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Hay Websites - Prices

whitehood

Warren Veteran
On the Hay Experts website 11.4 [rounded to 1 d.p] costs roughly £50. On the Hay for Pets website the 9.5 kg hay [ a few kg's smaller than 11.4 kg costs way less - £16]

Why is this ?
 
Perhaps because hayforpets is from the direct source whereas hayexperts is retailing many different hays and products.
 
Western Timothy is imported from North America, so it costs a fortune in shipping etc especially as it's so bulky to transport, whereas the hay for pets hay is grown in Yorkshire. Timothy from N.America is generally considered to be much higher quality than UK-grown timothy or mixes because of the climate etc where it is grown and also the N.American version is pure timothy and not a mixture; I suspect you're just not comparing like with like when looking at the two prices - you wouldn't expect a mini to cost the same as a rolls royce because, although they're both cars, they're not the same product. It's exactly the same with hays :)

The more expensive hays like those imported from N.America are really good to feed as a treat, mixed in with normal farm hay or in a hay rack only - you certainly wouldn't want to be using it liberally in litter trays and as free feed hay, but it's excellent to provide variety and encourage more hay eating in general :)
 
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North American Timothy hay is expensive, but it is the best quality hay IMO. I feed this hay to my bunnies but swap it over with English timothy hay every couple of months, for a number of reasons. 1. English timothy hay is cheaper than American timothy hay so its cheaper to swap them over than constantly feed American timothy hay. 2. My rabbits love both English and American timothy hay so they get the best of both worlds. And 3. It keeps their interest up in the hay. i find that if they are fed one type of hay constantly, they tend to go off it after a while, so swapping and changing keeps this interest and encourages them to eat more hay.

I found American timothy hay from Dust Free Hay is cheaper than Oxbow timothy hay, but there isn't much difference between the two. American timothy hay from DFH is £23 for 5kg, whereas Oxbow timothy hay is around £28-£30 for 4kg.
 
I thought that the prices were ott at first when I first saw them. But if I buy my two the cheaper hay - they'll eat bits of it, they'll sit on it, lots of it'll get left.

If I buy the expensive one. Every strand is consumed. I've even tried giving them a giant clump about the size of one of them before work one day. By the time I came home their 'hay room' was absolutely empty like they had their little bunny hoovers out and had cleaned and dusted!!

(Before anyone worries, they did have other hay and straw in their hutch, but their hutch has sections, and one I call the hay room and it is generally full of hay!)

I tend now to give them mainly meadow hay from a local farmer, with a frosting of the expensive hay, and a handful of posh hay at night when I go to bed.

If I'd not seen it with my own eyes, with the way my buns eat the posh hay I wouldn't have believed it either!
 
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