Mites on hay-any recommendations?

[Ryo_the_rat]

Hi everyone!

Im having a big problem in my area lately. I have been getting meadow hay from wilkos for my gang for quite some time now but when i went to stock up again this week the bags were covered in flour mites!:shock:for anyone that doesnt know, these mites can come in on all sorts of things from hay, to pet food, to even things like cereal and obviously hay. they are quite common and most households have them in small numbers, small enough that you dont notice them. they are also very tiny in size so unless you are looking you wouldnt even realise you had them-doesnt help that they are mostly white too.

However a few years back we had a major infestation in our house after it coming in on some pet products and our house being humid enough for them to breed out of control:shock:since then it has made me *very* thorough when i am getting pet food and hay, and this is how i came to notice them while still in the store in wilkos.

So then i checked our local co-op, tescos, pets at home and even our local pet shop that id vowed never to step foot in again, and everywhere had the mites on the bags of hay :? We are running out of options of where to get hay from now-i shall be checking in our vets tomorrow but after that im at a loss of where to get their hay from!

I am wary about ordering online for the same reasons-until a few months ago we had always bought our hay from the same place with no problems, but the last order we took had a very heavy infestation of these bugs and unfortunately put me off ordering from them again. as you can probably guess i pretty much have a phobia of the things-thats what having an infestation will do to you!

I just basically wondered if there was anyone out there that checks as closely for things like this as meand that could perhaps recommend an online store that i wouldnt have this problem with? I would contact some stores direct but i dont think most would know what i was talking about:?

If we cant get any hay from our vets tomorrow we are going to check PAH again for some hay cakes to keep the gang going until we can get our hands on some hay again, which im hoping wont be for long!

Help me please!

 

[Buuny_Friend]

I would recommend either The Hay Experts or Animal Magic

Best of luck :wave:

 

[Mackers]

West Wales Willows (The Willow Warren) grow their own timothy hay which is put through a freezing process to kill any mites. I went to the farm in June and was shown around. The chap who grows it keeps it in darkened and de-humidified storage then takes it out a bale at a time and it's put in a huge freezer for up to 48 hours to kill any mites. It's then left to dry in the dark and only then is it boxed up for sale. My four LOVE it. It's certainly not the cheapest hay on the market but having seen exactly where it comes from and the process it goes through, I think it's worth it. It is lovely quality, stalky hay.

 

[Ryo_the_rat]

West Wales Willows (The Willow Warren) grow their own timothy hay which is put through a freezing process to kill any mites. I went to the farm in June and was shown around. The chap who grows it keeps it in darkened and de-humidified storage then takes it out a bale at a time and it's put in a huge freezer for up to 48 hours to kill any mites. It's then left to dry in the dark and only then is it boxed up for sale. My four LOVE it. It's certainly not the cheapest hay on the market but having seen exactly where it comes from and the process it goes through, I think it's worth it. It is lovely quality, stalky hay.

Thankyou both for the replies. West Wales Willows has been on my favourites for a while now but i have never ordered with them. i was actually checking online with them a couple of days ago and was very tempted then to order a sample box, im even more tempted now! sounds like there would certainly be a decreased risk of their hay having anything like flour mites on them due to the process they put it through, but also because they only sell their own hay so less chance of contamination from other sources-sounds like a winner! lol shame its so expensive due to carriage but would be worth it if they are bug free and the buns and pigs like it. Just tried ordering the sample box then but the page seems to be playing up so have emailed them about it.

I was looking at the other websites recommended on here and i may try them at some point too, but because they sell all different brands and types of hay im more put off them. not to say they have any bugs, they might be perfectly bug free:lol:but im just very OCD with this

Thankyou both again!

 

[leong]

West Wales Willows (The Willow Warren) grow their own timothy hay which is put through a freezing process to kill any mites. I went to the farm in June and was shown around. The chap who grows it keeps it in darkened and de-humidified storage then takes it out a bale at a time and it's put in a huge freezer for up to 48 hours to kill any mites. It's then left to dry in the dark and only then is it boxed up for sale. My four LOVE it. It's certainly not the cheapest hay on the market but having seen exactly where it comes from and the process it goes through, I think it's worth it. It is lovely quality, stalky hay.

My experience with them is somewhat different, all 4 bags of timothy hay contained mites so it all went in the recycler. Never had mites from the hay experts though.

 

[Kermit]

I get my hay from Dust Free Hay, it is expensive, but dont think i have had mites. (at least i hope not!)

 

[prettylupin]

I too get my hay from West Wales Willows and it's the best hay ever and my buns wouldn't eat anything else. It's wonderful stuff.

Leong the mites you think you had were not mites but in fact book lice. I have spoken to the farmer at WWW at length about this, several years ago he had an infestation of book lice - mites are not visible to the naked eye, the little brown bugs are book lice, they feed on the hay mite which in turn feeds on the yeasts on the hay. This is why Dave now does the freezing method, after the infestation. However, I too have had the odd box over the years with a few book lice in, especially if the humidity has been high. The freezing renders them inactive and generally the hay from there is fine, I think that just every now and then a few escapees get in, Dave did say it is impossible to eradicate them completely but at the farm they went to great lengths to try to do so.

I have found that as long as I store the hay correctly here once it has arrived then there is little opportunity for the book lice to multiply. The trick is to store the WWW hay somewhere dry below 40% humidity. We store ours inside above some hot water pipes in a very warm and dry room in the house. We also make sure we use each box within a month - so order smaller boxes than you think you need.
Personally i'd rather have a naturally grown product without the use of insecticides and herbicides as opposed to the American grown Oxbow stuff which is probably quite the opposite judging by it's perfect colour and lack of other plants/insects!

Just to reassure you all, neither book lice or hay mites should cause any problems to your rabbits, they are host specific and feed solely on each other. Too many book lice can cause localised irritation/itching but this would require a severe infestation. As long as you regularly clean and disinfect your hutch and store the hay correctly there should not be an issue.

 

[paulinejoe]

Are the bugs you are talking about also called weevils? Like tiny little pale browny things? I remember getting them when i lived at home and they were a blinking nightmare to get rid of, my mum had to chuck pretty much everything out foodwise, they'd even got inside the plastic of unopened boxes of teabags and stuff like that, so even now 20 years later i'm still paranoid about checking "powdery" foods especially flour and will only buy flour from the supermarket where there's a high turnover and it's stored right. If you can get them on hay :shock: i am so glad I store mine in the shed! I'm not surprised you're paranoid

 

[holidayhutch]

I can assure you our hay DOES NOT have mites. Oxbow hay has to go through strict testing to be allowed into the country, Dust Free Hay we have seen the extraction process, etc etc. It is ridiculous to say just because a company offers variety their products might have problems:roll:

 

[prettylupin]

I think it's important that people reading this thread understand the difference between hay mites and animal mites such as the Cheyletiella mite. Whilst animal mites can be transmitted via hay if stores are kept close to livestock there is a big difference between these types of mites and the hay mite that is naturally occuring on hay and feeds solely on the naturally occuring yeasts that grow on the hay and therefore pose no threat to rabbits.

The hay mite Leong, Mackers and I are talking about with regard to WWW hay is because there are no insecticides used on the hay grown on this farm and few herbicides and so naturally occuring hay mites are present - therefore you will at times get the other part of this food chain - those insects that feed on the hay mites themselves such as book lice. It is a natural product and you have to expect this.

Commercially grown hay on a large scale such as Oxbow is a very different matter altogether and I would be suprised if you found anything living in that hay. I do also feed these hays to my rabbits - they enjoy them. But I prefer the bulk of their diet to be the WWW hay as I believe it's a more natural product. Each to their own.

Holidayhutch I haven't read anyone suggesting that your hay contains mites, I think the OP is just anxious about the whole thing from past experience with other sorts of infestations.

 

[holidayhutch]

Holidayhutch I haven't read anyone suggesting that your hay contains mites, I think the OP is just anxious about the whole thing from past experience with other sorts of infestations.

The original poster says she is dubious of using the online companies suggested as they sell different types of hay

I was looking at the other websites recommended on here and i may try them at some point too, but because they sell all different brands and types of hay im more put off them

That's like saying you wont use a supermarket over a corner shop as you are more likely to be contaminated by the food as they offer choice.

 

[prettylupin]

Oh I see what you mean. I don't think the OP meant anything critical by it - I think it was more of an expression of her own 'self-confessed OCD' regarding any sort of infestation if that helps

I use online companies as well as my farmer in Wales for hay and have never had any problems if that helps OP :wave: The only problems I've had have been with the Burns Green Oat hay with regard to quality control issues but Lisa at the hayexperts has always immediately rectified any issues and replaced those bags - it was nothing to do with mites.

 

[Ryo_the_rat]

The original poster says she is dubious of using the online companies suggested as they sell different types of hay



That's like saying you wont use a supermarket over a corner shop as you are more likely to be contaminated by the food as they offer choice.

You actually miss out the rest of that sentance when you quote me:roll: i ended by saying:

not to say they have any bugs, they might be perfectly bug free but im just very OCD with this

paulinejoe: No it isnt weevils i am referring to. unfortunately we did get these come in in some hay we got from a farm last year-that also wasnt a fun time but i can deal with those much better then the mites!:lol:

Prettylupin: Thankyou for your very informative posts, but it is definately flour mites that i am seeing and that i had an infestation of. we actually sent some off to the council for comfirmation at the time(put some on sticky tape lol). here is a link that explains what they are, what you get them on and what they look like etc:
http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th7g.htm

You can most certainly see these types of mites with the naked eye, but they are very tiny and unless you were looking closely the way i now door you had an infestation/large numbers, most people wouldnt even notice them. Im assuming its because of the time of year that most places seem to have a problem with this at the moment. If i had checked they may well have been on other products in the section of the store, but as i get all my animal foods from the one place on the internet and hay from out, i didnt check so im not saying this problem is limited to hay.

I am off out to check my vets in a moment, and failing that i shall have to go back to PAH and hope the problem hasnt spread to the next aisle where they keep the hay cakes! but will certainly need a long term solution to this problem. Thinking i may have to try the farm we were getting it from again!

 

[Snowy]

Hi Belinda:wave:, haven't seen you for ages, hope you are OK

I know someone who bought some bags of hay from Wilkinsons and ended invaded by silverfish, it took her ages to get rid of them apparently they can live for up to 8 years and have about 10,000 babies in that time:shock:

I won't buy anything like that from Wilkinsons for that very reason because when she complained about they said that it was funny because other people had complained too, but they weren't prepared to do anything about it

I can strongly recommend Holiday Hutch for hay, I have had some sample bags from her and they were brilliant because I was able to try them out and then choose which was the best

Is it bedding hay you are looking for or eating hay?

 

[Mackers]

My experience with them is somewhat different, all 4 bags of timothy hay contained mites so it all went in the recycler. Never had mites from the hay experts though.

Really? That does surprise me although as a totally natural product, there are bound to be instances where mites are present. All my hay has come in cardboard boxes though, not bags.

I still think I would prefer to use a company such as WWW where I have seen the fields where the hay is grown and I know it's not been treated with pesticides etc. But each to their own. I buy my piggy hay from The Hay Experts and it's always been fantastic quality. I've also never had a problem with Dust Free Hay with regards to mites, or good quality baled farm hay come to that!

I think you just need to buy from a reputable source where it's been stored correctly. You'll never stop mites completely.

 

[leong]

Really? That does surprise me. All my hay has come in cardboard boxes though, not bags.

Yep my mistake, it was the boxes.

Product ID: trh5
Product Name: Timothy Rich Hay Large Box Deal
Quantity: 1
Unit Price: £30.46
> > > Size : 4 Large Boxes (+£18.05)


I did get a couple of photos of the mites as they were definatley visible to the eye (they look similar to the flour mites shown earlier) which i'll have to find. In terms of storage they were stored inside at around 50% humidity according to our hydrometer. I wasn't too fussed about the mites initially however they seemed to multiply and spread all over the house which was annoying.
That order was made on the 11/01/2008 so things might have changed since then, I will say that the willow hut we bought at the same time is excellent and still going strong

 

[prettylupin]

Yep my mistake, it was the boxes.

Product ID: trh5
Product Name: Timothy Rich Hay Large Box Deal
Quantity: 1
Unit Price: £30.46
> > > Size : 4 Large Boxes (+£18.05)


I did get a couple of photos of the mites as they were definatley visible to the eye (they look similar to the flour mites shown earlier) which i'll have to find. In terms of storage they were stored inside at around 50% humidity according to our hydrometer.

Except that they're not mites. They're darker in colour and are called book lice - Dave the farmer told me this himself! Hay mites are not visible to the naked eye as i've said before.
Dave says you have to use below 40% humidity - so you need to get your storage room drier :wave:

ETA I have two buns who only eat hay and veg and we get through two large boxes in 6-8 weeks. I don't get 4 boxes specifically for the reason that, apart from storage issues, the longer the boxes sit around the more likely you are to get more book lice in them due to the hay mites reproducing over time.

 

[prettylupin]

http://www.pestcontrol-uk.org/pests/booklice/

Not a problem for us or rabbits. :wave:

 

[leong]

Except that they're not mites. They're darker in colour and are called book lice - Dave the farmer told me this himself! Hay mites are not visible to the naked eye as i've said before.
Dave says you have to use below 40% humidity - so you need to get your storage room drier :wave:

I didn't say they were hay mites :? and i've never seen book lice here either. Whatever they were, they came from the hay and subsequently migrated into every room in the house. I'll dig the photos out when I get back from work.
40% humidity in the UK is almost impossible to achieve without constantly running a dehumidifier and we've never had problems with the Western Timothy Hay from hayexperts which also comes in a box (admittedley a bag in a box ).

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hay...b).120.html?osCsid=teq5vfdemf2cobnhml16587ev4

 

[*lily*]

Which part of Brum are you in? We get our hay from a Farm just up the road in Shenstone. If you are in this part of the world, I can give you the address if you want. I get a large black bag full for £1 and it's gorgeous!