Weird stuff in hay!!

[TiffBean-44]

My oxbow orchard grass has weird stuff in it and I’m trying to figure out what it is and if it’s safe.
How can I post a photo?

[Lynx]

You can sign up at Flickr or imgur. Some directions here:
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/view ... 8#p2325058

[TiffBean-44]

I'm not very computer savy and that seems complicated and time consuming. Is there a way I can email you a photo?

[Lynx]

Perhaps you can describe it? Are there weeds that don't look like hay? Is it at all prickery? Color?

It is often useful to go to a farm feed store where someone familiar with the hay could tell you what it is. Once and a while a dead animal will even show up. Your local extension service may also have someone who could identify the parts you are worried about.

[TiffBean-44]

It’s like little branches with tiny fuzzy things on it. Hard to describe. I’m in Canada but I think the hay is grown in USA. I’ve reached out to others and haven’t gotten an answer. Don’t have any farm feed stores in my area.
Thanks though!

[Lynx]

You can also contact the company that sells it and email them a picture. Meanwhile, remove the little branches with tiny fuzzy things - sounds like a weed and the fuzzy things may be a seed that can be blown by the wind.

[Sef]

I haven't run into that, but I did receive a bag of Oxbow timothy the other day with a very peculiar odor to it. It smelled like either a dead critter or manure. I didn't notice it until I got a little further down into the bag, but I threw it out today. The smell is overwhelming. Rather than start a new topic for it, I hope you don't mind if I piggy-back (pun intended) this thread on weird hay.

[Renonvsparky]

I buy the 50 lb Stanlee bales and I get all kinds of weird stuff in it. The weeds that grow in the hay field, baling string. Once I even got a dead mouse. You never know what is in the field when they cut and bake the hay. I pick out the stuff that isn't supposed to be there, but I only toss it when manure or dead things are found.

[Sef]

I have found string, rope, whatever that thing is called that owls barf up, a feather, and a few other things. There was some kind of plastic thingie in one of the bags not too long ago. It was a definite choking hazard. The hay that smelled like manure made me suspect it actually had manure in it, so the bag got pitched (and it was a larger bag, so that was a bummer). Most things are relatively harmless and can be easily removed but I draw the line at dead critters and weird smells.