Is this hay bad?

[Kyogre386]

I feed my guinea pigs Oxbow orchard grass hay (40 oz bag). I've noticed that the hay seems different than it used to be. I noticed this before but thought maybe I was imagining things, but then I went on vacation for a week and had a friend care for the guinea pigs, and when I got back a new bag was opened (I had bought it in advance) and it seemed off again from what I remember using before I left. Today I went through some old pictures and compared them to a picture I took today and the hay really does seem different.

Old hay:


New hay:


The hay seems more curly and tangled (there are no long, straight pieces), and has more brown in it. I would guess that it was bad, but this is actually from a new bag I bought and it looks the same as the one I came back to. I've had this with multiple different bags, bought from multiple different stores, and I'm starting to wonder if it really is the same as it's always been and I'm just going crazy. I haven't had guinea pigs for a full year yet and I'm not sure if this is a seasonal thing? I obviously don't want to give my pigs hay that's gone bad, but if it's bad why is this the norm now and not the exception? Has anyone else had this happen to them? Or am I really just being paranoid?

 

[A Guinea Pig]

I don’t think it looks bad, do you think the strands got bent just by the opening and closing of the bag? Also, the hay on top could be different from the bottom. Hay is supposed to last a while, I don’t think it would go bad in a week.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hay has only gone bad if it smells musty and has gone mouldy.
Stored correctly, hay lasts for years (it has to - it is only harvested once a year).

This hay looks perfectly fine - obviously we cant smell it. Hay is a natural product and each batch is going to come out differently depending on the weather conditions it has grown in

 

[Betsy]

Does the hay smell sweet or musty? If it smells sweet it's fine. Hay differs all the time. It is dependant on what time of year it's harvested whether its the first cut, how sunny the weather was that year .....

 

[A Guinea Pig]

I can really the smell of hay, mostly to the smell of sweet ice tea.

 

[Betsy]

I can really the smell of hay, mostly to the smell of sweet ice tea.

It's fine then and hasn't gone bad.

 

[Kyogre386]

I don’t think it looks bad, do you think the strands got bent just by the opening and closing of the bag? Also, the hay on top could be different from the bottom. Hay is supposed to last a while, I don’t think it would go bad in a week.

I've always opened them the same. It could be that I remember the hay in the middle and not the top. I know it wouldn't go bad in a week, I was more thinking something happening before I bought it.

Hay has only gone bad if it smells musty and has gone mouldy.

Yeah, I didn't mean it expired over time, I meant more something like that. I couldn't see a hint of that visually, except that it seems to have more brown and it's darker in color, and when this happens I feel like the pigs are eating less of it than usual, but that could be my imagination.

Does the hay smell sweet or musty? If it smells sweet it's fine. Hay differs all the time. It is dependant on what time of year it's harvested whether its the first cut, how sunny the weather was that year .....

I don't have the best sense of smell. I was always bothered by smells I didn't like when I was younger, particularly any kind of meat but also other foods and other things, but that happens a lot less now. I think my sense of smell has partially gone away in response, or I just developed a habit of breathing through my mouth more to avoid it. I got up close and sniffed it (I could smell it) and it didn't exactly smell sweet, but I'm not really sure what musty smells like, and I didn't sniff it before so I can't compare to that. There are a lot of things people like the smell of that I hate, so I can't exactly judge it, but it was more negative than positive to me I think. I'll probably get someone to smell it for me when I next have someone over and see what they think.

 

[VickiA]

The pigs are the acid test. If it’s not great hay they will not eat it - their sense of smell is so much sharper than ours. Hay is a natural product so every batch looks different. It’s just another thing to keep us piggy slaves on our toes

 

[A Guinea Pig]

I can really the smell of hay, mostly to the smell of sweet ice tea.

My mistake I meant to say it usually smells like that. Not that I smelled their hay. Sorry, I probably got autocorrected (that’s the worst sentence I’ve ever written, my fault for multitasking). My bad.

 

[PoptartShop]

The hay looks fine to me. Every batch is different and it varies. The piggies will definitely let you know if the hay isn't up to par!

 

[Cheekypigs]

Both of those look fine. Hay varies hugely from batch to batch. And indeed, the pigs are the ultimate judge. If you find they're leaving a lot of it behind then it's not great and you might need to give them more so that they can find enough edible bits.