# I don't like the look of these oats...



## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

But, wanted to see what you guys thought? I've emailed anyway, since the the box containing my individual bags of oats, barley and various seeds were in had quite a few mouse droppings in. Nothing inside the bags, but that alone seems very unprofessional.
Also, how often do you find dead insects in the oats you buy? I didn't notice anything in the last sack, but this one has numerous beetles, or parts of beetles.... Basically, I've asked for a replacement or a refund, and I want to know if you would have done the same?
Comparison of new oats (top of pic) to oats currently in my mix (bottom of pic):


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

they look a bit bleh and old to me, I normally get crushed/rolled oats -and I have never found bugs in them :/

I don't blame you for wanting a replacement/refund I would too.


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

I'd return anything with beetles in,it means the stock has been sitting around long enough for the beetles to run through their whole breeding cycle,egg,larvae ,beetle.Old ,old stock.Those beetles will have been running around the premises that are clearly contaminated with wild mice.A hazard to you and your mice.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

The rest of the stuff from there looks fine, so do you think they source it somewhere else and then package it and send it out in smaller batches? Or should I try and send the whole order back? I'm glad I check through it all as soon as I get it now...


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

I'd try and get it send back and consider buying from another place, cus if they keep all their sacks in the same warehouse it might all be contaminated.....


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Ok thanks. If anyone interested, this was bought from ratrations.com by the way. I was using them cause you can buy in smaller quantaties, but I think I will go for gjwtitmuss now... *sigh*


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## moustress (Sep 25, 2009)

They look really nasty; I'd return them. I have returned oats that didn't even look as bad as this.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Yeh the oats are definitely not coming any closer to my mice. Its a shame, they send them in air tight plastic bags... but I suppose I shouldn't risk letting any of it near my mice really. *sigh*... going to have to find somewhere else to get my seeds from, and soon!


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## morning-star (Apr 9, 2011)

maddeh said:


> Ok thanks. If anyone interested, this was bought from ratrations.com by the way. I was using them cause you can buy in smaller quantaties, but I think I will go for gjwtitmuss now... *sigh*


Gjwtitmuss's food is really good! nicely sealed, and really good quality.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Just had a reply to my e-mail from this morning when I had the delivery: 
"Thank you for your e-mail.
I was quite surprised and disappointed.
The box containing rodent droppings worries me. We use recycled boxes where we can as this keeps overheads down. They are stored safely and are checked for cleanliness before use(apparently not in your case). We are having a look at this as it could be that we cease using one of our sources.

I have looked at the barley, the sack we are using today looks ok, I can find no bugs in it.
The whole oats do have bugs and a little straw in it, the bugs look like ladybirds which have hibernated.

Our whole grains come from UK sources where they are not treated with chemicals. They are taken from the field, stored, cleaned and bagged. If there is any contamination (bugs, straw, husk, soil, etc.) this will be removed during the cleaning and drying process, unless it is the same size and density as the grain itself, it will not then fall through the sieving belt. The colour of a grain is dependant on the soil conditions and can range from pale to quite dark.
If they are for human consumption they will go through a rigorous re-cleaning process to remove most remaining contaminants, for animal consumption they do not. As grain varies from one batch(field) to the next it is impossible to maintain colour consistency.
The oats are safe to eat.

Having said that, I checked the oats myself and have decided this batch is below the quality I would expect. I have been in touch with the mill and am awaiting a reply from them.
I will be refunding the value of the oats."


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Now that I think about it, there were no holes indicating that mice had entered the box after it had been sealed... But its still worrying.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Sounds like they definitely did the right thing, and were very helpful to tell you about the whole process and what they've found. 

Good on them.


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## maddeh (Jul 14, 2011)

Yeh, I feel much better about the whole thing now


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

Honesty is refreshing.
I'm glad they were willing to work with you.


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