Hay Farm fresh, may contain weeds?

[Mousewife]

I just bought my first farm fresh bale of hay. The farm uses no pesticides or herbicides. The bale came with a letter stating that sometimes Mother Nature will disperse seeds in the wind, which find their way into the field and into the hay bale. Don?t be alarmed, if your pet doesn?t like it, they won?t eat it.

But is this true? If, for example, there is a weed that might make them sick, will they just not eat it?

I love the idea of pesticide/herbicide free healthy fresh hay from a local farm, and supporting local business.
but have I made the right choice?

I have only bought oxbow hay until now.

 

[Soecara]

When buying hay by the bale it is relatively common for there to be a small amount of weeds mixed in. What I do is check the hay as I am giving it out and pick out as many of the weeds as feasible (if necessary, you should only rarely run into pieces of weeds), if the bail has too many weeds for this to be reasonably possible I just cut my losses and scrap the lot by using it on my gardens as mulch.

Always visually inspect the bale before purchase if possible as you can usually see the weeds in the bale from the outside of the bale if there are too many of them, also check for signs of mould and the colour of the bale.

There was an instance that I can recall where there was a small weed or two that I had missed, and I did find it uneaten in the bottom of the cage.