Hay - Is there a bad version?

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newowner

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Evening all

Local to me a unit on a trading estate has opened selling large quantities of many pet items at reasonable prices. Eg giant Wagg parcels etc.

Anyway's I thought I'd try their hay as it was a very good price, but it feels very "prickly" and dry. I can't explain it well in words, it just doesn't feel the same - very harsh is as best as I can describe.

Is there such a thing as bad hay?
 
Yes there is. Some hay is not dust extracted and will make the piggies sneeze. I never buy cheap hay as it just does not seem to have a good quality to it at all. I think you get what you pay for.
 
Thanks for that - I niavely thought since the only sold "known brands" it was cheaper for that reason, but it really doesn't look or feel the same. Lesson learnt
 
I get my hay from hay experts online. I really like the Timothy hay they do. :)
 
I buy mostly local "meadow hay" and find that the texture varies with the season, sometimes it is quite soft and sometimes it's a bit prickly,but it always smells fresh and pleasant, so I would add that it's very important that the hay is "without taint". I've very occasionally had some which smells musty and that has a very quick trip to the compost heap.
 
popcornapple said:
I buy mostly local "meadow hay" and find that the texture varies with the season, sometimes it is quite soft and sometimes it's a bit prickly,but it always smells fresh and pleasant, so I would add that it's very important that the hay is "without taint". I've very occasionally had some which smells musty and that has a very quick trip to the compost heap.
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It is local Meadow Hay, the sell by the bale for those that need larger quantities, but it was very prickly. Didn't smell musty - just didn't feel the same. Very hard to explain, it's not as green as the Alphra (spelling) that I have been buying
 
If you mean alfalfa hay, that is not the same thing as grass hay. Alfalfa is a legume and is higher in protein than grass, it should only be fed freely to growing babies and pregnant/ lactating mums. Most hays (meadow, Timothy etc.) are grass based but they do come in different qualities. The best way to get good quality grass hay is to get it from an equine feed supplier or local stables, as horsey people are usually fussy about their hay! Pet shops often sell poor hay at high prices.
 
hay being made from cut grass will vary with the type of grasses found inside the meadows cut.

Timothy hay is made from specificlly grown timothy grass, there will be by nature other plants in the field (you can get thistles in any bag/bales but easy to get rid of). Meadow hay is made from meadow fescue and will have a bit of rye grass in it too but the leaves are a little broader than timothy and slightly greener and should smell a little sweeter, rye grass is long, thin and spindly but provides a good source to keep teeth down as the fescues are a softer grass than timothy and rye but have a higher nutritional value than the ryes and timothy (although timothy is still high).

Any hay that is very grey or dull in colour avoid - its full of mould and old and dry.

Any hay that smells musty avoid, its mouldy

Any hay that is visably full of weeds avoid - there could be a lot of non grass plants in there and potentially harmful weeds

Any hay that has got wet or bales that are stored uncovered outside avoid - lots of potential to become mouldy and the nutritional value descreases.

If you are able to buy bulk hay - ie hay from a farm in bales, make sure it smell sweet and plesent, is not years old, has been stored in a dry area and undercover and looks right. Most pet shop bags are good quality but some do go wrong, I have had a couple of bags and I get meadow hay for mine.

Ps. I used to be a farmer so know a lot about hay and its production plus the grasses used to make it ;)
 
It is less green - It comes from a local farm and they sell the bales to horse owners. It is such a good price. £2.50 for a giant (approx 3kg) bag, and they seem to like it (the small bit I have given them). It has a lot of Rye in it so perhaps that is why it is spikey, and because I've not used "propper" hay yet as they are babies and so I was told to use the Alpfara mix for the first 4 -6 months.

It's not mouldy or dusty, just prickly
 
If it smells nice, is not dusty and the piggies are happy to eat it, I think it should be fine.
 
newowner said:
It is less green - It comes from a local farm and they sell the bales to horse owners. It is such a good price. £2.50 for a giant (approx 3kg) bag, and they seem to like it (the small bit I have given them). It has a lot of Rye in it so perhaps that is why it is spikey, and because I've not used "propper" hay yet as they are babies and so I was told to use the Alpfara mix for the first 4 -6 months.

It's not mouldy or dusty, just prickly
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sounds like common old hay with a good mixture of rye grass in it - which will help keep their teeth down. If its been cut from the farms fields then is is quite possibly the normal mixture of hay suitable for any animal, just watch for weeds and remove them before you put it in the with piggies. I would say its normally a sort of army green on average, if its yellow its old hay (it goes almost straw colour from sun bleeching which indicates its done more than one year sitting around) and the grey/black colours are wet hay bales dried over time and gone mouldy. Green is good ;)
 
Many thanks indeed, you have been an amazing help :)

It is a mix of old and fresh - mainly green(ish) but some yellow so I feel quite safe giving them it now.

I will put the "expensive" hay in the hayrack and use this in the cage and for some extra nibbling, I'm sure they will let me know which one they prefer.

As they get full run of the garden with all the dandilions and herb garden, they don't really eat much hay anyway, so it will be interesting to see which version they prefer.

Many thanks to all, I know what to look for now
 
I get mine from one of the many farms near me, they stable a lot of horses there and it is the best quality and so cheap, £6 for a huge bale that fills up 5 big bin bags! In the past I was paying £8 for one large bag from my garden centre.
 
newowner said:
Many thanks indeed, you have been an amazing help :)

It is a mix of old and fresh - mainly green(ish) but some yellow so I feel quite safe giving them it now.

I will put the "expensive" hay in the hayrack and use this in the cage and for some extra nibbling, I'm sure they will let me know which one they prefer.

As they get full run of the garden with all the dandilions and herb garden, they don't really eat much hay anyway, so it will be interesting to see which version they prefer.

Many thanks to all, I know what to look for now
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Your welcome, most farm bales will have yellow edges from when its been stored in hay barns and the weather gets to the sides but as long as the rest of the bale is green then its good bale to use. Its the ones that look more like straw that are the old crop of haybales as over time they just go dryer and yellower.

If I had a farm source close to me I would be buying a bale of hay, I pay £17 for 6 bags of meadow hay, they are large bags and last a week and half but you cant really beat value on a decent hay bale.
 
Thank you

They are such amazing value - The hay bale is only £4.50 - I have been through the bag I purchased and removed a few nettles and some that were a bit strawy/yellow but there wasn't many and there were a few dandilions in there too.
 
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