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Hay bales

L

lisa82

Mama Doe
With the 2 buns and 3 pigs I'm trying to be economical and would like to try getting some hay in bales either online or from a horse supplier/farm shop near me, although I worry that the hay could be contaminated/bad quality compare to pre-packed meadow hay etc.

How do you people who get hay in bales make sure it is safe and good quality? Also where do you store it?

Thanks :D
 
I Get My Hay From The Horsey Place,i Only Get One At A Time And Keep It In My Garage,i Can Just Tell When I Go And Buy It That It Is Nice Stuff,it Smells Nice
 
is it called meadow hay or anything, or just hay? I really have no idea :roll:

Can you tell by looking or do I just sniff it :D I suppose greenish rather than yellow, short strands?
 
i just had 4 bales :shock: delivered to me for free:Di only wanted one as i have 8 buns and after two months im still going through the first one, i trust the guy i get it from as hes a neighbour and works for the RHS, i belive the average price for a bale is 8 pounds, i prefere to get slightly older bales year old to make sure over a cold winter bugs etc have been killed off as my freind got some hay which gave her guiena pigs mange, there no harm in getting a bale i would just ask how they store there hay or go by word of mouth of were to get some, im not saying at all hay is like this, and my freind was just unlucky with that bale she got shes had no probs since

good hay should smell loverly and sweet, mines all long at the mo but it doesnt take much to get a old pair of scissors to cut to size, its very unlikly your going to get a farm bale as good as timothy hay but if its still slightly green, smells sweet and is dry and not damp you have a good one
 
i get bales delivered to me and we store them in those sacks u get for lots of rubbish, u know like...'skip' type sacks until i need them ( i get 3 baled at a time)

but when i am on the one i am usuing i used to black bag it up, but now i use a large bin and fill a box up everyday and share it out.

my bales are £4 each :D i got 2 bales in may, and ive only just finished them between 4 buns. they r huge
 
I get mine from a horse feed farm shop and can choose from the hay stack what I want. They have either Meadow or Timothy and Rye combined. You can certainly see if it looks good and also smell it if it's fresh - nice and sweet.

You can bang your hand on a bale and if it's dusty, often it will give off a cloud of dust.

But, I just tried another farm shop which is closer and asked them about their hay and explained that I needed it for small furries and they actually said that they wouldn't feed this hay to them as they thought it would be too dusty. Most people would be helpful if you explain what you want.

The hay should have some green in it, indicating that it's not really old and dried out.

I store mine in my van but when I need it, I put a bale in a wooden 'pen' that I made in my bunny shed. I store the bale on it's end in the pen and then peel off a wedge when I need to use it. I also decant a few slices into an old Megazorb bag so that I can take that round the garden when I need to top up litter trays. It makes life a bit easier.

What you don't want to do, is keep hay in an airtight container as it will sweat and form molds.
 
It "should" be just as good quality as the bagged stuff. As other's have said have a little inspection of it before you buy it. Should smell and look fresh and not be too dusty! Before I give a handfull or so to the rabbits I always give it a bit of a shake to get rid of the worse of the dust / little strands. When I get to the end of the bale i throw the last bit away (only a bit of a waste and still much more economical!).

Hannah
 
I generally find the bales are better quality than the bags from shops :D

I get a bale of gorgeous, greeny, lovely smelling hay for £3 form my local farm!

I also store it in 3 garden refuse bags, leave the top open though so that it doesn't go mouldy. I keep them in the shed :)
 
Leanne said:
I generally find the bales are better quality than the bags from shops :D
Click to expand...

I agree, I get a bale from either my local horse feed merchant of a local pet supplies place that sells it by the bale. Both are good quality and the rabbits love it.

I store mine in a water butt and I use an old duvet cover to transport it.
 
Leanne said:
I generally find the bales are better quality than the bags from shops :D

I get a bale of gorgeous, greeny, lovely smelling hay for £3 form my local farm!

I also store it in 3 garden refuse bags, leave the top open though so that it doesn't go mouldy. I keep them in the shed :)
Click to expand...


Where abouts is that :shock:

I drive all the way to Walthamstow to get mine and they are £8.50 each :shock:

They are about 3ft-4ft longish id say
 
I have just found a hay bale supplier in Medway, Kent... will try some and see if it is as good as the Dust Free Hay I usually get. If nothing else, it will save on the postage costs...
 
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