COVID-19 Do you think the coronavirus will cause a hay shortage?

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I'm slightly concerned that people like us who love their small pets will be grabbing as much hay as they can, incase they think they will get isolated in their homes due to the coronavirus. I'm thinking ahead, I'm not one to go out grabbing and stocking up like crazy, what are your thoughts?
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I'm slightly concerned that people like us who love their small pets will be grabbing as much hay as they can, incase they think they will get isolated in their homes due to the coronavirus. I'm thinking ahead, I'm not one to go out grabbing and stocking up like crazy, what are your thoughts?
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I really hope not, I'm starting to get worried now as it is. If people did start bulk buying I'm hoping we could still buy Hay online.
 
Gem789 said:
I really hope not, I'm starting to get worried now as it is. If people did start bulk buying I'm hoping we could still buy Hay online.
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my local b and m who have been stocked very well lately, have suddenly got hardly anything left, I took the last of the Timothy ( only 2 bags)
 
Bill & Ted said:
Well you can’t get hand sanitiser down here for love nor money. Wondering if a small bottle of gin in my coat pocket would be the answer ?😆
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Luckily I hate hand sanitiser, it ruined my hands after working 5 years in a sandwich factory, had to use in on entering and exiting the factory. Try gin lol 😂
 
If plop does hit the fan, I know I can have my pigs live on fresh grass, but il be picking alot of it, and it won't be something I can do whilst at work
 
I seem to have accidentally ended up with more hay than I normally keep in, so I'm quite happy that should there be a shortage I have enough to cover me for at least one week if not longer if I ration it as food rather than covering the whole floor of the pens with it as a second bedding.
I get mine from a saddlery though so they always have massive amounts in as it mainly supplies for horses, probably a safer bet than pet stores to find any if it becomes scarce. I've been getting my lot ready for large amounts of grass though should I need to sneak out to the nature walk to nick some armfuls to replace their hay in an emergency, as a back up. I'm a strong believer in prepare for the worst, hope for the best, but don't go friggin crazy acting like the world is ending 😅
 
I won't be self isolating anyway, so I will be able to go out still if I get the virus, I doubt I will anyway, I have a mega immune system, it's rare I get sick. I won't be selfish though, I won't go near people, I mean jus to get grass out the back
 
Its a worry isnt it, I decided to compromise by bringing my haybox order forward a couple of weeks so we are just a couple of boxes in front without panic buying. And I ordered some parsley and coriander seeds online so we can grow herbs during the panic-induced apocalypse where society collapses due to a very small percentage of the population catching what is essentially rather an exotic bad cold :(
 
I really hope it doesn’t, I hadn’t really thought about it...
 
If I'm thinking it, and others are on here, then I'm sure there will be panick buying, definitly for hay out of anything. Nuggets are not an issue, and I don't think veg is.

Its more of an issue for rescues and people with herds of Guinea pigs or multiple species of grazing animals

If we got snow aswell that settles that's when il start stocking if I know bad weather is coming soon
 
PigglePuggle said:
Its a worry isnt it, I decided to compromise by bringing my haybox order forward a couple of weeks so we are just a couple of boxes in front without panic buying. And I ordered some parsley and coriander seeds online so we can grow herbs during the panic-induced apocalypse where society collapses due to a very small percentage of the population catching what is essentially rather an exotic bad cold :(
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Good idea - I might do the same with my HayBox order.
 
Brought 4big bales of hay Saturday, that will last 4weeks,l have no room to stock pile any. As the weather gets dryer will be foraging more greens.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I'm slightly concerned that people like us who love their small pets will be grabbing as much hay as they can, incase they think they will get isolated in their homes due to the coronavirus. I'm thinking ahead, I'm not one to go out grabbing and stocking up like crazy, what are your thoughts?
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Unfortunately when I went to my local pet store and the barn where I get my hay from had nearly all sold out ☹️ I will be buying my supplies online
 
It's going to be harder on farmers, as it's now getting into their busiest season,not being able to get on the land because of all the rain, they are trying to get slurry tanks empty, get crops sown, and start the silage process as well as other farm jobs,plus stock to look after, meat ,vegs ,grains and dairy, helping to feed our country as supplies are not coming in from abroad, and they rely on casual labour this time of year ,and it's not available.
 
I had a hay box delivery yesterday which took longer than normal, but I still have some timothy left.

I got a box of Timothy and a box of meadow hay. I am disappointed with the quality of the meadow hay. Of course it will do, but it's brown, not tasty green. What have others found with the hay box meadow hay?
 
I was looking online yesterday at pellets and hay but everywhere is low on stock or sold out. Even Haybox had sold out of hay! So there’s no doubt people are stock piling which isn’t good for everyone else. I will just do my usual shop, as I have done throughout this crisis, and the pigs will have to have what I can get, just like us!
 
Some thoughts on this from Australia: I'm finding it difficult to find Oxbow Timothy and Peters' Oaten hay (my staple hays), and a couple of the warehouses I buy through have said there's been incredible panic-buying of pet products. One of the warehouses received a big delivery of oaten hay this week, and it was sold out on back-orders alone. Given much of the country is still in a pretty severe drought, and we're coming into winter, locally-grown grassy hays are also in short supply or of poor quality. For a few months, I've been buying a little extra hay with my regular purchases, mostly for my dental pigs who can't go without high-quality hay.

And because I'm a worrier, I've also started taking better care of the grass in my back garden, just in case I can't get any good quality hay in the coming months :roll:
 
I'd maybe recommend making your own hay by foraging in our one government permitted daily walk! Also contact local farmers as they're not likely to have less yield, its just that people are panic buying and the store supply chains take longer to stock up.

Just remember to not hoard yourself! For now, try just getting 3 months of hay.
 
I m sitting here without hay since 2 weeks now with 4 piggies and whole state under curfew....I don't know what to do now
 
Ritika said:
I m sitting here without hay since 2 weeks now with 4 piggies and whole state under curfew....I don't know what to do now
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oh no.. have you not got anything hay wise?
 
My local B&M had nothing in when I last went.. I ordered the other one I have from The Range last night direct from the supplier - to save me going out to the actual shop.. ordered 5 bags so i didn't have to pay the delivery charge and 5 bags is hard to carry in a shop!
 
Posyrose said:
What have others found with the hay box meadow hay?
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I received my delivery a couple weeks ago and my meadow hay was awful, practically straw. A real shame because I loved my first order a couple months ago! I sent Haybox an email with some photos (attached) comparing old hay to new. I got the following back:

As you may already know, hay is a natural product and organically grown.

At the moment, we are on our last batch so the quality from now until harvest time, will be the same.

This is due to the wet weather we had last year during the cutting season, so hopefully, this year we will have some better weather and the quality will be better.

I hope this provides you some reassurance and sorry we are do not have any other batches to offer at this moment of time.
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Not best pleased, though I know where they are coming from. My pigs still love their Timothy hay though, a lot more than timothyhay.co.uk! I've ordered my next lot of Sweet Green Hay through Nature's Own. Fingers crossed it's better quality.

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