Good, cheap hay for B.C resident-where to find

[danny80]

Hi, I live in Burnaby B.C and been looking for good hay suppliers for
few weeks now.
I've been fed up with pathtic kaytee hay from pet stores and decide
to find some local farm for fresh, good priced hay.
(Couln't find any distributor for Oxbow, Vancouver Rabbit rescue
used to have it, but not anymore.)
Vanderveen Hay Sale


Address : 18726 56 Ave, Surrey, BC V3S 1G1
Telephone : 1-800-663-2678
Toll Free : 1-800-663-2678

I've found this feed distributor(farm) in local directory and
paid a visit today.

They had bale(75punds)of timothy hay for 12.xx $.
I said I don't need that much(75lbs is a lot) and the nice lady
told me to scoop whatever on the floor and even gave me an
nice big bag to put them in.

Leftover...? One might say, but it's basically same thing as bale they
have for sale. As they stock their bale, lots of hay fall off from bale blocks
. So I put those hay into huge bag and a bucket of alfafa hay as well.

I checked the freshness and smell of hay from this farm and compare it
to store bought hay, and it was a lot better. and it's free.
Well, I made an hour trip with my SUV, so I guess it isn't exactly
free but, hey, you have to drive too when you go to pet shop.
Just compare the size of bags from my picture.
14oz Kaytee hay was about 3$ in local pet shop. Bag of hay I
got for free today is at least 10 times more and twice as fresher.

I really like this farm and the people were so darn friendly like you
wouldn't believe. A person who don't even buy their bale in the middle
of the day isn't exactly best customer, but they were very nice.
(well, they have to clean the bottom of their storage anyway,
but still.........)

So I just thought I would share this good info and experience with
people here.

If this section isn't for this kind of info/talk, I'll move it right away.


Cheers.
Danny from Vancouver.

P.S-> on first pic, left is hay I got from local farm, and the right is
Kaytee hay.

P.S-> From the picture, Would you say it's good hay(the farm one)
Question for hay expert out there.

[Martina]

Yeah they are great people there, very nice. We are in Burnaby too and go there for our hay, we get the bale though. It is way easier to only have to buy hay every couple of months instead of a couple times a week and it is great stuff and you are right so *so* much cheaper then the other stuff.

SARS (Small Animal Rescue Society of BC if you don't know already) people go there too and now they always know it is the bunny piggie etc. people that come for the smaller amounts, of course in the smaller cars sometimes too, not the big trucks they usually get

[lynn's Cavies]

That sounds a lot like Willow Wind that is here on the Island - Vancouver Island. I can't stand pet store hay anymore. It is brown and dusty and does NOT last with 3 guinea pigs and 4 rabbits. I'm glad you found a great farm to go too.

[Piggiepen]

I love Vanderveen's Hay too! I was disgusted to discover how much money Kaytee was making on sellling desperate pet owners their crappy hay! I usually end up throwing the bottom half of the bag away because it's all dust and hay "crumbs".

I do wish Vanderveen would sell their hay by the flake or in half bales for those of us who don't need huge amounts at a time! Maybe if they realized how many of us small animal lovers were out there, they'd consider it!

Until then, I will keep buying their hay by the bale so that my piggies can gorge themselves silly on it!

[Naomi]

oh man I wish I was closer! I can't find timothy hay anywhere (other than small bags)!

[Martina]

SARS BC sometimes sells the flakes if you want flakes instead. Home you can e-mail and ask them or join their message board to ask.


Naomi there is a list somewhere, I don't remember where of course but it has a list of a bunch of hay suppliers in BC, Or you can join the SARS board too and ask some of the people closer too you where to get better hay, and/or they probably remember the list of hay suppliers. Just a thought

[Naomi]

I was actually in contact with them last week (I donated some stuff to them) and they didn't have anyone local she said, but they must as there are people here who 'work' for them. I will try again.

[Martina]

Oh sorry, I am shameless always trying to get the word out on them, they are a great group of people... very busy though

Good luck!

[cavynut!!!]

I live in New Westminster and for the Oxbow I was surfing the Internet and this one Vet in Vancouver says they sell Oxbow Products. Sorry but I can't remember the link.

[sasnpipp]

Hay Vancouverites!

Craigslist says someone is giving away 10 free bales of hay in Kitsilano. Really wish I had a truck!

One thing to watch out for: I'm not sure about Vanderveens, their Timothy hay has been great, but I don't think it's always Canadian, so make sure you ask. Hay imported from the States must be sprayed. I've done enough research on the chemicals they use to come to the conclusion that while it doesn't mean instant death or any short term health risks, I'm not about to give my crew a steady diet of the stuff. (Most bales of Timothy comes from Washington or Alberta, although there is some grown in BC as well).

Also: The VRRA -- Vancouver Rabbit Rescue and Advocacy -- people sell flakes or at least big green garbage bags of the stuff for $5. Great cause. And I know my vet (Arbutus Animal Clinic in Kits) sells small bags of Oxbow Timothy. (Mine would go through one in a day, though).

And Michelle, who boards small animals, also sells big bags of farm hay AND Oxbow, she in east Vancouver. Her site is sweetrabbits2000.com.

sas