Kaytee hay w/add ins

[mishellyshel]

I had to go to Petco last night to get a new food bowl for the chin I am going to foster/adopt.
I wanted to check out their hays but they had very little that interested me BUT there were 3 new bags of kaytee hay, one with mint, one with carrots and one with marigolds. it is called kaytee plus.
i was tempted to buy it because it looked pretty fresh and would have been a nice addition to the hays i am currently offering BUT the small bag was 9.99 and i didnt want to splurge if someone here might have had a bad experience. anyone use this?

the mint was for digestion
marigold was antioxidant
carrrots for vitamins.

i didnt consider the carrot one, but thought the mint might be good for my handfed chin????

http://www.kaytee.com/learn-share/news/kaytee-introduces-timothy.htm
is a link to check it out

 

[lauralynne]

That sounds interesting. I'd like to hear from people on that as well.

 

[alli713]

I know with some herbs you need to be careful of the amount they get at once. I'm not sure which ones they are though.

In the past I have given my girls a pinch of marigold petals since there was a list on CnQ that said which ones were safe. But I'm not sure how much is in the bag?

 

[mishellyshel]

I wouldnt give them as much as the other hays, sorta like a treat. but i would like to know if anyone has tried them. anyone???

 

[AZChins]

Why would the chins need this? I don't understand why the hay is being monkeyed with by adding in unnecessary things. I just wouldn't think that you'd need to buy a chin something like that.

 

[Chinchichi]

Yeah my store got those in a couple days ago. Kaytee has been comming out with a bunch of new products lately. o.0 scrounging for money maybe..... anyways its way over priced, but i got some just for fun since i get a employee discount, i got the marigold one, my chins really like it, but i was thinking how easy it would be to grow marigolds and just dry out the petals and same with mint.

 

[Brittney]

I never even thought herbs were good for chins, or any animal really. Well, besides catnip, but you see what that does to cats. sheesh.

It could be great for them, but I have never heard anyone at work recommend it, and I wouldn't trust it with my boys.

I was using Kaytee hay for a while, then Susan brought me from fresh hay and Bryson finished it all since then and it's only been ehh, almost 2 weeks. So when driving to work today, the local feed store was having a sale on fresh baled Timothy Hay. YAY! I feel bad for the people behind me because I slammed on my breaks and pulled right in when I saw it, and I was 10 minutes late for work, but oh well.. Luckily I took out the back seats in my Tahoe before I left... Hmm, maybe it was a sign... Eh, my car smells like timothy hay, but it was way worth $10 for a 20lb bale I got 3.

Let's just say the Kaytee hay has found its home in the trash. It was way too dry compared to this stuff and well, abnormally green.

 

[AZChins]

I hope that the hay you bought works out! It's always great to find good hay. If all the hay is good, that's going to last you a long, long time!

Bryson finished all that hay already? Wow. He's a little hay eating machine!

 

[Brittney]

I hope that the hay you bought works out! It's always great to find good hay. If all the hay is good, that's going to last you a long, long time!

Bryson finished all that hay already? Wow. He's a little hay eating machine!

Yes, he's completely done with it. Little Ande didn't even get a chance to try any. Bryson would find the bag during playtime and help himself to it haha.

 

[mochi]

my advice: DONT BUY THOSE...
Those added herbs is not even necessary in a chin's diet; moreover, any other food besides feed and timothy hay should be fed sparingly. Actually i saw those in petsmart the other day, the herb to timothy hay ratio is just too much for a healthy diet
plus kaytee is just trying to market their products at higher price...
Why dont you try to order hay online/phone at some ranch or farms directly? it is much more cost effective, and the hay is way more fresher than those that are sitting in a pet store.

 

[Sesame]

I think it just might be safer or more cost effective to just opt for different types of hays, such as bluegrass, orchard, botanical. I did buy some of Kelly's Gourmet Dipped Apple Sticks which were dipped with certain herbs (linkie: http://www.mysticmosaics.org/photo3.html. I found that to be more fun for both my chin and for me (I love spoiling her).

 

[Siylvat]

I don't really like Kaytee brand hay. It always seems like it is not as fresh as other brands. I woudn't buy it just for that. Just me though.

 

[mishellyshel]

I give my chins a good variety of hay with the majority being timothy. I was just curious if anyone has seen this and/or used it. I dont think i would spend the 10 dollars on such a small bag anyway.

 

[Sesame]

I give my chins a good variety of hay with the majority being timothy. I was just curious if anyone has seen this and/or used it. I dont think i would spend the 10 dollars on such a small bag anyway.

Only recently I've started. APD Timothy Hay shipping is a bit pricey, so I thought... what the heck, why not just try some of the Botanical hay too.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

Herbs are very useful and helpful but only when needed and in moderation. Plus you have to be careful what you mix as some put together can be harmful and sometimes lethal.
BTW its a certain type of Marigold /Calendula that are safe to eat. You can't just go buy any marigold plant it in your backyard and have it safe for them to eat.
The only time I use mint is usually with chamomile and its a tiny amount mixed with acidophilus sprinkled over new food. Sometimes when we get chins in that are used to eating the crap out of fiesta or charlie and nothing healthy they do not want to eat the pellets, so we use it as a stimulant and to settle the tummy due to change of diet.
Mint and herbs on a regular basis can be harmful though.

 

[menagerie]

Personally, I avoid Kaytee products whenever possible. Most of their food products are old, like they've been sitting around in warehouses forever, therefore have lost most of their nutritional value, but they also use many inferior ingredients. As if that wasn't enough to sway me, they are the largest bird mill in the US. I don't want any of my money going to support a company that is a mill animal producer. This is why I also boycott all Marshall's products, they are the largest ferret mill and also got into mill raising rabbits.

 

[TillyChinchilla]

This is why I also boycott all Marshall's products, they are the largest ferret mill and also got into mill raising rabbits.

Beagles for testing as well. People who live nearby say you can hear the barking for miles and miles.

I've had to buy Kaytee hay a few times. Oxbow is looking worse and worse, an my chins won't touch local hay. I've tried contacting Pine Hill Farms (Bunny Bale) but I get no response when I ask about quality right now. KMs would be awesome but I just cannot afford to have it shipped out this way. Right now I am using it, until I can find decent stuff somewhere.

 

[Terbear24]

I think as a treat it would be ok but obviously the chins dont need it but thats the point of a treat.

 

[Marie5656]

I just bought Trixie a bag of the KayTee with the marigold petals. There are not a UGE amount of petals in the mix, but they are there. I put the hay in a larger bin, and then cut it into smaller pieces, easier for her to handle, and to fit in the bowl I have in her cage for the hay. This batch was very fresh, fewer brown bits than I have had in the past.
The petals are mixed through, and the way I have it, she does not get a lot of them with each fill of her bowl. But I do note she will pick out and eat the petals first...before the rest of the hay, but she is eating it all.

 

[starleomach]

I wouldn't touch it.