Hay quality???

[kerri101]

My chin ate Kaytee hay fine before as the people didnt give her hay at the petstore...I wanted her to have yummy hay so I bought Oxbox hay I hear its better quality....

question is there is no sell by date.....the kaytee actually is very greener off the Oxbox which is less green and seems to less color....is the hay oxbow possible bad I dont want her to have bad hay.....or is this normal??

the oxbow does smell better though

TY

 

[Lillybabe]

I don't think greener always means better. Often the Kaytee hay sits on the shelf a long time. You can tell freshness by smell, appearance and how dusty the hay is. If there are a ton of crumbs/dust in the bottom then it is very possible it's been on the shelf a long time. I have always heard great things about Oxbow hays. The other concern with Kaytee is that they add veggies and such to some of their hays. I'm not sure what other risks there are but Kaytee items are generally just not very high quality.

 

[kerri101]

I don't think greener always means better. Often the Kaytee hay sits on the shelf a long time. You can tell freshness by smell, appearance and how dusty the hay is. If there are a ton of crumbs/dust in the bottom then it is very possible it's been on the shelf a long time. I have always heard great things about Oxbow hays. The other concern with Kaytee is that they add veggies and such to some of their hays. I'm not sure what other risks there are but Kaytee items are generally just not very high quality.

Yes Kaytee has a LOT of dust/loose tiny crushed hay pieces.....I only had the straight hay no mixed....as I wanted Chin-Chin to have the best diet hench the switch...she seems to like the new hay usually she wont take it right off when I change the hay daily but when I offered her some oxbow she seemed to like it....and I agree Kaytee products are junk I was looking and the stuff they have for chinchillas is insane I saw this honey/very high sugar nut berry bar for chins and am so glad I know not to give her that bad stuff!

 

[starrynight0621]

I heard kaytee dyes their hay green

 

[meiying]

I heard kaytee dyes their hay green

WHAT!!:window: that's just wrong....

 

[mark miller]

The color of the hay usually varies based on what time of the year they cut it and how long it sits in the field and dries. I get prairie hay from a horse breeder and it's a little different color green every time I get it throughout the year. The animals seem to like it just the same whether it's greener or a little browner.

 

[Spoof]

Why don't you give your chinnie the hay and see what she thinks about it? They won't touch bad hay.

What Mark said about color/processing is true. )

You can tell freshness by smell, appearance and how dusty the hay is. If there are a ton of crumbs/dust in the bottom then it is very possible it's been on the shelf a long time.

Not true. All of those qualities are from the hay processing Mark mentioned.

When stored correctly out of the sunlight hay will look just as fresh as the day it was put up years later. I've got some Timothy that has been in a box in my laundry room for a year and a half now that still smells like it was cut yesterday and is just as green as when I put it in there. I'm slowly using it and the chins still go nuts over it. When the cutting is good again I'll pick up another bale and store it the same way.

 

[Lillybabe]

Not true. All of those qualities are from the hay processing Mark mentioned.

I am not sure how my statement was not true. I did not say dusty hay was not still good but the hay will continue to break down as it's moved about a petstore. Appearance and smell can tell you if the hay is moldly or musty hence not being good. Yes the act of processing hay will create some dust and yes it can be different colors. That doesn't mean that appearance, smell and dust level can't tell you a lot about how long hay has been on the shelf, how fresh it is and how high quality it is overall. This is how I was taught to check hay on this forum long ago when it was Chins & Quills.

 

[kerri101]

I heard kaytee dyes their hay green

oh wow that is crazy....kaytee hay as always looked grean green like a shamrock.....but Its been a bit now....

I did notice with the oxbow I am not getting as much hay waste.....as soon as I was 1/2 through the kaytee it was all crumbly and gross not much quality left on the bag a waste of money and waste for chinny....

the oxbow is generally fluffy and hearty through the whole bag just going to take some time getting used to the different color....I used to buy hay from the farm when I had other animals and I do recall it was not green green like the kaytee with just one chin to buy bales id never use that much but it is so much cheaper for bales I live in a small farm town...I also get worried of bugs on the hay so bagged is probally better for me

 

[ticklechin]

Green is more attractive to those of us taking care of the chins, the chins can't tell what color it is.

 

[Megan]

I have to agree with mark. We grow our own hay for the horses (and I have started giving it to the chins, as we don't use any pesticides, and fertilizer is our horse manure). The last batch of hay should have been harvested the week of our wedding for "optimum" greenish-coloring. We pushed it off an extra two weeks, and the hay became sunbleached. Still good just not as "eye appealing". Hopefully come next season after we replant, I'll offer some hay for sampling.

 

[Spoof]

I am not sure how my statement was not true. I did not say dusty hay was not still good but the hay will continue to break down as it's moved about a petstore. Appearance and smell can tell you if the hay is moldly or musty hence not being good. Yes the act of processing hay will create some dust and yes it can be different colors. That doesn't mean that appearance, smell and dust level can't tell you a lot about how long hay has been on the shelf, how fresh it is and how high quality it is overall. This is how I was taught to check hay on this forum long ago when it was Chins & Quills.

I'm not here to argue, but I'll share some of what I've learned growing, baling and bucking hay over the years.

The "dust" in hay is what was there when it was baled. Hay does not break down into dust, and the amount of handling required to do so would severely damage a plastic bag. If you abuse alfalfa you'll get a few leaves broken loose and also puncture your skin in the process. Timothy is tough and will not crumble or break without serious crushing, even with age. It'll also tear your arms up. Hay that is dropped two stories, beat up, trampled and run over with our tractor while loading still looked like hay at the end of the day. After pushing out a half dozen broken bales you will get some broken leaves and dirt that had been baled but the hay itself it does not turn to dust. If it did, the process to create hay cubes would involve a crusher which is much cheaper than blades and a digester.

Again, these are sealed bags that don't breathe. Whatever is in there was on the hay when it was put in. If you see a white or black powder on the hay or bag that is probably a type of mold. If you see dust, it was just very dirty hay. )

 

[Lillybabe]

Not intending to argue just saying that you do look at it and smell it to get an idea if it's fresh. Not sure why Kaytee has tons of dust then if it is so hard to make into dust. Maybe the process of dyeing it turns it dustier? All I know is it never looks as high quality in cut, etc. My little guy also snubbed it the one time I attempted to buy it. I am not sure it would matter with the girls though. They devour everything in sight.

 

[ticklechin]

Hay dust is leaf shatter, dirt and/or mold, the shatter can be reduced if the hay is cut at the proper stage of maturity, cured fast, minimal handling and baled promptly when dry. High shatter means lower quality and more hay loss to farmers, its not desired.