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| So Glad I switched to Bales of Hay | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 2 2014, 07:38 AM (249 Views) | |
| ZRabbits | Apr 2 2014, 07:38 AM Post #1 |
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Love My Lions!
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Listening to my rabbits chow down on the hay we get them, I'm so glad my husband found our source of fresh hay. Great people who run the family farm. Know my husband as "That's the guy with the 10 rabbits". Last time my husband was there to buy, met a man who ran a horse farm. Thought he had enough hay for this horses til next harvest, BUT found out his bales got wet and turned. So he was there too. Helped my husband load our two bales (huge bales). Was talking about how his horses really enjoy their hay and how it keeps their digestive system going and teeth healthy. My husband replied, "same with my rabbits.". They can't live without it. Though when the farmers hay stock is done, he goes to a reputable grower in New York. Same system, all organic. Both growers have excellent hay and reputations to boot. The New York hay provides Central and North Jersey horses their hay. And you think New York has horse farms, try Central New Jersey. You will not believe there are hundreds of horses. So glad the horse people down South demand excellent product. As does everyone else. But my rabbits are benefiting from it, tenfold. Definitely a big savings, even though we have to travel a bit for it. Not far, nice ride through the country. Those store bought bags are convenient for those who have a few bunnies, but a bale when you have 10 is definitely less expensive in the long run. I think too the quality is as good, if not better than the store bag. KAZ |
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| diamondgrabbitry | Apr 3 2014, 03:55 PM Post #2 |
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Get the Duct Tape, Stat!
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I use horse bales as well. i either buy them from a hay farmer nearby or from the feed store ($5.50 from the farmer, $7 from the feed store) I feed coastal which is a grass hay. |
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www.firesmurf.webs.com | |
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| ZRabbits | Apr 4 2014, 04:09 AM Post #3 |
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Love My Lions!
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Our bales are more Western than Coastal. My buns like the "hard" bits. We love to just "mute" the tv, after I give them hay. They give "Snap, Crackle, Pop" a new definition. With coastal hay, it's more soft as it's more grass. My buns tend to look at that type of hay as bedding. Spoiled buns. Just our observation of our Z-Tribe. They love those hard stalks. 40 lb bales at $6.25 each. And haven't had a bad bale at all. Quality stuff! KAZ |
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| NeuBunny | Apr 4 2014, 05:19 AM Post #4 |
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Genetics Geek!
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We buy the giant bales (4'x4'x10') from a local farmer - delivered into our 'tent garage' (aka hay barn) -- lol - we also have goats, sheep and alpacas (who also prefer grass/timothy hay over alfalfa) -- we go through a LOT of hay. But at least it is pretty economical buying in bulk that way (varies, but last fall was just $25 a bale, plus a delivery charge). I think we easily covered the cost of the tent with what we saved on hay the first winter. |
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| ZRabbits | Apr 6 2014, 10:11 AM Post #5 |
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Love My Lions!
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Read an thread on another forum regarding a problem, with dying kits, that could possibly be contributed by hay problems. Which then led me to learn about mycotoxins. As I get my hay from a very reputable cow farmer, who I know supplies hay to horses and 10 very happy rabbits, and have had no ill affect from the kits that were on this hay from the beginning, still good to know about. Interesting read that I found here. Mold can be there but not produce toxins? (from the article posted) "It is difficult to prove that a disease is a mycotoxicosis. Molds may be present without producing any toxin. Thus, the demonstration of mold contamination is not the same thing as the demonstration of mycotoxin contamination. Moreover, even when mycotoxins are detected, it is not easy to show that they are the etiological agents in a given veterinary or human health problem. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence from animal models and human epidemiological data to conclude that mycotoxins pose an important danger to human and animal health, albeit one that is hard to pin down. The incidence of mycotoxicoses may be more common than suspected. It is easy to attribute the symptoms of acute mycotoxin poisoning to other causes; the opposite is true of etiology. It is not easy to prove that cancer and other chronic conditions are caused by mycotoxin exposure. In summary, in the absence of appropriate investigative criteria and reliable laboratory tests, the mycotoxicoses will remain diagnostically daunting diseases." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164220/ Double checked my bales, have a mixture of timothy/orchard, that they refer to as Western. Smells sweet, low in weeds, variety of color due to the mixture. Know it's carefully stored, never any mold at all. I don't feed my rabbits the amount that a cow or horse would get, so if actually there, not at a high dose. I guess a good immune system would help battle the toxins? Little bit nerve wracking, as I looked into the pellets I've been feeding and they do have soy bean in them. No corn, but soy bean. Not going to change now, but will be doing some research on pellets for my show Lion heads. My Z-Tribe are doing rather well with the diet regiment that I have them on, trying to boost immune systems with wheat grass. Definitely need to know these things, but have to have a little bit of confidence in your suppliers. I do with my hay guy. KAZ |
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| louierabbit | Apr 15 2014, 03:05 PM Post #6 |
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Get the Duct Tape, Stat!
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I got my first rabbit from a farmer who also happened to be my neighbor and close family friend. Now I've moved to a small town with two new rabbits and he continues to provide me with free bales of hay. He grows different kinds and packages them in half bales and whole bales. I usually feed my rabbits a mixture of timothy and orchard grass. I agree, the rabbits definatley seem to like fresh hay better than store bought hay. After feeding my rabbits the fresh hay for awhile and running out, I got some packaged hay from Petco and they wouldn't touch it so I drove an hour and had to get more hay for my picky little bunnies. |
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Visit my website at The Rabbit Louie Keep Hopping! | |
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| ZRabbits | Apr 16 2014, 04:15 AM Post #7 |
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Love My Lions!
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Did get the hay at the Pet Store for a while. Always fresh, but when we got more rabbits, the need became cost effective with bales from a very trusted source. Z-Tribe loves the baled hay. It's good Western Hay. It's either their own crop or a very close relative out of New York State. Haven't had a bad bale yet! When my husband goes to pick up bales, the Son or Mom comes with my husband and they tell him what to look for and when he chooses they double check because they know we have bunnies. They chuckle all the time. They are used to big farm animals, like a cows, horses, goats, pigs, thousand of chickens, but we are their first bunny customer. And they just chuckle, but always ask how our bunnies are doing. Always. KAZ |
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| NeuBunny | Apr 16 2014, 07:51 AM Post #8 |
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Genetics Geek!
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- so nice to work with great local people isn't it? Hay prices soaring here again (and quality falling), as it always does in spring before the first crop. Ran out of what we stocked up last fall (long hard winter = going through more than we expected) and had to buy more. We have a local farmer who will deliver the 'giant bales' (~4x4x10') to us at a very reasonable price. Goats and bunnies are doing OK, but the guinea pigs don't seem to like this new batch, which is much coarser (thicker stems). |
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| louierabbit | Apr 18 2014, 09:47 PM Post #9 |
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Get the Duct Tape, Stat!
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My hay stock was left out when my friend came over to feed my bunnies and got wet so I asked my farmer friend if he could bring me out some and he brought me 2 half bales of alfalfa since I didn't specify which kind. I think it'll be ok for right now because Sadie needs the extra fat if she is pregnant. Do you think it should be fine or should I get some timothy? |
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Visit my website at The Rabbit Louie Keep Hopping! | |
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| ZRabbits | Apr 19 2014, 06:21 AM Post #10 |
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Love My Lions!
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Alfalfa is good for pregnant does and kits. It's fattening for the older rabbits. But once in while, I don't think there will be an issue. They will love you for it. Its like candy. I would in the future get some timothy. You could even mix the timothy with the alfalfa for the older rabbits. But continue giving Sadie the alfalfa. KAZ |
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- so nice to work with great local people isn't it?
2:18 PM Jul 11