What are these flowers?

[a reader of books]

Casper and Sophie have timothy hay they really like, but there are leaves and flowers in it that I've never seen in timothy hay I've gotten from other shops. Does anyone know what these are?

 

[joey&boo]

looks like Red Clover to me

 

[Shimmer]

Clover. Fine for rabbits to eat.

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you both! Isn't clover fairly rich in calcium? Escpecially dried? I'm not sure if that's a good idea for them to have with their history of bladder sludge... Maybe I should take it out of the hay?

I found this as well:

Does either of you know what that is?

 

[Shimmer]

I wouldn't be worried about a bit of clover.

Not sure what the second one is.

 

[joey&boo]

I wouldn't be worried about a bit of clover.

Not sure what the second one is.

same. Although if you feel better removing them, theres nothing wrong with that

I dried a little clover last year, its in with their mix but they don't seem to eat it. Fresh clover they like.

 

[a reader of books]

Oh, I'm glad neither of you would be worried about it. I think I'll leave it, then. It'd be a lot of work going through the hay and get all the clover out! I've never had timothy hay with other plants in it. It doesn't look at all like the timothy hay I normally have, either, but maybe that's because this is 2nd cut and I normally have 1st cut. When I first saw it, I actually thought they'd sent me meadow hay by accident! I guess it doesn't matter as long as they like it.

J&B, that's too bad that they don't seem to like the clover you dried. Casper really likes the dried clover, but I'm not sure about Sophie. I don't think they've ever had fresh clover, though.

 

[Shimmer]

The only things I remove from a bale of hay are seeding docks and thistle. The docks are not eaten and won't compost or get eaten, so will regrow from the seeds. The thistles just have tiny very sharp bits that cause all sorts of issues when they stick in skin, eyes, my fingers...

I'm not keen on buttercups, either, but they are not toxic once dried. They won't get eaten, though.

That's the joy of getting bales of hay from local farms. Cheaper, fresh, local - but sometimes need a little work. On the other hand, it does mean the fields were not full of herbicides and I would rather have the occasional bit of weeding to do than have 'perfect' hay which is possibly full of chemicals.

 

[a reader of books]

The only things I remove from a bale of hay are seeding docks and thistle. The docks are not eaten and won't compost or get eaten, so will regrow from the seeds. The thistles just have tiny very sharp bits that cause all sorts of issues when they stick in skin, eyes, my fingers...

I'm not keen on buttercups, either, but they are not toxic once dried. They won't get eaten, though.

That's the joy of getting bales of hay from local farms. Cheaper, fresh, local - but sometimes need a little work. On the other hand, it does mean the fields were not full of herbicides and I would rather have the occasional bit of weeding to do than have 'perfect' hay which is possibly full of chemicals.

Oh, I see. I get why you remove those plants from the hay, then, while you leave the rest. That must be a bit of work! But doing some weeding does seem better than hay being possibly full of chemicals, I agree. I wish I could get hay from a local farm, as it'd certainly be a lot more environmentally friendly, and cheaper as well, but Casper and Sophie really only like timothy hay and timothy grass isn't grown over here for some reason.