I have Oxbow food but kaytee hay as it was much larger and the nutritional info looked near identical. Is it just the food that isn't good or does the timothy hay have issues to?
The quality of the hay says it all.
Next time you are at the pet store. Inspect a bag of Oxbow hay and Kaytee hay. Open them and touch them. Sniff them. Inspect every piece in those bags.
Oxbow is softer, sweeter smelling, greener and has less sticks.
Kaytee hay is stiff, somewhat good smelling (depending on the date bag), some are really green (also depending on bagging date) and has tons of stick.
Alot of users here perfer to not use Kaytee hay because of their food products and because of the hay quality. Those sticks present a poking hazard. A guinea pig's eyes are very fragile and so are yours as well. I've seen my guinea pig poke his eye accidentally with Kaytee and I've even accidentally poked myself in the eye with Kaytee hay (not sure how).
Also try to get a small bag of Oxbow hay. Put each side by side and your guinea pig will tell you which is best. To a guinea pig, taste and smell is everything. When Mr. Whistles had his 1st bite of Oxbow hay, it was a whole new pig. He was literally pigging out on this hay. Even ignored his freshies for a bit
His eyes had brighten up immediately when he took a bite. Oxbow is a whole new hay when compared to Kaytee.