Help! Need another way- hay=mold +mycotoxins

[rabbit@rtist]

I struggle constantly with hay.
Live at the ocean, south of Charleston, across from Savannah. "Low country" Verrrrry humid.

The horse hay in big bales always seems to be moldy. I dig into the middle to check.
When I purchase Oxbox in small bales, it comes in dusty and broken, if not moldy. It's been worse the last 5-6 years and now impossible.
Have tried sorting through the bales, picking out the pieces, rinsing off dust just before feeding. Throwing most of it out.
I store it inside hvac with a hygrometer, keeping it dry once I get it.

I've been through all the threads,
can anyone please help, places to purchase, ways to store? Anything.

I just lost a doe to lung cancer-- am looking for a new way to deal with hay.
She ate all organic-- greens + pellets, banana, apples. Twigs and chew branches from local organic pear trees.
I free fed hay and know it's crucial to their diet... Thank you so much for your help!

 

[akane]

You can get oxbow straight from storage in large amounts online. They have a list of vendors. Pricy but it should arrive in good condition. We can't use timothy and good grass hay is unheard of so we order our chinchilla hay in 50 lb boxes off kmshayloft.com . Feed stores sometimes have shipped in compressed 50 lb bales. Usually stanlee brand. That's much cheaper if it hasn't gone bad while sitting in your feed store's storage. If all else fails I'd just use hay cubes. Periodically we've had to do that for pretty much every hay eating animal we've kept.

 

[rabbit@rtist]

Thanks, akane! I will look up kmshayloftcom and stanlee.
We're so humid that bales, fresh or compressed all arrive and even locally sold is moldy or just out and out dust and sticks.
Will also check out the hay cubes. I had someone tell me not to use them, not enough fiber-- but I have seen others here mention them.

I've fed Oxbow over 14 years now. Started out I was able to order direct from Oxbow. They stopped that a few years ago so, online I order from DrsFoster&Smith. The stuff in the stores here is shameful.

It's the Oxbow that's been so poor, especially the last few years. I call Oxbow direct, and they tell me "it's dry here" also,
"we contract our vendors out now, and sometimes they are not as picky as we were" (It's my understanding Oxbow is Calumet Farms (horses, and they realized there was a market for rabbits and others). Black spots mold, sticks etc.
However-- Oxbow will replace the hay if you send photos....but it takes time, and last 2-3 years, since they went big time, shipping worldwide-- quality has never been the same. Dangerously poor, especially when feeding delicate mini breed rabbits.

Thank you for your help! I'm heartbroken over my doe and don't want a repeat!

 

[akane]

I was using oxbow for guinea pigs when you could order straight from them but when they switched to vendors there was no gain using their company one state away than km in Washington. She still runs her company directly and ships out directly despite the company growth. They just don't plant their own fields. They hunt down very high quality hay locally, buy in bulk, and then ship it out a bale at a time. Sometimes there are gaps in availability if they are not satisfied with a cut and have to go find another source but aside from the odd thistle bale which they will replace it's nearly always some of the best stuff you can get in the US.

It is argued whether hay cubes have long enough strands to fully wear down teeth and have all the digestive benefits. Some have longer strands than others. Maybe it's not as good as long stem hay but it's closer to that than not using hay or using hay pellets.

 

[3mina]

I've never had GI issues using hay cubes. I figure if the pickiest horse people I know use them then I can't go wrong with them and they're far easier to store than loose hay.

 

[akane]

Horses' teeth don't grow constantly and people file any sharp points every year or so. GI tract issues are most common in stables that rely on grain and little loose hay. The vet I took classes from complained that such places kept calling him out and he kept telling them it was a diet problem and they keep feeding the same.

 

[3mina]

The cubes have density though since they're extruded through a die. They are almost as dense as most soft woods.
They are more problematic if you use crocks rather than bottles though.