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Storing a bale questions?

M

megansmummy

Mama Doe
:wave: I have found a local farmer who will sell me 'excellent quality 2011 meadow hay' for £4.50 per bale. he estimate that a bale is roughly 30kg in weight. That would last me aprox 2 months so its excellent value if the hay really is nice quality :) But i would need to keep the bale stored in the shed for that anount of time. I need a way of storing it so it doesnt go bad? Can i use a plastic bin? or am i best with material? (duvet cover?). Any links to your storage solutions? I have no garage and the shed is small.

Based on what im spending weekly at the moment hay and straw will be costing me around £35 per month So i could stop using the straw and just use hay for bedding aswell and £4.50 per bale is a massive reduction on what i would be spending!! Of course I am a little worried that it wont be excellent quality but i guess I need to try it to find out :)

Thank you!
 
I store mine in a plastice storage box designed for outdoor furniture and stuff. I wouldn't use this on it's own outside though as I'm not sure how waterproof they are and you wouldn't want condensation building up inside on a hot day. Ours is in the garage which is always cool and well ventilated. You can use a duvet cover but we found mice could chew through it if left in the garage and it has to be kept somehwere dry as obviously it provides no waterproofness (new word that :oops:)
 
I store my bales in hte corner of the shed. They went funny whenever i tried to store them in something, especially the last 3-4 slices.

I now lay a bin liner on the floor and stand the bale vertically in a corner so that it doesnt topple over. I just take a slice off at a time and use a bin liner to shake/loosen it up. That way i dont end up with hay all over the garden.
 
I store mine on a shelf in the shed with the rabbits, they can't get to it. It is just sitting on a shelf, nothing covering it and it doesn't go off at all. My bale lasts me about six weeks for the two buns and is £6. Much nicer hay than the bags I was buying from Just for Pets, which always smelt horrible when I opened them up! Since being on hay from the farm my buns have produced lovely big golden poos! :lol:Am much happier with the bale. Also the bagged hay was costing me £4.99 a week! So a big saving!
 
megansmummy said:
Ohh mice..yes good point :? Maybe a wooden shed isnt the best place to store it afterall :?

I wondered about one of the big plastic bins like this~
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-PLAST...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item68c6b6838e

But im worried about the condensation thing with it being plastic...plus i might fall in when trying to get the last bits out :oops: Im quite short! :lol:
Click to expand...

I have one of these... http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...=1|category_root|Garden+and+Outdoors|16849255

It's fine with the condensation and weather but like I say I have mine in the garage so it's not exposed to the elements.
 
Thank you for your replies! :D I think im going to brave it and try it...if its awful then im only down £4.50 afterall and if it is nice then its good all round! :thumb:

I have different treat hays to mix into it aswel...at the moment I mix either burns oat, chamomile herbage, excel herbage or readigrass into it and I have plenty of all that (probably enough for about 5 months...I went craxy at THE!!) :lol:
 
Apart from treat hays which I can't afford solely, I haven't found nicer hay than the bales I get locally. :thumb:
 
Alfie and Bubbles seem to prefer the cheap baled hay over any of the expensive bagged hays. :) I store mine in the shed in a duvet cover. :D
 
We store ours in a shed, broken down into 10 or so binbags, tied loosely at the top to allow ventillation so it stays nice and dry. :thumb: By the way, or buns' hay comes from a wildflower meadow so it tastes great and is also really good for the enviornment.
 
Thanks for the tip. We have a rental van this weekend (Im cracking the whip at home and so hubby is sorting the garden before the weather gets too bad!) so he can chuck it in that but yes I will need to sort something as he wont be best pleased with a boot full of hay :lol:
 
You should be fine to keep a bale in an outdoor plastic storage bin. So long as it has air around it & it isn't sealed it shouldn't go mouldy. You'll be opening the lid each day so this will keep the air fresh ;)
 
I keep mine in about 4-5 bin bags in the shed (tied loosely or open at the top) then I have one old fashioned bin on the patio which I keep one bag at a time in, this is kept by the hutch and is fine. the bale costs £7.50 and lasts 2 months each bag lasts 2-3 weeks so they get rotated fast and not allowed to get too fusty. I felt this recent bale was paler then the last, but TBH it is the time of year it has prob been stored longer than the last one was prob quite newly harvested.
My buns aren't too fussy (thankfully!) and much this very happily.

I recomend buying a charity shop double duvet cover to keep for this purpose (£2 age concern!) it was like a dream after making such a mess the first time I did it.. then I used this method and mess free!!
 
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