Drat - mouldy hay.

Two out three boxes of our American Timmy Hay from Dust Free has mould in

It is a blue and orange mould. The blue mould is also on the outside of the box, I am not sure if this has gone through to the hay or come out.

Either way the hay is useless to give to the bunnies. Am off to get in touch with Norman tho cos I picked it up in person I have no order record

It's too expensive just to chuck away.

Oh that's not good.............

I am completely neurotic about hay and mould and my neighbours are used to seeing me rumaging through and sniffing the bales in my garage.........

Have phoned DFH.

The fault apparently lies with my storage They were kept in a shed, off the floor and definately not in contact with any damp.

OH and I have chucked the boxes - loads of mould when we have dug around inside the box. I am not happy to say the least

That's not good. And as you say, too expensive to throw away.

Expensive problem!

Blue and Orange sounds rather exotic!

Well saying it must be your fault is a bit of a cop out
How long have you had it?
I think I'd put a complaint in writing now.
They are expecting you to believe they cant possibly be responsible but can they proove it................

where did norman say you should store it,i would have thought the conditions you have kept it in would be more than suitable.I also keep mine in the shed off the floor,when i get up in the morning i always leave the door ajar a little bit just to let the air circulate

amanda

In the shed and not on the floor? Where else are you meant to put it? I would also take it further. I used to get hay from DFH but it is too expensive! I paid £40 a month but am now paying £4 for the equivalent amount of hay locally....

Norman said that there was no way that the hay had left DFH mouldy. Without an invoice/receipt I really don't have a leg to stand on.

I picked up some hay from DF in the middle of June and AmandaF brought me some up at the beginnining of August. Even if the two mouldy boxes are from June I don't think it should have gone mouldy so soon.

Fluffiebunnie - I use locally bought meadow hay (£3 a bale) in litter trays and then put the more expensive stuff in hay racks. I think I am going to go back to Oxbow for the Timmie hay. I like the buns to have it as being lionheads I am hopefully trying to pre-empt dental problems by giving them coarser hay.

I find my local bale I buy to be much thinner strands of hay and its very green/fresh... the rabbits poops look more like they do when they have eaten lots of grass.... Am hoping it is ok.... I did like the DFH and never had a problem with it, but its just soooo expensive... credit crunch and all that!

that is rather jack that they are saying it's your fault. you obviously have built up a relationship with this Norman bloke and certainly don't expect to get shafted like that!

Did you try appealing to his better nature (HA!).

Cheeky sods, I mean honestly, where else are you meant to store it? In the airing cupboard?!

To be fair to Norman though, it is more than possible that hay stored in a shed can go mouldy in the space of a month or two. Most sheds will have a fair amount of moisture in them, and particularly if the hay is stored near a window/sunlight or if the shed has a lot of temperature variation because of where it is, then the moisture will condense on the hay and then get nice and warm when the sun is on it, giving the mould a good chance to grow. I have lots of things go sweaty and damp in my shed largely because of where it is. If he hasn't had loads of other complaints from the same batch then I think I'd probably agree with him that it's more than likely the shed that has caused it. I'm sure the credit crunch is affecting him just as much as anyone else and if he went giving refunds to everyone 3 months after a sale, he'd soon go out of business and there'd be no DFH for you to buy!

Very good point. He did send me a lot of hay once free of charge as the hay he had previously sent smelt awful... I did contact him the same day it arrived so had nothing to do with storage issues... so he replaced..

I'm not going to pursue it. It is just one of those things I guess. I was only half hoping Norman would offer to send me some more but without a logged order I knew it would be a good will gesture. I think I caught him at a bad time.
The non-mouldy box is obviously from a different batch - the hay is of a different texture altogether.
I also store a bale of farm hay in a wheelie bin in the shed which lasts 2-3 months. This hay is fine also - thank goodness.