I am in the market for a better place to buy hay. I have been buying these mini bales of timothy hay (http://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Timothy-Ha ... B000256606) for my rabbits. I've been buying them at Walmart b/c that's the best pricing I've found so far (better than the local pet stores, feed store, and amazon). But between the rabbits and chickens, especially the baby rabbits, those small bales are destroyed in a day, if they last that long. I'd really like to find some where that I could find hay in bulk. And I'd actually prefer to switch to alfalfa b/c I've developed an allergy to timothy hay and have to be careful to wear gloves and not feed it when the wind is blowing. I can't find alfalfa locally except the pet store and the price is crazy for the amount I need. I have tried this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7Q ... UTF8&psc=1) but was disappointed in how much of it was dust. Any idea where I should try?
Where do you buy your hay?
- Thread starter MamaDani
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Nearby cattle rancher working towards organic grassfed beef. He has all his fields certified organic and now is working on his herd. Very good quality hay but a bit rich sometimes. It made many of the american sables molt constantly and we were working on breeding for ones that didn't molt as easily when we decided to disperse the herd.
If you want bulk, bagged type hay try kmshayloft.com or oxbowhay.com retailers. You will end up spending about $50 for a 50lb bag but in the end it comes out waaaaay cheaper than those little bags and you can stretch it for quite a long time if you don't feed your rabbits mostly hay. That's the hay we get for our chinchillas because they can't have legume hay (alfalfa, clover, peanut, etc...) and that's all you can find around here. I call any grass hay from this area weed hay because it's made up of whatever the farmer let grow wild and then cut and charges a lot for "grass" hay.
If you want bulk, bagged type hay try kmshayloft.com or oxbowhay.com retailers. You will end up spending about $50 for a 50lb bag but in the end it comes out waaaaay cheaper than those little bags and you can stretch it for quite a long time if you don't feed your rabbits mostly hay. That's the hay we get for our chinchillas because they can't have legume hay (alfalfa, clover, peanut, etc...) and that's all you can find around here. I call any grass hay from this area weed hay because it's made up of whatever the farmer let grow wild and then cut and charges a lot for "grass" hay.
Maybe try compressed alfalfa in cube form made for horses.
Most companion horses are on grass but racing or endurance barns might know of a supplier. Dairy farms use a lot of alfalfa and may know of local growers as well or be willing to sell a few 50lb bales.
Alfalfa has lots of little leaves that easily break off so rack feeding produces quite a bit of waste.
Most companion horses are on grass but racing or endurance barns might know of a supplier. Dairy farms use a lot of alfalfa and may know of local growers as well or be willing to sell a few 50lb bales.
Alfalfa has lots of little leaves that easily break off so rack feeding produces quite a bit of waste.
I buy timothy hay from a local feed store I get it for 21$ a bale but I only buy 1 bale every 3 to 4 weeks
I buy grass hay from a nearby ranch or form the feed store (same hay) for 8.00 a bale for squares (feeding to rabbits) and 20.00 for round bales (for everything except the rabbits.) Only thing is you do have to have room to store the hay if you buy the larger bales.
Here those mini bales are way to expensive. 10lbs for twice what 80 lbs costs? No thanks.
Here those mini bales are way to expensive. 10lbs for twice what 80 lbs costs? No thanks.
I buy orchard grass right from a farm. $3 or $4 a bale.
A local feed/tanning/fencing store is where I go, I have used 3 bales at $6 a large bale since November. Last week I stopped to get a new bale and he is out till spring first cut! Thankfully enough he pulled out the locally newspaper and pulled me out a couple phone numbers "I hate to send business away but you got to feed your bunnies. I would want someone to do the same for me" I assured him I would be back once spring finally comes. I found a couple bales of nice grass hay at $4, that should get me through till a first cut, I hope!
MamaSheepdog
Well-known member
I buy mine direct from the grower. We also have horses, so we buy a LOT of hay at once.
ckcs
Well-known member
Not sure where you live in VA. I've gotten my hay from three sources all around $7 a bale.
1. Local farmer - Hay was horrible, mold and other problems. Through most of it out.
2. Southern States - Decent orchard grass hay.
3. Clark Feed and Seed in Hampton - I mainly buy from them. I used to leave real close, now I'm about 35 miles away and usually will make the trip. I've been pleased for years with their hay and my rabbits have preferred their hay over the other places I've bought. Can be dusty at times but so has all the hay I've bought. I just shake it out before I feed it.
Another place that I am considering is the bales from Tractor Supply. They are more expensive ($18) but look real good. I plan to try it when I buy hay again.
1. Local farmer - Hay was horrible, mold and other problems. Through most of it out.
2. Southern States - Decent orchard grass hay.
3. Clark Feed and Seed in Hampton - I mainly buy from them. I used to leave real close, now I'm about 35 miles away and usually will make the trip. I've been pleased for years with their hay and my rabbits have preferred their hay over the other places I've bought. Can be dusty at times but so has all the hay I've bought. I just shake it out before I feed it.
Another place that I am considering is the bales from Tractor Supply. They are more expensive ($18) but look real good. I plan to try it when I buy hay again.
Lastfling
Well-known member
Go on Craiglist and do a search for "hay". That should pull up any local farmers that have horse quality hay available. Another option, and I don't know if Virginia has the equivalent, but, NC Department of Agriculture has a website and a monthly Agricultural Review that is with a emailed notice each month. The Review has a classified section with a Hay/Feed subsection. A search of that yields growers statewide that have hay available. Once you find a seller, it will be up to you to check it out when you visit to be sure you're getting what's advertised before you buy. IE horse quality, type, etc.
DogCatMom
Well-known member
I can't believe I'm going to admit this in "public," but...the best price I've found within a reasonable driving distance is from (ahem) The House Rabbit Society.
[pausing while everyone is disgusted...]
They absolutely stuff the daylights out of sturdy brown-paper shopping bags (with strong twisted-paper handles) that are 24" (61 cm) wide, 18" (45 cm) tall, and 7" (17 cm) deep. Three or four weeks ago, I purchased one bag each of Orchard Grass hay and Timothy hay. (Parsley Graybuns eats the Orchard Grass hay and likes the Timothy on top of his litter box.)
The Orchard Grass bag still weighs 5 or 6 lb (~2.5 kg), and the Timothy--which was really packed--still weighs 11 lb (5 kg) or so. I guesstimate that the Orchard Grass bag originally weighed close to 11 or 12 lb and that the Timothy weighed 14 lb or so (yes, same size bag and all).
I paid $10 per bag, so this was a $20 purchase, in town, for approx. 25 lb hay. Not as good as farm prices, but much better than pet-store prices!
(Also, I have no truck for larger loads....)
[pausing while everyone is disgusted...]
They absolutely stuff the daylights out of sturdy brown-paper shopping bags (with strong twisted-paper handles) that are 24" (61 cm) wide, 18" (45 cm) tall, and 7" (17 cm) deep. Three or four weeks ago, I purchased one bag each of Orchard Grass hay and Timothy hay. (Parsley Graybuns eats the Orchard Grass hay and likes the Timothy on top of his litter box.)
The Orchard Grass bag still weighs 5 or 6 lb (~2.5 kg), and the Timothy--which was really packed--still weighs 11 lb (5 kg) or so. I guesstimate that the Orchard Grass bag originally weighed close to 11 or 12 lb and that the Timothy weighed 14 lb or so (yes, same size bag and all).
I paid $10 per bag, so this was a $20 purchase, in town, for approx. 25 lb hay. Not as good as farm prices, but much better than pet-store prices!
(Also, I have no truck for larger loads....)
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There are a lot of local farmers I can buy from. I bought a bunch from one of them last spring, but when he harvested in the fall, he did all round bales. Now he's sold out.
Thankfully, the feed store has a bulletin board... just need to pick another one out. Or stop by one who has a sign in the yard.
$5 square bale at the farmer's place, $15 at the feed store. No-brainer. :lol:
Thankfully, the feed store has a bulletin board... just need to pick another one out. Or stop by one who has a sign in the yard.
$5 square bale at the farmer's place, $15 at the feed store. No-brainer. :lol:
ckcs":18ec2t4b said:
I'm in Chesapeake. Honestly, I don't know all the kinds of hay so I've only sent hubby looking for alfalfa or timothy hay...I can't lift the feed bags so I send him. lol Southern States use to sell alfalfa in these big bags. It was compressed but broke off in squares. They were perfect for how much we use at a time but they stopped selling it and I don't remember the brand. I'll have hubby ask about the orchard grass. And Tractor Supply! I had forgot about them. They just recently opened one near us. Tonight I did find an ad on craigslist for Currituck Feed and Seed and they have alfalfa/timothy for a good price ($13.50 for ~50lbs). So I guess if SS or TS doesn't have anything, we'll go there.
Audrey
Well-known member
For sure go to craigslist for this!
grumpy
Well-known member
I've bought my hay from the same farmer for nearly 20 years. He's right
up the road about 4.5 miles. Like all other commodities, the price of hay
increases through the winter until spring and the eventual first cutting of
the hay fields. I bought two to three bales at a time in the past, but towards
spring, the price was nearly half-again as much.
Not so this past year. I bought 10 bales right out of the field,
brought them home and stored them in the loft above the rabbit room in the barn.
These were 50-60 pound bales of alfalfa and grass mixed hay.
The rabbits love it. With the new hay feeders I made, there's not nearly
the loss that there was in the past. I paid $6.00 per bale.
grumpy.
up the road about 4.5 miles. Like all other commodities, the price of hay
increases through the winter until spring and the eventual first cutting of
the hay fields. I bought two to three bales at a time in the past, but towards
spring, the price was nearly half-again as much.
Not so this past year. I bought 10 bales right out of the field,
brought them home and stored them in the loft above the rabbit room in the barn.
These were 50-60 pound bales of alfalfa and grass mixed hay.
The rabbits love it. With the new hay feeders I made, there's not nearly
the loss that there was in the past. I paid $6.00 per bale.
grumpy.
grumpy
Well-known member
jbremount":34u0dbk7 said:
Here's the thread about the hay-rack feeders. Took me some time to find it.
It was nine pages back. Hope it helps you. It's worked well for other folks on here.
hayrack-feeder-t17591.html
Good luck,
grumpy.
