Hay Suppliers?

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Kerrie74

Kerrie74

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I really need to change who I get the guinea's hay from, I get it from one of the well know sellers £18 for around 9.5kg (not naming the company because they are good and I don't want to make them look bad), it's usually ok but just lately I'm finding a lot of stick/twigs, dead leaves (which I'm hoping won't affect the guinea's) the hay itself is dusty and not as long as it usually is, I'm finding lots of bits gathering in their hay bags which I have to empty often and one of the boys even sneezes.

Does anyone know of any other suppliers?

timothyhay.co.uk is a no no due to various reasons I won't go into.

I have 9 guinea's to feed so bulk would be better.

Thanks in advance :)
 
What type of hay do you want? If it's meadow type hay I think a lot of people ask around their local farms for bulk buys.

I used to use a local equine store to get my bedding and stuff from.

Nowadays I have to feed better quality hay so use either dustfreehay.co.uk or the hay experts.
 
I got meadow hay from my local farm, it is £3.50 a bale and is great quality hay which my 5 pigs love. I have only used 2/3 of the bale and it has lasted 5 weeks so far so is exceptional value for money.
 
I'm also having trouble with the same hay supplier! So much sifting is needed to get sticks out and it's not very green or soft (more a bit yellow and stalky). I still have around 8kg to get through... wish my piggers were like some others on here and just hoovered anything up, but they're hardly touching the stuff.

Re: a new supplier, everyone got a bit excited about the hay used in @Gimz's thread; GJW Titmuss' Superhay? Including shipping, it's almost exactly the same price as what you're paying now, but is around 15kg (assuming you bought a single bag; if you order more them £19-worth, then it'll be £5 less). Tempted to go for it myself, but worried I'll be stuck with a giant load of hay the pigs don't like again.

If you want to get DustFreeHay a little cheaper, you can get a bag of mixed meadow and timothy under the name Lunnun... I think it's around £9 for 7kg or so at pet shops, but smaller bags can be bought online here?
 
I don't mind as long as it's perfectly fine for them and it's decent hay :) I would try buying from a farm but non of us drive yet (son's going to learn).

I've just had a look at dust free, what hay would you suggest? I would probably opt for the bale of hay, the options are stalky or soft @Jaycey
 
I've only ever tried the soft hay @Kerrie74 from dustfreehay. I used it mainly for bedding but the boys did eat quite a bit of it too.

I've spoken to the people that own it quite a few times, it might be worth a call, or email to see if they could give you a sample
 
Kerrie74 said:
Ok thanks, they are closed until Monday apparently, so may go for the "Supa" hay this time.
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Let me know what it's like as they are not far from me and our meadow hay supplier may not be around much longer.
 
I ordered the super hay after it was mentioned in that thread!

The bag is GIANT.
It wouldn't fit in my shed, I had to put it in 2 separate bags. It is around 15kg.
It's quite soft, it smells nice.
My bag isn't as green as the poster's on the thread but it's still a nice colour.
My guinea pigs and rabbit love it.

The only thing I don't like is that it has loads of very sharp bits in it. It's tiny, thin pieces of hay and I had to pull them out of my hands a few times. They also get stuck in a hay bag I put the hay in and in my clothes.
I'm not sure if I will be buying it again, I will see how the rest of it is. We only used about 4kg.
 
Kerrie74 said:
I don't mind as long as it's perfectly fine for them and it's decent hay :) I would try buying from a farm but non of us drive yet (son's going to learn).

I've just had a look at dust free, what hay would you suggest? I would probably opt for the bale of hay, the options are stalky or soft @Jaycey
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I got my first batch of hay from dustfreehay.co.uk (the soft meadow hay) and wasn't entirely happy with it. I can't buy in massive bulk as I don't have the storage space. I bought three boxes for about 20 quid and although they hay is tightly packed at the top of the box, it gets progressively less dense by the end - none of the three boxes were as well packed out as a bagged bale of hay would be. Also two of the boxes has lots of big stalks/twigs in.
By chance I was in Trago Mills (kind of like a South West Ikea!) and they sold Devon meadow hay, a generous bag for under 3 quid! I've unpacked it from the bag into two of the dustfreehay boxes I had leftover and there's still lots left in the bag so it's certainly good value for money. Quality seems very good too - no big stalks found and although it doesn't specify that it's dust free, it certainly seems to be. Happy guineas so far!
 
ive used dust free hay soft and stalky and all are excellentalways greensoft can be used for eating and beddingstalky for eating as too hard for sleeping on.zooplus hay is excellent as well.dustfree hay do excellent american hay if you want to treat your furries.
 
My son opened the hay last night, found a thistle, the hay isn't as green as it is in Gimz thread and the strands are a bit short, will see how it goes if the guinea's like it, then the bag will be used, if not then I'll just donate it to a rescue and order them something else.
 
Kerrie74 said:
My son opened the hay last night, found a thistle, the hay isn't as green as it is in Gimz thread and the strands are a bit short, will see how it goes if the guinea's like it, then the bag will be used, if not then I'll just donate it to a rescue and order them something else.
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I found a few thistles in my bag yesterday! About 3 or 4.
 
I'm currently using the Just for pets meadow hay. The piggies are loving it. Very green and smells amazing. Can't buy in bulk though :(
 
I don't recommend this hay, not at the moment anyway, it's got too many thistles, the colour is more yellow than green, strands aren't long enough for them to have a good chew. IT's probably ok for bigger animals. Going to have to go back to hay for pets in the meantime and just order their meadow hay. The person that called me from hay for pets said the meadow was the best atm.
 
Kerrie74 said:
I don't recommend this hay, not at the moment anyway, it's got too many thistles, the colour is more yellow than green, strands aren't long enough for them to have a good chew. IT's probably ok for bigger animals. Going to have to go back to hay for pets in the meantime and just order their meadow hay. The person that called me from hay for pets said the meadow was the best atm.
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That's a shame. It's hard finding decent hay. A couple of my girls are very picky too which is always helpful :P
 
Lol that's ok @Danielle Smith

@ayemee it's not so much my guinea's being picky, it's because Aidan got a thistle stuck in his hand, that was the second time since opening the bag, I don't want the guinea's to accidentally eat one, it's just a good job that hay is something you put in by hand. I've ordered the meadow hay now anyway. Do you think I'd be able to get away with putting that unused hay in the garden recycling? (Asking Aymee because we're both from Nottingham), wouldn't want to pass the hay on to anyone with small animals.
 
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