Hi Guys
I would be grateful if you could help me with this one, how can you tell if your hays gone moldy?

I brought a bale of this years hay about 3 weeks ago for my 2 rabbits, they have plenty of other types of hay too. There tucking in to this hay a lot and seem to really like it. However now when I pull a handful out for them theres a plume of very fine dust, it doesnt have a particular smell to it. The hay still feels slightly damp to the touch. is this mould dust?

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Hay is naturally very dusty being just dried grass, it is normal, the only way you can tell if it is moldy and gone off is smell it - it will have a rancid sharp smell to it - not like sweet dry grass as it should do, it will also have lots of white dots throughout and sometimes big grey/white clumps that stick together that smell nasty. If it is this years hay and has been stored somewhere dry and was left to dry before baling it should be fine, damp hay is often warm to the touch in the middle too as it will start to decompose like a compost heap - in the right circumstances it can even catch fire as it gets so hot!!!! Animals won't usually eat nasty hay unless desperate so I wouldn't worry too much!!

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I would throw that hay away, good quality hay should have little to no dust, it should be sweet smelling and not musty.

If you can see clouds of spores when you shake it of pull it apart then personally I wouldnt feed it

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thanks guys there both good descriptions, the hay doesnt smell sweet like it used to but it doesnt smell bad either. They have plenty of other hays but seem to be going for this one first because its newest. I think I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow in the sunlight.

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