# Help identifying “Hay” - not Timothy Hay?



## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thought this was 2nd cut Timothy. Told it was 2nd cut Timothy....Not so sure after looking at it. Anyone that could help would be greatly appreciated. Just worried about what it is since I’ve never seen this type before and have no experience with anything other than orchard grass - alfalfa - and Timothy. Worried about feeding to the animals not knowing what it is. Thank you so much! Added photos on here so hope this worked. Seems to have things mixed into it that I can not identify.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Its mixed grasses that is for sure. It appears it has a little foxtail grass, but the seeds appear either immature or already dropped. It could very well be predominately 2nd cut Timothy, but it is very hard to say with certainty. I do not think it would hurt anything it was fed to, but what kind of animals are you feeding? It also appears to have crabgrass and possibly other kinds of grasses or weeds....maybe some crowsfoot.

Regards, Mike


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thank You so much for the reply!!! I am feeding alpacas and was worried about what this stuff was.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

First picture looks like crabgrass and orchardgrass leaf, second looks like crabgrass seed head, third looks like (yellow?) foxtail.

Probably a real late cutting taken in September. Probably not much food quality to it.

Just guessing......

Ralph


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thanks for the teply! That's what I'm worried about. I'm concerned over the foxtail also knowing this can cause ulcers and mouth issues. I had about 25 bales delivered without inspecting it and I had never seen hay like this. Only used Timothy mainly and I have seen orchard hay but this has no Timothy or orchard flower heads to be found. I was getting 2nd Timothy but then they accidentally qlmost delivered 1 st cut Timothy and then the hay supplier said he had a second cut that was better for the alpacas and dropped this off.... so I'm at a loss for what the heck I have now. I'm holding off feeding them this and just picked up 2 bales of Timothy from local tractor supply.

Any help is greatly appreciated!


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Nardogrey said:


> Thanks for the teply! That's what I'm worried about. I'm concerned over the foxtail also knowing this can cause ulcers and mouth issues. I had about 25 bales delivered without inspecting it and I had never seen hay like this. Only used Timothy mainly and I have seen orchard hay but this has no Timothy or orchard flower heads to be found. I was getting 2nd Timothy but then they accidentally qlmost delivered 1 st cut Timothy and then the hay supplier said he had a second cut that was better for the alpacas and dropped this off.... so I'm at a loss for what the heck I have now. I'm holding off feeding them this and just picked up 2 bales of Timothy from local tractor supply.
> Any help is greatly appreciated!


I assume these are round bales? Not every animal that eats foxtail has issues as evidenced by the load of foxtail infested trash sold around here, advertised as "horse quality hay" and fed to horses. You might be OK, but....

Second cutting Timothy will have little seed head and orchard grass, probably none. Foxtail is also an indication, IMHO, of second cutting hay.


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thank you! These are square bales- 25 of them - for a very small herd of alpacas. Only ever fed them Timothy grass (mainly 2nd cut )and they had access to pasture over the summer Months.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

It is the seeds in foxtail that give horses ulcers due to being wedged between their teeth and gums. Horses have much different tooth structure than alpacas and I do not know if this is a problem with the alpaca breed. It does not appear that your hay is loaded with foxtail and that it appears that what I have seen of it shows that the foxtail has already dropped the seed. Foxtail seed is very small and round and very hard.

I do not know much about alpacas, but I have sold a lot of 2nd cut Timothy and Orchard grass to alpaca owners.

Regards, Mike


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thank you so much! I do not know a lot about hay as I have limited experience with anything other than Timothy. Do u think this is a lesser quality hay that they just dropped off? I worry because I was supposed to have Timothy and worry that maybe they just dropped this stuff off knowing that I didn't know any better about the hay types but charged me the same that they would have charged for Timothy bales.  Or maybe they were being really good people and this hay actually is better? They said the alpacas would like this Hay better but I'm a bit suspicious. My vet and where I purchased my alpacas from said grass type hay - 2nd cut Timothy or orchard is best for them.

I'm not the kind to raise a stink over things and I would rather just change to a different source for my hay rather than get upset with them. But I worry that maybe this was poor quality hay just dropped off at the Timothy cost. I really appreciate your input and opinions. I do not know much about this and I'm learning a lot! You are all so kind.


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Okay.. after speaking to the supplier I found out that it is Orchard Grass 2nd cut! Probably a misunderstanding on my part????. Thank you so much for the feedback I learned a lot today!???? I am used to seeing the flower heads(?) in the orchard grass but have not fed orchard grass before so Is this what orchard grass is supposed to look like? I had no clue how to identify this.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Looks like a late second cut orchard from the amount of dead leaf material. Only the first cutting of orchard will have seed heads. The seed heads in your pictures are of crabgrass and foxtail. I have a customer that has an alpaca farm and he told me that foxtail is a big no for alpacas and it causes them the same problems as it does horses. How much foxtail is in the hay? Crabgrass won't hurt anything.


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thank you for the reply! I’m sooo concerned about the foxtail in the hay I’m driving myself mad lol. Not sure what to do with all this hay now ????. Is the foxtail indicating bad quality hay? It seems they don’t have seeds and if they do it’s like one or two on each head. Some local alpaca owners told me fox tail seed is bad and some said they will pick out what they don’t want but idk ????


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Foxtail does not indicate bad quality. We cannot answer for you what to do as I do not recall any alpaca owners on this site who post regularly.

Regards, Mike


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Thanks so much! Yes I have an email out to my vet and the farm I bought my herd from and waiting on their reply. I really appreciate all the information about the HAY! I learned a lot! Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge. ????


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Got a last question for anyone that can answer.  after rummaging through the first bale of this hay. I found more of this... I think this is still foxtail but has lots of green seeds. Are these the mature seeds that can cause the mouth ulcers?

I also had bedding straw brought ( same supplier) never saw bedding hay before so full of some type of grain seed ( and LOTS of it)- I'm worried about composting this and using for garden if all this grain will start to grow. Can you identify what the grain is? Wheat?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

That last picture looks like an empty seed head to me. Did you actually find sends inside the hulls?


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## Nardogrey (Nov 24, 2017)

Ah! I will need to look! Sorry I really do not know all that much about Hay ????. Thank you for the reply! The other pictures I believe are foxtail and was wondering if those are the mature foxtail seeds. Now finding tons of this stuff in the orchard grass bales that I received.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

wheat or rye maybe hard to be sure if you compost it long enough it does kill a lot of those seeds but some may show up in your graden


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