Brown Hay verses Green Hay

[chechinchillas]

I have been reading about brown hay and have talked to different farmers about it and wanted to get more opinions on the subject. Farmers have said that it's just as nutritional as green, but was just in the sun longer. I have read that it is not as nutritional and does not have that sweet hay smell that green hay does that makes it more palatable to hay eating animals. Thoughts?

 

[kerri101]

I have used different hays when learning what chinchilla perfers

-kaytee extremely green ( chin does not like)
-ox bow timothy/orchard/botanical hay Medium green ( chin likes but a lot of throwing around)
-sweet meadow organic hay ( brown ) ( chin loves this hay)

I had assumed the brown hay was yucky but as far as taste and interest and actual consumption chin loves the brown colored hay for some reason Just my experiences unless my chin is odd and loves brown hay lol

 

[Pookinaround]

Tractor Supply has a 70/30 alfalfa/timothy mixture that is brown in color that I tried once. The chins seemed to have liked it. I wasn't sure about it though cause if I recall correctly it had molasses mixed in to make it more palatable and I was worried about their teeth if it was too sweet. I wasn't sure how it would affect them...so after that one time I just got plain ol' cubes till I got that hay from you (which I hope you keep getting BTW)...That stuff is the best I have tried yet!!! They love it!

 

[3CsMommy]

Hay tends to turn brown as it gets older/stale, too, so in stores at least, I try to get the (naturally) greener stuff. A lot of commercial hay sellers actually dust/dye the stuff they bag for small pets. Oxbow doesn't, but I know Kaytee and LM Animal Farms are WAY too bright green, even compared to fresh hay, to be completely natural. That said, I live in "Little Peru" in western NY-- there are over 40 alpaca farms within an hour's drive of my apartment. The hay I get from one of these farmers is a pale peridot/lima bean color with some brown stuff, smells AMAZINGLY sweet and fragrant, and the chins go bonkers for it. Next to the bag of LM Animal farms stuff I had to get last week, it looks somewhat 'brown', more like the stuff you kick off of your shoes when someone mowed a lawn and left the cuttings to lay (which is essentially how hay is harvested). I'd say if there isn't *any* brown in a bag, don't buy it (evidence that it's dyed), but there should be more green than anything else.

 

[Megan]

We don't dust/dye our hay so by the time it dries in the field and is then baled and taken in (usually let to dry I believe a day or two?), it's not a bright green color. My guys devor our hay. As far as my father-in-law tells me there is no difference between the "bright green stuff" which he says is most likely dyed anyway vs hay that is no longer bright green.. Just stay away from anything moldy.

 

[Dreamlite]

The key to good hay is a slight green color to it. If its all brown its been sun bleached which can draw certain nutrients out, but that doesn't make it horrible. I feed slightly green, if its bright green usually means its dyed, all brown is old or sun bleached, slightly green is baled right and stored right.

 

[CTChin]

It doesn't have to be bright green hay but I refuse to feed brown hay...partly because my spoiled chins won't touch it!

 

[chechinchillas]

Okay I bought a 36 bale order of Stanley timothy hay last year and it was all bright green, but kind of a hard stemmy hay. This year I bought 36 bales and it is half green, half brown, but a softer hay, which is better?

 

[Spoof]

Hay tends to turn brown as it gets older/stale, too

If stored correctly it will not lose it's color. This means keeping it out of the sunlight.

Hay is hay is hay. Green, brown, yelow or otherwise. Brown hay was cut late after the grass had turned brown, usually in drought or the last cutting in the fall. Yellow or light brown was cured in the sun for longer than the green and will often be found in a mixed bale of green and brown. White or light brown hay was put/moved on the outside of the hauling truck/pile/stack/whatever. One side of the bale will be off colored.

Certain cuttings and hay types will also be greener. Oat hay should be vibrant green. Timothy a nice pale sea green and regular grass almost light brown.

It's whatever your chins will eat. It is well known that most small pet hay manufacturers dye their hay. I get mine at the feed store. You can go back, look at the hay, decide if you like that shipment. If it doesn't look good, come back in a few weeks and they'll likely have another.