Dusty Oxbow Alfalfa

[MelodyR]

I get my timothy hay from Kleenmama's but thought her current alfalfa was a bit stem-y, so I bought a bag of some nice green alfalfa Oxbow at the store. The chinnies loved it.

So when I ordered my 50 lb guinea pig food from Oxbow, I added 25 lbs of alfalfa hay as well. They said it was nice and green.

Well, it pretty much is -- BUT it is the dustiest hay I have ever seen! It's not moldy and doesn't smell funny, more like it picked up a bunch of dust during the harvesting or something. I'm thinking also maybe because it comes in pads (like baled hay) as opposed to the loose stuff in the smaller bags. There wasn't a pile of dirt in the box or anything, more like when you break it apart. I tried shaking out as much as I could, it definitely looks more like dirt. Is this harmful to feed them as long as I shake it out first? It neither looks nor smells bad.

 

[tunes]

I've never had a dusty box from Oxbow, but if it was me, I would contact them and request a replacement. I'm not a fan of dust flying up in my face every time I touch the hay box, and dust can be a sign of mold. I have always been a die hard Oxbow fan (never liked Kleenmama's) but since they no longer sell directly from Oxbow, but go through big corporations, their quality may be suffering.