Is this a safe way to store my hay?

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undergunfire

undergunfire

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Well, I caved and went to the feed store to buy a bale of their hay. It is Orchard Grass, I like it, it is green....but a tad dusty. I think it will do, though...as ordering from Kleenmama's right now is going to cost me an arm and a leg. I got the bale for $20.

Anyway, it is HUGE...I mean...the biggest bale I have ever seen in my life. I had to break it down and squeeze some in a rubbermaid bin for the bunny room. Then the rest of the hay I broke down and stored it in 6 massive black trash bags in the garage...then I poked a thousand holes in the bags, so the hay could "breathe".


Is this a good way to store the hay, or should I be worried about tons of bugs getting into the hay or the hay going bad?

I honestly think I may sell some of the bags of hay...it is going to take my rabbits 2 years to eat it all, I swear!
 
I wish I could find huge bales of good quality hay around here for $20. But I digress.

I'm not sure about the insects, but is the garage temperature controlled? Is the space humid-feeling? Is there any chance of a leak or flood into the garage? Is the space away from any mice or other critters that may find their way into the garage?

I'd personally worry about the hay molding, but since you're in Arizona you don't have the same worries with humidity as we do here. I think you should be fine, but I don't know for sure.

I hope someone else will come along and offer their expertise.
 
It's fine. Bugs usually aren't real interested in dry hay, your only issue might be mice using it as a bed. I have never had hay go moldy even in the most humid of conditions, and my hay is stored stackedin a mostly open pole barn. So long as it's off the ground, it should be fine.
 
$20 for a bale! :shock:

I'm in the wrong business! I need to start selling hay in other states!

$5 per bale (nice big bales) of good mixed hay.... going rate.
 
That is how I store a bale, when I can find one! Hay is usually about $6 a bale here but because we had a drought in summer, I haven't been able to buy hay for a couple months :?.

I think it's a great idea to sell some, that's what I did last time, as it takes AGES to go through a big bale.




 
Gosh if i could get a bale of hay for $5 or so,then i would be a very happy bunny mum...but i pay $16.95 for a bale of oat hay.

And i have also stored my hay in these giantrubbish bags and i have had no problems
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
$20 for a bale! :shock:

I'm in the wrong business! I need to start selling hay in other states!

$5 per bale (nice big bales) of good mixed hay.... going rate.
Click to expand...

Trust me, the farmers don't see that money, most of it is due to transportation costs.

I buy my hay for $3-$4/bale depending on how good the crops were.

I buy the bales the horse sized square bales (aka, small square bales that are about 4' long by 18" high and wide, you can't lift the big square ones) and I go through about 4 per year... and I only have 4 rabbits, one of which doesn't eat hay, LOL.
 
I'm paying here in Ontario - close to $4.00 for a 40 pound square bale of Timothy - delivered and stacked. I'm just stocking up on round bales for winter for our big animals, and they are $30 for quality hay. $20 is a lot depending on weight- but it's also just location. My hay gets used up so fast I've never stored hay for more than a few weeks, but what you've done sounds just fine:)
 
It's been so weird here we haven't even had a first cutting! THe one week we could have, BIL decided he had better things to do..... so now we're needing to buy some hay until we can get some more going.

I think I'm going to get my horses a small round bale for their bale feeder.
 
I found this on another rabbit site today and thought I'd post it here after I saw your question. I've never had bales for my bunnies yet but groing up around farms this all makes sense to me. Hope it helps.

Hay can last a very long time, years even, when stored properly. Here are some pointers for proper storage of hay, shared by hay experts across the internet:
  • choose a well ventilated, dry area for storage.
  • avoid exposure to sunlight, as this will cause hay to lose its nutritional value.
  • fresh hay stores moisture, and can become moldy without proper ventilation.
  • therefore, don’t store hay in plastic, as plastic draws moisture, leading to mold and rot. Use a container made of materials which are able to ‘breathe’, such as a cardboard box, wooden box or woven nylon feed sack.
  • if a cardboard box is used, make holes around the box to allow for better airflow.
  • for wooden boxes, choose untreated wood. Chemicals from the sealant used to treat wood could contaminate hay, and also prevent the wood from ‘breathing’.
  • don’t store hay on concrete ground, this draws moisture. Wooden grounds are fine, though.
  • if hay is bought in bales, don’t break up the bale unnecessarily. This helps to keep the center of the bale fresh.
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
$20 for a bale! :shock:

I'm in the wrong business! I need to start selling hay in other states!

$5 per bale (nice big bales) of good mixed hay.... going rate.
Click to expand...
Seeing as you have horses and can get affordable hay, you must live in (or darn near) the country, Bo. We suburbanites get royally raked over the coals when it comes to hay prices (usually paying anywhere from $1.10 to $2.00 per pound). It's no wonder why my husband and I (on his salary and with our pets' crazy vet bills) can't afford more rabbits--not when a 25-lb. box of it costs $50 (locally).
 
Jenk wrote:
Bo B Bunny wrote:
$20 for a bale! :shock:

I'm in the wrong business! I need to start selling hay in other states!

$5 per bale (nice big bales) of good mixed hay.... going rate.
Click to expand...
Seeing as you have horses and can get affordable hay, you must live in (or darn near) the country, Bo. We suburbanites get royally raked over the coals when it comes to hay prices (usually paying anywhere from $1.10 to $2.00 per pound). It's no wonder why my husband and I (on his salary and with our pets' crazy vet bills) can't afford more rabbits--not when a 25-lb. box of it costs $50 (locally).
Click to expand...
Hooooly cow! You're paying fifty bucks for 25 pounds of hay?! Are you anywhere near east central Illinois? I'm betting I could get you good hay for a lot less than that.
 
Hmm..is that taken from furrybutts?

that's my blog :biggrin2: i had just bought a lot of hay over the weekend and was researching on the best way to store the hay so that it'd stay fresh, as my 2 bunnies will take a while to finish all the hay

hope you guys found the info helpful :)


Kamaor wrote:
I found this on another rabbit site today and thought I'd post it here after I saw your question. I've never had bales for my bunnies yet but groing up around farms this all makes sense to me. Hope it helps.

Hay can last a very long time, years even, when stored properly. Here are some pointers for proper storage of hay, shared by hay experts across the internet:
  • choose a well ventilated, dry area for storage.
  • avoid exposure to sunlight, as this will cause hay to lose its nutritional value.
  • fresh hay stores moisture, and can become moldy without proper ventilation.
  • therefore, don’t store hay in plastic, as plastic draws moisture, leading to mold and rot. Use a container made of materials which are able to ‘breathe’, such as a cardboard box, wooden box or woven nylon feed sack.
  • if a cardboard box is used, make holes around the box to allow for better airflow.
  • for wooden boxes, choose untreated wood. Chemicals from the sealant used to treat wood could contaminate hay, and also prevent the wood from ‘breathing’.
  • don’t store hay on concrete ground, this draws moisture. Wooden grounds are fine, though.
  • if hay is bought in bales, don’t break up the bale unnecessarily. This helps to keep the center of the bale fresh.
Click to expand...
 
It was! I copied it and tucked into my rabbit folder. Then I came across the post here and copied it over. Hope you don't mind I didn't give you credit, only cause I couldn't remember where I'd gotten it:blushan:

Oh and I love your blog I started checking it out a few weeks ago. Buttons funny face from the 18th was great and I love how Yohji lays spread out with his feet behind him Cute Bunz!!
 
Oh, no worries, I don't mind at all :) i'm honoured you found that little write up worthy of saving in your rabbit folder, and glad u liked the pics too :biggrin2:
 
Amy, if youre having trouble getting them to eat this new hay, have you tried mixing some other hay in with it?

For storage, I use tupperware with the lid off and garbage bags. The only problem Ive gad in the past with garbage bags in my garage was mice during the winter months. Im not allowed to store any in the garage anymore bc we had a ton of mice who decided to take up residence in the nice warm hay! :)

Bo, we havent had our first cutting yet either here! I called my farmer the other day and they said they were finally mowing it and were baling it up that day. It rained like crazy the next day so I hope they were able to get it all off the ground and into a dry place. We need some hay here- this ordering from Kleenmama is killing my bank account!
 
Sorry, Haley, I have to do this!:roflmao:

We need some hay here- this ordering from Kleenmama is killing my bank account!


Being from the Midwest, maybe you get jokes like this?

"You might be a redneck if you made an order from someone called Kleenmama":p
 
I wouldn't sell it if I were you. It should be fine as long as it doesn't succomb to mold, etc. It will last quite a while.

I store my bales of hay up on the roof of the largest rabbit-hutch and then I take about 5 or so flakes and put it in a bin every time the bin gets low. One bale for our bunnies usually lasts about 3 or 4 months. We feed probably 1 to 1 1/2 flakes of hay a day....

ETA: I can't remember what my mom told me today how much we pay for grass/timothy hay, but it was somewhere between $11 and $20. I will ask her again tomorrow.

Emily

 
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