is supermarket hay safe?

[Yusuf]

before I get my new piggies, I wanna do as much research as possible, so I was wondering if I should only stick to pet store hay, or if it was ok to give them hay that i bought from a supermarket

In the past, when I ran out of hay that i usually gave to my bunny, I would run to tesco, asda, sainsburys and even wilko and b&m, and their hay was often more softer and greener and fresh smelling than the pet store hay

could I stick with the supermarket hay as I usually never had any issues with it as much as I did with the pet store hay where it was often sharper, drier, more yellow and dusty

 

[Free Ranger]

To be honest I go by the look of the hay rather than branding - even from pet stores - as the same brand can vary a lot throughout the year. I assume there's some seasonal changes and also the big names must use a range of suppliers! Last time I got a few bags from Pets at Home then popped to the nearby B&M to get something else and saw their hay - just labelled as 'hay' with pics of rabbits and guineas on - and it looked so good I stopped in my tracks (checked no one was looking) and took a big sniff... it smelled great. They only had 2 bags so I left it for the next owner as I'd just got some, and it is lockdown after all, but I made a note to definitely look again! I mainly check for dust and also where it has been produced because I'd feel a bit daft living in the UK and buying hay shipped in from another country - it would have been in that bag for much longer! Only once ever did I get a bag that smelt very strongly of 'mushrooms' when I opened it and that was from a local hardware store which has since stopped doing pet supplies because they had 'no room to store them'... I'm guessing that hay got damp somehow. But nowadays whichever shop the hay is from if it looks good and smells good I'd get it.

 

[Siikibam]

As long as it smells fresh and hasn’t started moulding it’s fine. I like the above poster, I won’t buy brown looking hay. I was once very low on hay and was in Tesco. They sell hay but it looked brown and dusty. So I skipped it and bought something else...which they refused to eat anyway I have bought bales from a farm twice which was okay but a little too stalky for my liking. But my main source is online and I always smell the hay when I get it.

PS please add your location to your profile. County or country is enough

 

[*kate*]

I've had some nice green soft hay from Tesco in the past.