anyone purchase hay online recently?

[TillyChinchilla]

They might, just shoot him an email. My reasoning is that the first cut I have right now from the feed store is from last year and has gotten a little rough.

 

[Sugarmama]

Hey Stackie, have you gotten that sample yet? I'm curious to see what it's like.

 

[tunes]

I can't remember right off hand, because I usually buy 3 or 400 pounds at a time, but it seems like the 50 pound box from Oxbow was $27.00. Yes, you can still order direct, but not the small stuff, just the larger boxes and you have to do it over the phone.

I'm not a fan of either APD or KM's hay. I got APD one time and it was nothing but dust. I opened the box and dust actually puffed out at me. No thanks. KM's I have never liked either. I got two orders from there, and the hay was stiff, like the strands of straw on a broom. They made a snapping noise when you bent them they were so dry. The chins hated it. I've used oxbow for almost as long as I've had chins and I've never had a bad box, never had had an upturned nose.

I'd like to try the place Jinul posted about, but I would be paying $4.00 more per box for shipping than I am paying for the actual product. I just can't bring myself to do that.

 

[Stackie]

Hey Stackie, have you gotten that sample yet? I'm curious to see what it's like.

Not yet, but I'll be sure and let you know when I get it!

 

[Stackie]

Hey Stackie, have you gotten that sample yet? I'm curious to see what it's like.

K, I got my sample, and it was all 1st cut. So I sent them an e-mail and asked when 2nd cut would be available. Of course my chins turn their noses up at 1st cut...

 

[CerLynn]

What's the smallest amount you can order direct from Oxbow? We're getting tired of buying overpriced 40oz bags from Petsmart...

 

[tunes]

Probably the 25 pound box would be the smallest. I don't think they want to mess with the little bags anymore, hence the reason they stopped selling on their site.

 

[S & C's Chin]

I buy from a feed store and only paid $7 for a whole bail. If you don't need all of it - you could always donate it to a local shelter or pet clinic.

 

[BellaBella]

I just got my APD in today, and there wasn't any more dust than in any other hay I've gotten (I have a small bag of Oxbow picked up the other day while waiting for this to arrive) and it smells and looks good. Yes, the shipping was actually more than the freakin hay, and it was over a week before I got it.


psh.

 

[Sesame]

I recently ordered KM Hay about 6 or 7 months ago; it looked okay and smelled good. We just weren't a fan of how long the hay was cut (didn't fit into her Harry Hay bin too well). Just recently placed an order for APD gold timothy hay and orchard grass... hope it's good quality like the last time we ordered from them.

I agree... the shipping cost more than the two hay products I bought...

I might consider purchasing from another vendor if quality and price were comparable.

 

[Tanya]

I recently got hay from APD and I love it. As always it's green, smells really good, has minimal brown leaves and VERY clean.
However like with any business they may have some leftovers, so before ordering I call and ask how the hay looks like, I tell that my chins are very picky and I need great hay!
So far I am very happy with APD, my chins love it. I attach pic of the timothy that I got ( it's actually much greener than on the picture!).
APD has some cute THE REAL BALE Timothy gold but I have not tried it yet.
I tried KM's hay, and timothy was really bad + it had LOT's of weeds. Bluegrass actually looked good , but had bugs in it. Just as I opened the box one huge bug ( about 1 inch) got out and was running across the living room and I was chasing it like crazy and still did not catch it!
So I did not feel like giving it to my chins! I actually forgot that It's still hidden in the garage ( did not want my hubby to see that I am throwing it away, he asked me before to stop experimenting and to stick to stuff that works). I know.... but I just wanted to try bluegrass and then decided to give their timmy a try since I pay for shipment anyway. Another thing that shocked me is that they put hay in trash bags. I mean , come on can you order some decent bags, it's not that expensive.The use of plastic trash bags for food storage is not recommended by USDA "... because they are not food grade plastic and chemicals from them may leach into the food."

 

[alli713]

hay is grown in a field, so no matter where you order it from there's always the chance of the stray bug to be in it )

Course if it were extra buggy it'd be a bit odd, but a grasshopper or cricket or something along those lines is perfectly normal for hay.

But anyways, I do also feed Oxbow along with a bale of hay I bought at a feed store, I like to give variety if I can.

 

[Sandi]

I only have 2 chins but they seem to eat hay as if I had 10 chins. Anyway, in the 4 months that I've had them I've tried Kaytee, APD and Oxbow. From oxbow, they barely touched the orchard grass, but Timothy & Botanical are a hit!

I get my now 40 oz. bag of oxbow timothy from camphorchins.com and a small bag of the botanical from petsmart. I believe that my chins adore the oxbow timothy because its long and green and smells good. Both have chosen oxbow over kaytee and APD.

 

[Nancy S]

I got the oxbow timothy hay tunnel from Rabbitstop.com--and has the cheapest
shipping of the 5 to 6 online shops i buy from. The hay was very fresh and mango
loved it. It's a good site to shop from-as it is also the Chinchilla Depot which sells
for chins as well.

 

[nicki]

I have a bag of Oxbow's Botanical or Orchard Grass Hay at home. It's alright. But for me I don't like the smaller pieces and they seem to have more dust. It sits in the cage longer than other hay's I've gotten. But it does get eaten for the most part. I wonder if there is a difference in Oxbow's hay that gets shipped in large amounts verses what gets put in small bags for the store. I would assume ordering directly would be more fresh.

K, I got my sample, and it was all 1st cut. So I sent them an e-mail and asked when 2nd cut would be available. Of course my chins turn their noses up at 1st cut...

I don't think Flea much cared for that either. Unless that was the 3rd cut... Too many different types of hay to keep track of : )

I recently ordered KM Hay about 6 or 7 months ago; it looked okay and smelled good. We just weren't a fan of how long the hay was cut (didn't fit into her Harry Hay bin too well). Just recently placed an order for APD gold timothy hay and orchard grass... hope it's good quality like the last time we ordered from them.

I agree... the shipping cost more than the two hay products I bought...

I might consider purchasing from another vendor if quality and price were comparable.

I actually liked that KM's hay is longer. It was bendable and I had no problem folding it in her coconut hay holder. It was less messy, dusty and jagged verses stuff in a bag I've gotten at the store. Flea seemed to like it better too. She eats it like a little kid would suck in a spaghetti noodle. Cute.
The last order of KM's, the green hay was still good but there was waaay too much nasty lookin brown hay.

 

[Sesame]

I actually liked that KM's hay is longer. It was bendable and I had no problem folding it in her coconut hay holder. It was less messy, dusty and jagged verses stuff in a bag I've gotten at the store. Flea seemed to like it better too. She eats it like a little kid would suck in a spaghetti noodle. Cute.
The last order of KM's, the green hay was still good but there was waaay too much nasty lookin brown hay.

Ohhhh, you're lucky! We would fold the hay into Sesame's coconut Harry... and since she would still pick for the perfect piece from a ledge underneath the holder, a whole waterfall of hay would fall down in the process. Perhaps it's time to find another hay holder...

I think KM Hay was a fraction of a bit less dusty than APD, but the difference is quite minimal. In my experience, APD & KM Hay was much less dustier than bagged hay purchased from the store.

Is there much difference in quality with Oxbow Hay bought from the petstore and buying Oxbow Hay from an online dealer? Sesame wouldn't touch Oxbow hay from the petstore when we were in-between hay ordering/shipments from KM & APD.

 

[Olallie]

How big are bales? How long do they last? I found a feed store near here but they only sell in bales. If i could get some others to want some hay i would get a bale.

 

[tunes]

I wonder if there is a difference in Oxbow's hay that gets shipped in large amounts verses what gets put in small bags for the store.

Definitely. My oxbow is pulled directly off the bale and put in a box and shipped. They use the large square bales and some of those are 1000 pounds. The stuff you get in bags is stuffed, folded, crushed to get it in a small bag. I'm sure the machines doing the stuffing don't take into account the length of the hay, it just stuffs.

Is there much difference in quality with Oxbow Hay bought from the petstore and buying Oxbow Hay from an online dealer?

Of course there is. Don't we always preach "don't buy pet store feeds because it sits on a shelf for God knows how long"? It's the same principal. Once it leaves Oxbow, they have no control on how long it sits in a warehouse/on a shelf. It only makes sense that buying it direct would make it a fresher, more appealing product.

How big are bales? How long do they last?

That's going to depend entirely on where you buy it. When I bought square horse bales, they would be anywhere from 40 to 90 pounds in weight, depending on which farm I bought it from.

 

[nicki]

Ohhhh, you're lucky! We would fold the hay into Sesame's coconut Harry... and since she would still pick for the perfect piece from a ledge underneath the holder, a whole waterfall of hay would fall down in the process. Perhaps it's time to find another hay holder...

Since you mentioned it there are a couple times that Flea would do that when grabbing a strand of hay. It would just depend how much & the way I stuffed the hay through the holder.

Definitely. My oxbow is pulled directly off the bale and put in a box and shipped. They use the large square bales and some of those are 1000 pounds. The stuff you get in bags is stuffed, folded, crushed to get it in a small bag. I'm sure the machines doing the stuffing don't take into account the length of the hay, it just stuffs.

I figured. When I saw the photos you posted and other positive comments on Oxbow hay all I can think of is the dry, crumbly, dusty store bought bag I have at home from them. I will look into buying fresh Oxbow from someone and let Flea decide.

 

[Essentia]

How big are bales? How long do they last? I found a feed store near here but they only sell in bales. If i could get some others to want some hay i would get a bale.

Hopefully your feed store has a better quality Timmy hay than my feed store. I bought a bale and ended up throwing the entire thing out due to it giving my chins soft poo. I now buy 9 lb. bags/boxes of Oxbow through them instead.