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Hay Oxbow is Terrible

madelineelaine

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I feed the all living things hay. Suprisingly where I get it at the pet store, it's green, soft, fragrant etc. I was very suprised. The oxbow hay lookes terrible. I do have a lady who sells hay around me, but we're unsure how to store a 50 lb bale or where to put it.
 

MrWhistles

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I feed the all living things hay. Suprisingly where I get it at the pet store, it's green, soft, fragrant etc. I was very suprised. The oxbow hay lookes terrible. I do have a lady who sells hay around me, but we're unsure how to store a 50 lb bale or where to put it.

If my feed store sold higher quality hay bales here is how I would store it:
Get a large tarp(you can get any at walmart for a good price)
Fold in half, place the bale on half of the tarp/use the other half to neatly cover it when company comes over.

Or if you live in an apartment with a storage closet outside, just toss it in there.
Or if you live in a house you can keep it outside. Just make sure you cover it up tightly from water.
 

Kim37040

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I had good experiences with Oxbow. My boys seemed to like it. Our hay evolution went from Kaytee, Sweet Meadow, Oxbow, to Kleenmama.
My boys love KMS hands down. I love it too. It smells amazing and is green and soft and pretty.
I have limited storage so getting a big bale locally would be difficult. And I am barely able to adequately store the 45 lbs I get from KMS.
Although it does sound that it would be far more cost effective.
 

seida

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I use Oxbow because it's the best I can get (and even then has to be ordered online) and it's always been green for me. I realised the timothy was causing my pig's sneezing and switched to their orchard, which she LOVES and scoffs down. It just depends, but I've not yet had a bad experience with Oxbow.
 

littledinobug

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I scored a free 50lb bale from a local farmer for my pigs. I brought one of them out to the garage to see the big score and she started wheeking and going all nuts I held her close to the bale and she just started gnawing away at any bits she could get her teeth on. Guess it's a good bale ROFL.
 

MrWhistles

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I scored a free 50lb bale from a local farmer for my pigs. I brought one of them out to the garage to see the big score and she started wheeking and going all nuts I held her close to the bale and she just started gnawing away at any bits she could get her teeth on. Guess it's a good bale ROFL.

As with any hay, be sure to inspect it for garbage and harmful debris.
Usually farmers won't give out free bales unless something is wrong with them. Be sure to check for mold or wet spots. If their wet open the bale and separate all the "flakes" to let it air out and hopefully dry up.
 

littledinobug

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Actually, the guy DID know my dad back in the 80's when they worked together. the hay was actually baled that day since I was waiting in the dooryard and watching him in his tractor with the bailer attached. *points to SCORE! thread ;) *
 

MrWhistles

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Actually, the guy DID know my dad back in the 80's when they worked together. the hay was actually baled that day since I was waiting in the dooryard and watching him in his tractor with the bailer attached. *points to SCORE! thread ;) *

Nice!
Good to have farmer friends *wink*
I'm good friends with my feed store owner. He occasionally gives me a free coastal hay bale for my horses. I'm getting 4 TnA and 4 Coastal bales every week! Each horse goes through 2 bales of coastal/TnA a week. Big piggys. But I love em so :D
 

madelineelaine

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The lady selling the 50lb bale said it would fit in a contractor sized garbage bag. I have issues with WHERE to store it. My room is already completely jammed.
 

skinnyguineaus

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Pinky, I heard that Lake Barrington Feed & Supply has some great Orchard grass available. Their number is 847.842.0605 Thought of you when I heard... Have not seen it but the person who mentioned knows what they are talking about :)
 

pinky

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Pinky, I heard that Lake Barrington Feed & Supply has some great Orchard grass available. Their number is 847.842.0605 Thought of you when I heard... Have not seen it but the person who mentioned knows what they are talking about :)

Thanks for the info, [MENTION=19182]skinnyguineaus[/MENTION]. I ordered my 50 lbs of Oxbow last week, but I'll check this place out and buy a bale and store it.
 

skinnyguineaus

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Oh man... a week too late :( I am gonna check it out too. Always good to have a backup
 

pinky

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CavyMama

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As Pinky said, buying Oxbow from the store isn't going to be as good as buying Oxbow direct from the site. The problem is not in Oxbow itself, it's in how long it's been sitting on the shelf. The hay you got from the store being bad does not equate to Oxbow as a whole being bad and it's an unfair statement to say, "Oxbow Hay is Terrible" when really it's the bagged Oxbow you got that was terrible.
 

CavyMama

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The only bags that were fresh looking and green were Kaytee, I bought the least nasty-looking Oxbow I could find because I needed hay immediately and everyone told me Kaytee was bad.

Kaytee LOOKs fresh and green because the bag is green. They do this on purpose. The green from the bag reflects onto the hay making it look greener than it actually is. If you take Kaytee out of the bag, it's just as dried out as any other bagged brand. I've actually gotten slivers from handling Kaytee hay.
 

PiBee

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Can Kaytee hay possibly have preservatives in it to keep it green? Everyone here is saying how it's always green and fresh looking... isn't that a little odd, honestly? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it just seems like they may have added something to keep it "fresh".
 

Greenbean

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I feed my piggies Kaytee Natural Timothy Hay and they love it. :)
My local Petsmart always has fresh hay out. So nothing is rotten. :)
 

CavyMama

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Can Kaytee hay possibly have preservatives in it to keep it green? Everyone here is saying how it's always green and fresh looking... isn't that a little odd, honestly? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it just seems like they may have added something to keep it "fresh".

I've never heard anyone say that Kaytee is green and fresh looking - other than one person in this thread. Any Kaytee I've seen has been yellowed and brittle. Definitely not fresh.
 

Greenbean

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Can Kaytee hay possibly have preservatives in it to keep it green? Everyone here is saying how it's always green and fresh looking... isn't that a little odd, honestly? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it just seems like they may have added something to keep it "fresh".

I don't think they do. On the back of my Kaytee Timothy Hay this is all that's in the ingredients.

IMG_0252[1].jpg
 

CavyMama

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I feed my piggies Kaytee Natural Timothy Hay and they love it. :)
My local Petsmart always has fresh hay out. So nothing is rotten. :)

Store hay has been sitting on their shelves for a while and not what anyone would consider "fresh". Once you have seen how soft and fresh Kleenmamas or Oxbow is, you would never think Kaytee is fresh. Kleenmamas is so fresh that you can wrap it around your finger. The only thing I got from Kaytee on my finger was a sliver from how dried out it was.

ETA: I used to think Kaytee was fresh too before I laid eyes on the beauty that is Kleenmamas.
 
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