Baled Hay Safe?

[BunnyMunchkin]

I am in search of a cheaper place to purchase my hay. I rescued a rabbit a month ago and a week after bringing her home I came home to her having given birth and now I have 7 mouths to feed. I was purchasing my hay from small pet select but I am just going through way too much hay now and its just too expensive to keep buying it from there. I found a few local feed store that sell horse quality straight timothy bales for really good prices but are they safe? Do they use fertilizer or weed sprays on the hay grown for horses versus the hay I buy made for small animals? 

[Bam]

Good horse hay is good for bunnies. You should smell it, it mustn’t have any hint of a moldy smell. It’s how it’s been stored after it was harvested that matters most.

[DesertBunny]

I bought a bale once because it is very cheap compared to packaged hay. However I found numerous dead insects in it including WASPS. That being said, I have also found dead insects in Kaytee hay sold in the stores (I only bought it because it was an emergency). Most notable were some thumb sized black bugs. All dead.

[BunnyMunchkin]

Posted By bam on 4/12/2017 2:41 PM
Good horse hay is good for bunnies. You should smell it, it mustn’t have any hint of a moldy smell. It’s how it’s been stored after it was harvested that matters most.

What is the best way to store hay? I usually store my hay in the box it comes in but a bale would not come in a box so I would need to store it in something myself.

And oh my I have never found bugs or anything in my hay before thank goodness. I have only ever used small pet select or Jojo’s though. I am not sure what I would do if I ever found a bug though

[Luna]

You want to store your hay in a dry place and not exposed to sunlight, like in a large cardboard box in a room that is not humid.

[BunnyMunchkin]

Hmm I am not sure where a farm would store 120lb bales of hay except for outside and seeing as I live in Florida where there is always humidity that is a bit concerning.

[Luna]

A 120 lb. bale?! Do they have a smaller size you could purchase? While hay can be stored away for around 1 year, I think there are several benefits to purchasing a smaller size:
1. Easier for you to store 30-60 lbs. at your place as opposed to 120 lbs.
2. Hay in more humid climate tends not to last as long as hay in arid climate.
3. Easier to inspect the hay because there aren’t as many layers for mold to hide in, and there is less hay to go through to check for dampness.

[BunnyMunchkin]

Posted By Luna on 4/13/2017 8:35 AM
A 120 lb. bale?! Do they have a smaller size you could purchase? While hay can be stored away for around 1 year, I think there are several benefits to purchasing a smaller size:
1. Easier for you to store 30-60 lbs. at your place as opposed to 120 lbs.
2. Hay in more humid climate tends not to last as long as hay in arid climate.
3. Easier to inspect the hay because there aren’t as many layers for mold to hide in, and there is less hay to go through to check for dampness.

Unfortunately I haven’t found anywhere around here that sells bales that are less than 100lbs in weight. They are all three string bales. But prices range from $35 to $55 a bale which is a great price considering the cheapest I have been able to find online would be $53 for a 50lb box of oxbow Timothy hay which doesn’t state anywhere on the box if it is first or second cut. I wish I could find other options

[Luna]

Are you looking to buy Timothy hay first cut or second cut?

[BunnyMunchkin]

Posted By Luna on 4/13/2017 11:33 AM
Are you looking to buy Timothy hay first cut or second cut?

I usually buy second cut

[Jellie]

For my sisters bun I used to buy bales of hay from my friends farm. I’d break it up into chunks and store it in plastic tubs in my basement. It worked really well.

My bun is very young right now so I’m getting him oxbow alfalfa but when he’s old enough I’ll switch him over to farm hay as well.

[BunnyMunchkin]

I would love to be able to buy a bale that would last me a year if I could figure out a way to store it properly. Right now with 7 bunnies we are going through close to 10lbs of hay a month.

[Azerane]

Do you have a basement or other room in the house where storing the bale wouldn’t be an issue? I agree that the outdoor weather in Florida would not really be ideal for keeping a bale long term. If it gets wet even once it’s essentially ruined.

If you have a spare room, large cupboard or basement etc it would be easy to keep the bale in. Even your garage would work. The bales I buy weigh roughly 50-60 pounds, and I store them in a wooden blanket box/toy chest. A larger bale like that though if kept in the basement probably wouldn’t need to be kept in anything, though if you could find a box big enough it could work, one of those outdoor storage boxes. The main thing with keeping hay is that it needs to stay dry, be kept out of the sun, and have some ventilation. If it’s not ventilated it can sweat which leads to mould. You can also buy bale bags designed to fit different sized bales which could help contain the mess.

As to your initial question, baled hay is perfectly safe, I think brand packaged hay probably goes through an extra filtering process (for bugs etc) but in a good bale of hay it should be very rare that you find bugs anyway. My current bale that I’m 90% of the way through, I think I’ve seen 1 bug.

[BunnyMunchkin]

Posted By Azerane on 4/13/2017 6:29 PM
Do you have a basement or other room in the house where storing the bale wouldn’t be an issue? I agree that the outdoor weather in Florida would not really be ideal for keeping a bale long term. If it gets wet even once it’s essentially ruined.

If you have a spare room, large cupboard or basement etc it would be easy to keep the bale in. Even your garage would work. The bales I buy weigh roughly 50-60 pounds, and I store them in a wooden blanket box/toy chest. A larger bale like that though if kept in the basement probably wouldn’t need to be kept in anything, though if you could find a box big enough it could work, one of those outdoor storage boxes. The main thing with keeping hay is that it needs to stay dry, be kept out of the sun, and have some ventilation. If it’s not ventilated it can sweat which leads to mould. You can also buy bale bags designed to fit different sized bales which could help contain the mess.

As to your initial question, baled hay is perfectly safe, I think brand packaged hay probably goes through an extra filtering process (for bugs etc) but in a good bale of hay it should be very rare that you find bugs anyway. My current bale that I’m 90% of the way through, I think I’ve seen 1 bug.

Thanks that is great to hear! We don’t have basements here in FL. I don’t think we can have basements here, if we did I think they would be in the water lol. I do have a garage with plenty of room though and an indoor pantry I could use as well. I wish I could get them to sell me a smaller size or half a bale but these are farm supply stores that are getting the bales delivered to them daily from the local farms so they aren’t packaging the bales themselves and won’t be able to break it up for me.

[Luna]

The garage would be fine as long as you store the hay as Azerane advised, and put it in something so bugs and stuff can’t get in. Even with the extra filtering process that commercially packaged bales go through, I’ve still found dead grasshoppers (not anymore though since I’ve switched brands lol), so I don’t think non-commercial hay is any worse than commercial hay . If you found a good deal, you should definitely give it a try . Just feel free to ask the sellers any questions you have regarding the hay, and make sure you give the bale a good eye over.

[jerseygirl]

Does the rescue where you got the mumma bun from buy large hay bales? Im thinking maybe you could buy smaller amounts off them if they do. Or see if other owners are interested in splitting a bale with you.
Are their horse stables near by? They may sell smaller portions of hay too.

Or if the feed store has a facebook page, see if other customers are wanting to also get smaller amounts rather then a whole bale. You could organise to purchase one together then split it accordingly. 

[BunnyMunchkin]

I think I will give it a try then! Even if I end up having to throw some away it will still be way cheaper and way more hay versus buying it from the pet store so it’s worth a shot just to see if I can make it work!

Posted By jerseygirl on 4/14/2017 7:40 AM
Does the rescue where you got the mumma bun from buy large hay bales? Im thinking maybe you could buy smaller amounts off them if they do. Or see if other owners are interested in splitting a bale with you.

Are their horse stables near by? They may sell smaller portions of hay too.

Or if the feed store has a facebook page, see if other customers are wanting to also get smaller amounts rather then a whole bale. You could organise to purchase one together then split it accordingly. 

The rescue I got my girl from was actually shut down by animal control and I’m not sure about farms in my area. I actually live in the city and will be driving upwards of an hour out of the city to purchase the hay. I did find their Facebook pages and will make a post and see if anyone responds before I head up there in a few days.

[jerseygirl]

The rescue I got my girl from was actually shut down by animal control

A story ive heard a time too many though, Im afraid.
Im glad you got her when you did!

[BunnyMunchkin]

Posted By jerseygirl on 4/14/2017 8:36 AM

The rescue I got my girl from was actually shut down by animal control

A story ive heard a time too many though, Im afraid.
Im glad you got her when you did!

I am very blessed to have rescued her when I did. She gave birth two weeks after we brought her home and although it terrified me at first I am glad that I rescued her when I did because who knows what could have happened to those poor babies had I not rescued her when I did. And watching them grow up has been a wonderful experience even if they are eating me out of house and home. 

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