

Hay also loses nutritional value as it ages -- mostly in the early months. This isn't a problem for rabbits because we don't want the hay to be too rich anyway. It doesn't lose much more after that first year. The protein, fiber, vitamins, sugars, and minerals, for instance, of 8-month old hay will be almost the same as 2 year old hay.

The older hay may not smell quite as fresh, so picky bunnies may turn up their nose.

In short, hay grown last year (and stored properly) should be just fine.

 

[PeanutsPlace]

We just picked up the hay. It’s stored in a huge closed hay barn. So there was no moisture. It was dark so I couldn’t really tell the color, i’ll look at it when I get home!

 

[PeanutsPlace]

This is the hay, looks pretty green. Do you guys think it is first cut orchard?

 

[JBun]

It could be, or it could be second cut. Usually first cut will have more mature hard stems and seed heads, second cut will be a bit softer with less mature hard stems and seed heads and more leafy strands, third cut will usually be very rich and soft. But that all can vary depending on when the individual farmer cuts their hay.

As long as it's green and not all yellow and sunbleached, was baled and stored dry with no signs of mold(black and white spots, white dust, dampness, sour or musty smell), and no noxious weeds, then it should be just fine. All hay this year for everyone, will still be last years crop in the very least. No new hay has been cut and baled yet this year, except possibly southern crops, which are different grasses than timothy and orchard.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Hay