How Much Hay To Buy

[SunnyCait]

Hey all. I have been looking into buying hay online. My catch is, I don't know how MUCH I need to order. I only have one rabbit, and she's still a baby. I was looking at maybe 25 pounds, but I have nothing to compare it to, really.

Then I was like wait a minute, I'm moving to a rural farming community. Surely they will have hay, and it will be cheaper.

Well they do, except it's in VERY large amounts. 30 dollars for a 1200 pound alfalfa bale. But my problem is, there's no way she's going to eat that much hay. Let alone the fact that it's alfalfa and she won't even be on it for very long, just until she's ready for timothy. Then I'll have over a ton left of the stuff. And still have to buy some timothy.

Then I had another thought... A friend of mine's dad has cows and horses. I know they have hay. I figured maybe I'd ask him if I could give him the money it costs him for a bale, and then just get as much as I need of it on a bi-weekly basis. Surely she won't go through a bale a year, would she? Even when I get her a buddy, 1200 pounds is an awful lot.

What do you guys think?

 

[Maureen Las]

LOL

Don't buy a big bale like 1200 lbs. She will have out grown alfalfa before that would be used ( like you said) plus where would you store it.???



Why don't you buy maybe a 15 lb box to last you until you find the right kind of hay. when she is young you will want alfalfa but that will not be much of her life maybe the 1st 6 months.

then you will be doing what I am doing right now which is looking for good farm hay for my rabbits.
I don't know a whole lot about it but I do know that Randy, our resident expert , has told us that if a person has quality horses they usually feed a good grass hay which is good for rabbits. if you find a good horse facility you may be able to get the hay you need from them or they could give you the name of their seller.

Idid get farm hay here in Wi which my rabbits liked a lot but it had a lot of clover in it whichI did not feel was good for my rabbits. I am looking for small bales (40-50 lbs)of timothy /grass hay processed and stored inside , green and fresh with no signs of mold.

in the meantime I am buying hay on-line and having it shipped.
we have another thread running presently on this topic .

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=45875&forum_id=48
With one rabbit you could also just buy alfalfa from the pet stores until he is bigger

Myissue is that I have 8 rabbits and they eat a LOT of hay. ; i am spending a fortune ordering it.

Maureen

 

[Maureen Las]

If ordered ha y online I might be paying $25.00 for 50 lbs (oxbow)and then another $25.00 dollars for shipping.
IfI buy from a farm I might spend= $3.50 for about 40lb.

 

[SunnyCait]

Hmmm one of my dad's friend's raises Arabians (which is rare for people in Iowa, haha) and I imagine they get fed a really nice quality hay. They're good friends so I'll definitely ask him about it. I didn't even think of asking him... It kind of seems obvious now, haha!

Yeah the prices of buying online is what is really deterring me. I mean, I just said I could buy 1200 pounds of it for 30 bucks. I order it online and spend 5 bucks less for a mere 50 pounds, not including shipping. So I'm definitely going with farm bought; the issue is just finding the quantity and quality I need.

Right now she's getting just alfalfa from the pet supply store. 8 bucks for less than 5 pounds. *is not thrilled* It's funny how they really rake you over the coals on hay prices. Makes little sense to me. But she's gotta have it, so, what can you do? LOL

 

[Little Bay Poo]

We have two Netherland Dwarfs who don't eat much hay so we only buy 5 pounds at a time. This lasts us many months. We bought a 12 pound box once and were overwhelmed at the quantity because we made the mistake of moving it to two giant storage bags, which doubled its bulk! Now we keep hay in the box it was shipped in because it is nice and compact, and much easier to find space for in the one bedroom apartment.

 

[SunnyCait]

What ended up happening is when I went to Iowa this past weekend I talked to my friend, and he grabbed me a huge tub full of hay from some of their bales. So she's set for a while, and when that's done with we'll just go back over and fill 'er up again.