pagesguineas Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Just been down to Scats today and picked up a bale of hay (Devon Haylage is the make) only to open it and find that in the middle there are little white specks on it and it does smell odd, it is also very damp. We have put it out into the garden to try and dry it out a little but I'm concerned about feeding this to the buns. The bag wasn't blown up. I'm getting desperate to find a good hay supplier in this area!!!!! What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyrabbit Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hmmmmm - I personally wouldn't give it to the buns - it could seriously upset their tummies You don't say where you are - where are you because I know a good hay supplier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I wouldn't feed it either, mould spores can cause chest problems aswell and tummy problems. Could you order online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 No I've decided that I'm taking it back to Scats tomorrow, it just smells mouldy and horrible - shame Scats is such a long way away I'm Basingstoke, Hampshire. I do however travel to Hertfordshire to see my partner but I need a new supplier asap and I'm not going to stay at his for a long time (university, exams, coursework deadlines....yuck!!!). I have found a supplier locally just via Google but no idea what the quality of the hay will be - going there tomorrow to see. My local stables also sells hay but again I will have to go and see the quality of it. If anyone knows of a good local supplier then I will really appreciate the tip-off!! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Lillybettybabs I just re-read your post - I didn't even think of ordering online! I've had a look online and found a few places I could order from but I was just going to ask if you order online and if you would recommend any website? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I did post a link to a very good hay supplier a while back, I'll ahve to have a look for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 So.....I took the manky bale of hay back to Scats today with the view of getting a complete refund and getting hay from somewhere else. However the lady there offered to pre-open a new bale to see if I wanted to take another rather than have a refund I thought why not (would save me a 15 mile round trip to the other supplier)! 5 bales of mouldy Timothy Hay went in the skip before she decided that the whole pallet was baled too early and were all too damp and going mouldy. She then offered me a bag of Ryegrass hay in the place of it, opened it up and it was perfect, and smelt lovely! I've just put it into the buns run and they went totally crazy for it so it seems the Timothy hay is out of the window now and we will continue to get hay from Scats for now but the Ryegrass one instead. Thanks for your help, the lady seemed to know quite a bit about hay and she also said that the hay wasn't good for anything apart from the bin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 good service then pages, and at least you know now that you can keep going back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyrabbit Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I'm glad it was sorted out pages. Also, I'm extremely embarrassed not to have realised whose post I was answering (of COURSE I know where you live!). Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Franklyrabbit, no worries! I wasn't sure if I had told you where I lived anyway Just a quick question, have never bought bales of hay before and not sure how to store them to stop them going off. At the moment it is in the shed on a plastic sheet but I know I can't keep it on plastic for long as it doesn't let the hay breathe - Was thinking of raising it up on 2 bits of wood so the air can get underneath?!? One of the buns had a bit of diarrhea (or what I assumed to be) in the hutch last night - big piles of soft lumpy poos. They both seem fine so I'm assuming it's just due to the sudden change in the type of hay they are used to. Will keep an eye over next few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyrabbit Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 You could be right about the change in hay changing the poos. It's always a worry isn't it. Bonnie's are nearly always large and soft first thing in the morning and then go pellety for the rest of the day I get a bale of hay at a time from a farmer and use to decant it into large garden refuse bags and then seal them up with packaging tape and store them in the shed. They always kept fine whether winter or summer. Now that the shed is full and next door is empty, I have permission to store it in my neighbour's lean-to/come conservatory. I decant as much as I can into a metal dust bin with lid to use on a daily basis and it keeps dry and clean in there. I don't know if that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Hi, We decant some into a plastic box with lid that we have drilled some holes in the side to let it breathe and that seems to do the trick (not that it stays in there long ) and the rest I think we will raise up on some wood in the shed and see how that goes. I'm paranoid about it going mouldy after this latest episode!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagesguineas Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 I know this is a bit of an old thread but I've finally had a eureka moment as to why the hay was going funny. Well - I say I had a eureka moment, it was more the lady that I went to meet this morning with a view to loaning her horse She had a bale of hay in a bag - looked exactly like the stuff we had so I said to her that we use it for our bunnies but have had great trouble storing it because as soon as we got it out of the bag it started deteriorating. She then explained to me that the stuff she (and I) buy isn't hay!!!! It's hay-lage. Apparently haylage is cut sooner and baled while still damn/wet to retain more freshness and vitamins. It also has a shelf life out of the bag of about 3-4 days. Hay on the other hand is cut later on in the growth cycle and is left to fully dry before baling, and while baled can be stored for a number of months (even years). Haylage is the middle ground between hay and silage. Glad to finally work this out - had been puzzling me for ages. I rang up my local riding school and asked them about it and they confirmed this - so I'm going down there when I get home to pick up a bale of HAY!!!! The horse lady (Jane) also fed her horses something called 'Graze On', which is freeze dried grass, £7 for a 15kg bag! I researched that and found that people generally preferred readigrass (£10 for 15kg bag) so I have ordered a trial of this and we shall see how the buns like it. I was told not to feed solely readigrass to the buns because (although they will probably go crazy for it) it can upset their tummies so I shall try a handful daily to supplement the hay. Does anyone else feed readigrass/Graze on and would you recommend them? I'll keep thread updated with how the bunnies like it Catherine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
