Question on bulk ordering hay and pellets?

[daboysmom]

Hello piggy people...

I need some help figuring this out. I have three male pigs. We currently feed Oxbow pellets and Kaytee hay. A 10lb bag of oxbow pellets lasts us about a month and a half. I buy that at our local feed store for $15. As for the hay I buy it at walmart for $3 in the 24oz package size and it lasts me about 1 week.

Now I have yet to have enough money to buy these things in bulk until now. I am planning on making a bulk order from oxbow for hay and pellets when I get my tax return. My question is how much do I order and how to I store it all to make sure it stays fresh. I would like to order enough to make it worth paying the shipping.

I have heard you can freeze pellets and I already have a freezer for my raw fed dogs so thats not a big deal. As far as the hay though. Exactly how much is 50lbs of hay? They go through 1.5lbs a week so if I am thinking about this right that is a six month supply for my three boys. That would be totally worth the shipping.

Does hay keep that long?

Can someone give me a discription so I can get a mental picture of how much hay that is so I know for sure that I can store it?

Would rubbermade containers with decent size air holes be alright to store it in? I have cats so I wouldnt be able to leave the tops off or else they would poo in it.

Thanks for helping me get a mental picture.

By the way I appoligize if this is in the wrong place. Feel free to move it, i just thought since it was the diet section and I am talking about food this would be a good spot.

[guineapigluver1]

Yes, hay can keep that long, I was asking about how to store KM's hay, and Ly said you should store it in a box, with the top open, in a cool dry place, and that she stored 100 lbs. of hay this way and at the end of the year, it was still as fresh and green, as it was the first day. You could also use rubbermade bins. I'm pretty sure you could do this with most any hay.

[aaronmeister]

Use the same box the hay came in. Poke some holes around the side.

[Ly&Pigs]

You can use rubbermaid containers but the lids MUST be left off for air circulation.

If you store it in the box it comes in remember to remove the plastic bag.

[Feylin]

Walmart has the right size tubs on sale now if you wanted to cut the holes in the lid.

I just ordered some hay from kleenmama's hayloft and that's what I"m going to do.

[Guinea_Piggin]

I just received my 25lb box of hay from KM's Hayloft and it's definitely worth the price.

Storage: I'm keeping mine in the box with the top open

Dimensions: The 25lb box I have is 18"x18"x18"...so a rather large box. but it's packed full and will last me the rest of the year. If you can afford it, I'd definitely go KM's over Oxbow, just switched mine over and my two pigs are at the hay rack more than they've ever been in the 1+ years I've had them!

[daboysmom]

OK cool so KM's hay is better? Right now we are doing Kaytee hay and I just wanted to upgrade from that because it is always very brownish and I would like to buy a bulk order of hay to last a while. I will check out KM hay.