Good hay colors

[Gizmo24]

In the petstore today I saw a bag of oxbow alfalfa hay, and it was the greenest hay I have ever seen. I'm a bit confused because i've always seen alfalfa be brownish/yellowish. I always have a hard time determining the correct color of hays because i've been told that certain hays sometimes they are dyed... so how do I know how good the hay is by looking at color?

botanical?
Brome Grass?
Orchard?
Alfalfa?
Meadow?
oat?

also, how often should each hay be given? Thanks!

 

[ticklechin]

The alfalfa I get is always green and leafy from Oxbow. I buy it in 9 lb boxes rather than bags, the bags I notice seem to always be brown and twiggy.

 

[Idgie]

I buy grass hay from a farmer and it is mostly green & yellow with a little brown. There is a bit of alfalfa in there and I can tell b/c it is very green and has a different texture with some seeding.

I feed Idgie Mazuri pellets, which are alfalfa based, so I feed her grass hay. (Timothy is a type of grass hay.) Alfalfa is very rich and I don't want to give her more in her hay, so I pick out the majority of it.

The oat hay that I have seen is more of a tannish color. I wouldn't give a lot of that.