I'm looking for a less dusty hay source...

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kirbyultra

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I'm trying to make the apartment more bearable for my hubby. Ever since we switched to a 50lb box of oxbow in Feb/March he's been suffering. I feel really bad but I couldn't throw out the whole box of 50lbs. The buns love the hay so that is not the problem. It's just very dusty and has coated the whole rabbit room in a thin layer of green dust over the months (it was gross cleaning up the place). I vaccuum like a nut (big Dyson floor vac and small Dyson handvac almost daily...) and it just doesn't help that much. We got a hepa air filter in the bedroom that seems to help at night so he can sleep soundly, but the rabbit room is also our computer room and he works a lot at home. He can't sit in the room for more than an hour without getting completely congested!

I'm trying to look for some suggestions of hay that is less dusty. The last time I had a hay related thread Randy, Ali and some others loved Sweet Meadow, BunnyBale and Kleenmama for their quality and bun-testiments. I just ordered a 5 lb sampler of bluegrass and 2nd cut tim from Kleenmama to try. I remember seeing Sweet Meadow hay and thinking it was kind of choppy (not long strands) and therefore naturally afraid of it being equally dusty as oxbow. I may try them next, and then BunnyBale.com. Anyone have any promising recommendations on clean, quality hay? :pleaseplease:

Side note - My husband would never deprive our bunners of their hay because of his discomfort (he's a keeper for this reason alone!) so we would not turn to hay cakes or hay cubes as a substitute. Myself, I am definitely allergic to hay to some degree but it is manageable for me. The two of us slaves are pretty much at the mercy of Kirby and Toby. (my eyes water and nose gets runny if I hang out in the rabbit room; my skin reacts in patches of rashes if I handle timothy and don't wash any skin in contact with it immediately!)

Sorry for the long post!
 
If you call around to places that sell products for goats and horses etc, you can probably find someone who has bales of timothy or a timothy mix for just a few dollars. Bales weight a LOT. I'm shocked now when I see how expensive specialty brands of hay are. I pay $0.10 per pound of hay compared to like $2.5 or more per pound from something like oxbow or kaytee. I have my supplier (Soldan's in Okemos, MI) put it in a giant garbage bag.

You need to inspect it though. Once I bought hay and it smelled a bit sour and all the grass had deteriorated into dust. I ended up throwing most of it out.
 
If I buy 30+lbs with shipping it's about $1 to $1.25 a lb which isn't too bad. It's not 10 cents a pound :) But I don't live near farms. I live in New York City. It's quite a trek in itself to go out to farm areas I think. :)
 
JeffS wrote:
If you call around to places that sell products for goats and horses etc, you can probably find someone who has bales of timothy or a timothy mix for just a few dollars. Bales weight a LOT. I'm shocked now when I see how expensive specialty brands of hay are. I pay $0.10 per pound of hay compared to like $2.5 or more per pound from something like oxbow or kaytee. I have my supplier (Soldan's in Okemos, MI) put it in a giant garbage bag.

You need to inspect it though. Once I bought hay and it smelled a bit sour and all the grass had deteriorated into dust. I ended up throwing most of it out.


One of the reasons i'm willing to pay a premium for rabbit-specific hay is because I've tried dealing with a more local hay supplier, and he was rather lackadaisical about it all, and I figure that was because I only wanted a very small amount, compared to his usual shipments.

I can only reiterate my support of Bunny Bales and Kleen Mama. If anyone has any other online hay merchants in mind, please post them, here.
 
Helen, what do you store your hay in?

I bought a a Bale Bag for my hay, it keeps it nice and fresh and is much neater except when I end up spilling some of the hay when I put it in smaller bags to transport to the bunny rooms.

I wish we could get some of the hays in Canada :Canada small:that you guys get in the States:USA: . I pay quite a bit for my bale especially compared to some of our members out in western Canada but it's still alot cheaper then buying the 96 ounce bag of Kay Tee with all of our bunnies.

Susan:)


 
The SweetMeadow hay I ordered was virtually dust free.
It is very aromatic and the whole bunny room reminds me of chamomile tea...don't know if that would irritate hubby's allergies or not.
SweetMeadows is on the east coast, Sherborn, MA.
They ship Fed Ex.
A 30 lb carton of classic timothy was $33.00 including shipping, and I got it in 3 days.
http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com

Kleenmamas third cut timothy is by far my favorite....and the buns too!!
It's also virtually dust free and the buns eat every little piece I give them.
However, the harvest is usually late in the summer and a limited one at that.
It should be available in the next couple of weeks.
I usually order some to see how it is and then stock up if it's good.
They're located on the west coast, Reardan, WA
They ship UPS and it takes over a week to get.
A 45 lb carton of third cut timothy was $66.00 including shipping.
http://www.kmshayloft.com

 
kirbyultra wrote:
If I buy 30+lbs with shipping it's about $1 to $1.25 a lb which isn't too bad. It's not 10 cents a pound :) But I don't live near farms. I live in New York City. It's quite a trek in itself to go out to farm areas I think. :)

I'm in Northern NJ....about 15 minutes from the Geo. Wash. Bridge ;)

Any farms are at least a 45 minute drive.... more toward central Jersey and PA.

I have found a few distributors in the area that provide hay for the local riding stables and horse race track, but haven't checked them out yet.
 
Gordon wrote:
I've tried dealing with a more local hay supplier, and he was rather lackadaisical about it all, and I figure that was because I only wanted a very small amount, compared to his usual shipments.
A bunch of us went out and bought over 15 bales of hay a few weeks ago. Because we got that many, the farmer gave us a better price. I am quite pleased with this hay, and I was able to see it before I bought it.

Isave large boxes that can hold a bale of hay. Then I use smaller boxes that I can move hay from room to room without getting hay all over the place.

Susan, the bale of hay was about 55 lbs and it cost less than $10, andI was able to taketheminmy van. The farm was about 20 minutes from my place.
 
JimD wrote:
I'm in Northern NJ....about 15 minutes from the Geo. Wash. Bridge ;)

Any farms are at least a 45 minute drive.... more toward central Jersey and PA.

I have found a few distributors in the area that provide hay for the local riding stables and horse race track, but haven't checked them out yet.
Yep,add in another 30 minutes to go cross the tunnels and I'm looking at an hour each way, at least. I think by that time the shipping cost about paid for my car fuel lol I live in Manhattan.
 
JimD wrote:
The SweetMeadow hay I ordered was virtually dust free.
It is very aromatic and the whole bunny room reminds me of chamomile tea...don't know if that would irritate hubby's allergies or not.
SweetMeadows is on the east coast, Sherborn, MA.
They ship Fed Ex.
A 30 lb carton of classic timothy was $33.00 including shipping, and I got it in 3 days.

Kleenmamas third cut timothy is by far my favorite....and the buns too!!
It's also virtually dust free and the buns eat every little piece I give them.
However, the harvest is usually late in the summer and a limited one at that.
It should be available in the next couple of weeks.
I usually order some to see how it is and then stock up if it's good.
They're located on the west coast, Reardan, WA
They ship UPS and it takes over a week to get.
A 45 lb carton of third cut timothy was $66.00 including shipping.
http://www.kmshayloft.com
That settles it then - I am going to try Sweet meadow too. I love how they are so close by, I hear they ship really fast and for me, the shipping is less hefty.

For Kleenmama's hay, I can't get a terribly good price per lb unless I buy 45 lbs, and I can't buy anything more than 25 or 30 lbs at a time anymore. My husband got really fed up with the Oxbow 50 lb eyesore (literally LOL) sitting in our small Manhattan closet. So my wallet's going to have to suck it up and I have to buy in less quantities. I decided against trying Kleenmama's a while ago because they are so far and shipping is so much from ocean to ocean, but since thenI heard tons of great things about their 3rd cut. That's why I am trying them out for 5 lbs now, also to join their newsletter and hopefully get an email when their 3rd cut is for sale. My bunnies have never been picky about the brand of their hay but they sure know how to pick out the soft stuff, especially King Kirby. I bet he'll love 3rd cut!

 
SOOOSKA wrote:
Helen, what do you store your hay in?

I keep the hay in big plastic snap-shut bins. I kept what I could in those and the rest I kept in the big cardboard box it came in with the plastic bag inside. I open up the bins every so often for airflow. But all the boxes are inside of a closet so they are as put-away as they can conveniently be. My 50lb purchase has kept very well for 6 months now.

I think I must have thrown out about 5 lbs of dust at the bottom of the box though. And there were many big old, short, dusty, brown chunks in the Oxbow that I broke up to use as sort of litter box filler. I found them mostly in the corners of the "blocks" of hay and was not at all happy about it. Between the blocks of hay was also always a layer of pure green dust, completely unusable. I bought masks to go over my nose and mouth just to scoop that stuff out in order to get to the next block in the box! Is this common of Oxbow or hay in general? Or am I in for a pleasant upgrade going to Kleenmama/Sweet Meadow/Bunny Bale?
 
kirbyultra wrote:
That settles it then - I am going to try Sweet meadow too. I love how they are so close by, I hear they ship really fast and for me, the shipping is less hefty.

For Kleenmama's hay, I can't get a terribly good price per lb unless I buy 45 lbs, and I can't buy anything more than 25 or 30 lbs at a time anymore. My husband got really fed up with the Oxbow 50 lb eyesore (literally LOL) sitting in our small Manhattan closet. So my wallet's going to have to suck it up and I have to buy in less quantities. I decided against trying Kleenmama's a while ago because they are so far and shipping is so much from ocean to ocean, but since thenI heard tons of great things about their 3rd cut. That's why I am trying them out for 5 lbs now, also to join their newsletter and hopefully get an email when their 3rd cut is for sale. My bunnies have never been picky about the brand of their hay but they sure know how to pick out the soft stuff, especially King Kirby. I bet he'll love 3rd cut!

The major difference between the SweetMeadow and KleenMamas, is that Sweet meadows is the actual farm and KleenMamas is more of a distributor that purchases their hay from farms.

SweetMeadows is a typical farm hay and often has other field plants mixed in.

KleenMamas hay is mostly straight up hay without anything else mixed in.

It's kind of hard to weigh the two in comparison.

My buns LOVE to dig through the SweetMeadow and pick out their favorite morsels such as the errant clover and/or grasses!
And then they use the rest for extra bedding.

On the other hand, they eat every little bit of the KleenMamas.....which makes for less waste/leftovers and cleanup.

Soooo......
I buy the third cut KleenMamas when available, and SweetMeadows the rest of the time.
 
kirbyultra wrote:
I keep the hay in big plastic snap-shut bins. I kept what I could in those and the rest I kept in the big cardboard box it came in with the plastic bag inside. I open up the bins every so often for airflow. But all the boxes are inside of a closet so they are as put-away as they can conveniently be. My 50lb purchase has kept very well for 6 months now.

I think I must have thrown out about 5 lbs of dust at the bottom of the box though. And there were many big old, short, dusty, brown chunks in the Oxbow that I broke up to use as sort of litter box filler. I found them mostly in the corners of the "blocks" of hay and was not at all happy about it. Between the blocks of hay was also always a layer of pure green dust, completely unusable. I bought masks to go over my nose and mouth just to scoop that stuff out in order to get to the next block in the box! Is this common of Oxbow or hay in general? Or am I in for a pleasant upgrade going to Kleenmama/Sweet Meadow/Bunny Bale?

Hay stores best if it gets good airflow....promotes less chance of mold.

I saved my old Oxbow cartons and store my hay in them.
It's best to take the hay out of the plastic bag and store it in the plain carton.
I think there's even a blurb about that on the KleenMamas site.

KleenMamas is compressed and comes in a much smaller carton than the SweetMeadows. I found it stores best if I break the flakes up a bit and put it in a larger carton for storage.

My experience with Oxbow resulted in a lot of dust and clumps, too.
I've found some clumps and root material in the other hays, but at a much lesser amount.
 
I'm a big fan of Kleenmama's. Their 3rd cut is supposed to be available around the beginning of October. I'm definately getting a 45 lb. box. I got some last year and it was a huge hit with the bunners.
 
I am also allergic to the hay dust. I get American Pet Diner hay. I've heard so many great things about Kleenmama and Sweet Meadow, but my rescue group gets the APD by the pallet, and sells it, so a portion of the sale goes to support the group.

I have found some boxes are more dusty than others. (I buy it by the 25lb box.) I do "sift" out the smaller pieces in the bottom, and use the big-enough pieces as litter box filler. I find that my bunnies do actually snack on these when they're in their boxes, so it's not too much of a waste for me. I have never had a box dusty enough to coat the room in it, though.

Because I'm allergic to pretty much every airborne allergen out there, I take allergy medicine daily for it, which helps a lot with my hay allergy.
 
I'm going to buy some of Kleenmama's 3rd cut if it becomes available. We've never tried it. All we've had is her 2nd cut stuff, and it is wonderful. :)

I'm also going to try some APD and Sweet Meadow. Diversity is good. :) I don't like depending on one supplier.

And as far as cuts go, I read something on Kleenmama's site, that indicated she didn't offer 1st cut anymore, because it's often so coarse as to cause possible eye injuries, from accidental poking, as well as throat injuries.

I do however, believe the higher fiber and thickness of the 2nd and 1st cut is good for our bunnies' digestion and teeth, so don't go too wild with the 3rd cut stuff. I'm ordering it, mainly as a supplemental treat.
:)

Regarding storage, I use the snap-top style plastic storage bins. Keep in mind, I only purchase 5 pounds or so at a time, and split that up into two bins. Given the fact I buy from multiple sources, I may have 4 to 6 plastic bins in rotation; but I also keep the containers in a very clean and climate-controlled atmosphere, in the pantry closet of my kitchen. I agree hay needs to breathe, and I do open the containers, to check on things, but the indoor dry air and clean conditions of my storage area keep it all good, for me. The big huge bales of hay some of you buy are unmanageable for me, and I can see how those are more susceptible to mold and going bad.
 
I got my Kleenmama's bluegrass and 2nd cut timmy. It looks very clean and crisp indeed. I'll have to ask my husband what he thinks of it. I am very impressed with the bluegrass. It looks beautiful! It's Kleenmama's version of orchard grass - is it ok to feed this as a staple hay like orchard?
 

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