Does Hay Quality Vary With Quantity?
- mmeadow
- Supporter 2004-2022
I don't think the prices have gone up much. I just paid $76.95 for 45 pounds of hay plus shipping. In Feb 2018 it was $74.58. Unless I was getting the customer discount that Kleenmama used to offer? I do remember her apologizing for the increasing price of shipping, which she had no control over.
The last time I bought 45lb was September of 2017 and my total was just over $58, $30 for the hay and $28+ for shipping. I know that was awhile ago but my most recent order was in December for 25lb and those prices have gone up as well. The KM site isn't breaking down shipping costs anymore, just saying "X lbs is X price, which is considerably more than I used to pay. I suppose this new "free shipping" model is higher to cover the costs of shipping to places where the shipping would be higher due to distance. Kleenmama herself sold the company to someone a few years ago and I don't think she's involved now.
We get 10lb boxes of JoJos Best/Standlee Timothy Forage Hay ($24 on Amazon plus "Free" Shipping) and the quality seems to vary throughout the year. I guess that is to be expected though. It is lovely and green at the moment but we had a few boxes towards the end of last year that were grayish and even brown with roots and stuff in with it that wasn't hay.
We have tried them on Oxbow but they dont like it much.
We have tried them on Oxbow but they dont like it much.
We've bought the typical stuff you get in the smaller bags at big box stores. Quality seemed fine and price was meh.
Lately we've been buying 50 pound compressed bales of timothy hay. It's pretty good quality and the price is amazing. I can get 50 lbs for $20. They are pretty spoiled with it. We fill up a big basket every day for them to play in and eat from; they love sitting in it and sometimes burrow in it. Then there's a bin up in the loft which we stuff full daily. There's just so much of it that it's fun to spoil them with it.
It can get a little dusty but not bad. I keep the bail out in the garage in a big plastic bin. I have a big bag I fill from the bail and keep in the house by their cage. I'm sure to shake out the dust as I'm pulling apart the bail and refilling the bag. Then I give it another little shake in the bag as I'm filling the bins.
My wife bought this box of 'first cut' timothy hay... it was amazing stuff. There were flowers in there six inches long and most of them were three or four inches. It was much more soft than the compressed bail or the stuff we've gotten from big box stores. However this small box was $30. It was fun to treat them with it but too expensive to keep buying... at least with how we go through it.
Sef1268 I know what you mean... Sometimes I'm at the check out and they are like "Oh is this for a horse? Sheep?" and I smile and say "Naw, it's for the guinea pigs!" Most look at you like O_o
Lately we've been buying 50 pound compressed bales of timothy hay. It's pretty good quality and the price is amazing. I can get 50 lbs for $20. They are pretty spoiled with it. We fill up a big basket every day for them to play in and eat from; they love sitting in it and sometimes burrow in it. Then there's a bin up in the loft which we stuff full daily. There's just so much of it that it's fun to spoil them with it.
It can get a little dusty but not bad. I keep the bail out in the garage in a big plastic bin. I have a big bag I fill from the bail and keep in the house by their cage. I'm sure to shake out the dust as I'm pulling apart the bail and refilling the bag. Then I give it another little shake in the bag as I'm filling the bins.
My wife bought this box of 'first cut' timothy hay... it was amazing stuff. There were flowers in there six inches long and most of them were three or four inches. It was much more soft than the compressed bail or the stuff we've gotten from big box stores. However this small box was $30. It was fun to treat them with it but too expensive to keep buying... at least with how we go through it.
Sef1268 I know what you mean... Sometimes I'm at the check out and they are like "Oh is this for a horse? Sheep?" and I smile and say "Naw, it's for the guinea pigs!" Most look at you like O_o
My first hay purchase before the piggies' arrival was a 90 ounces bag of Oxbow orchard grass hay from the local Petco, due to my online order being delayed. I was amazed at the quality as it was green and had very few brown pieces. Since then, my purchases have all been online for 10 or 20 lbs but much more brown pieces and it didn't matter where I bought it from. I'm still using the 90 ounces Oxbow bag to transport the hay home as the 10 or 20 lb boxes are delivered to the office. I wonder what the janitor thinks of all the little pieces of hay scattered in our office suite, although I do try to sweep up as much as possible.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
MorganM, watch out for the dust. Some hay that seems dusty is actually moldy and what you see is the mold spores floating around.
Though guinea pigs may like the seed heads, first cut hay can have very stiff stems and less nutritious leafy parts.
www.guinealynx.info/hay.html
Though guinea pigs may like the seed heads, first cut hay can have very stiff stems and less nutritious leafy parts.
www.guinealynx.info/hay.html
- ItsaZoo
- Supporter in 2023
The 9 lb bag of Oxbow is what I last ordered and some of it looked more like straw with the long, thick stems. I was going to set up auto ship but I don’t want that size again. I read some of the reviews and a number of people made the same observation that the larger bag had much longer, courser hay. Since my GP is only eating half of it, I am accumulating plenty of mulch for my flower beds!
This may seem like a strange request, but can anyone who uses it post a picture of what second cut hay looks like? I've always given my piggies Oxbow Timothy that comes in the plastic bags. It's always been nice and green and they LOVE the seed heads - but this thread has me rethinking that...Thanks!