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Hay which hay do you guys prefer??!

GPlove94

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i've heard a lot of great things about kms hay and also about small pet select hay which do you guys prefer. the reviews on youtube i've seen of small pet select the hay looks really soft and much greener than kms hay and better packaging. i'm not sure which one to order kms or small pet select, what do you guys think?

[video=youtube;KD4MW8qJheY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD4MW8qJheY[/video]
here's the video on small pet select hay
 

Artista

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Personally, it's expensive for me. KMS is great hay and cheaper even with shipping. This video I think is off the site itself so I always hesitate to believe it as opposed to a customer who posts it. I've never seen hay, fresh or not, not have any brown. KMS has little brown, like around 5%, and I still sit and try to pick the brown out before giving it to my gp. Brown doesn't harm them but I treat her the way I do myself, picky.

If anyone who has bought this hay can say it really comes like this, all natural and green, maybe I'll spend more money on this. If anyone has done both KMS and this one, the better. I've been told every harvest, which is once a year, is different. Some years very little brown and others are not as great.

Would love feedback from those who have done comparison! :D
 

lissie

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I prefer KMS bluegrass. I personally can't use timothy hay due to asthma, and Small Pet Select only offers timothy.
I usually buy local orchard hay and will buy bluegrass when I need to reorder pellets.
If you can find good quality hay locally, it would be much cheaper. I pay about $25 for a 115 lbs. of local hay.
 

GatsbyandOllie

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When I got my first couple of pigs, I used my grandfather's home grown hay. It's much cheaper and he used to sell a whole bale for about 5 bucks. That's about how much I spend on a small mini bale that's less than a pound now.

I use Oxbow for my hay though, and my pigs love it. It's really green and it looks yummy. I actually used to use Kaytee because it was cheaper but, I switched because they had some really brown hay with sticks in it (?) and that was starting to become ridiculous. Oxbow is a favorite of my pigs though. They love their hay and pellets.
 

GPlove94

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I might just switch to kms hay cause right now I'm using oxbow western timothy and it is quite expensive, but I'm going down to the country side tomorrow I'll see if can find a nice local farm to get some hay. Timothy hay does make my skin itch a lil but not to the extent to switch hay and twice i like the aroma but i might also experiment with different types of hay in the future.
 

Artista

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I might just switch to kms hay cause right now I'm using oxbow western timothy and it is quite expensive, but I'm going down to the country side tomorrow I'll see if can find a nice local farm to get some hay. Timothy hay does make my skin itch a lil but not to the extent to switch hay and twice i like the aroma but i might also experiment with different types of hay in the future.

There was a thread on KMS recently in diet/nutrition. Not only do the majority of us love the hay (bluegrass and 3rd cut timothy hay) but their pellets are very fresh! I was telling someone here it smells better than my grapenuts! They pack it before it ships, and so it doesn't just sit on the shelf in a store. I almost tried a morsel just to see if it is better than grapenuts like it smells!
 

GPlove94

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@Artista lol I love the scent of timothy hay!!!! I'm kinda weary about getting hay online because you never know what to expect and I live in the east coast in the south so longer shipping for me WOO. I'm one of those very picky people that have to pick out what they want. I've heard they have good customer service though? So I'll just give it a shot. I'll probably just pick the brown pieces out anyways.
 

Beth Pearson

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I have an 8 pound box of Timothy Hay from Small Pet Select at the beginning of June and I have no complaints. It took shipping 8 days to get from their store to my door, but I live on the opposite coast as well. Someone above mentioned something about brown hay, I'm not quite 1/2 way in to the box and have had no brown hay whatsoever. It is so fresh and smells absolutely amazing...but I love the smell of hay lol In my opinion, it is reasonably priced too IF you buy 20+ pounds of hay. If you're a fan on their Facebook page, they always have free shipping codes so you just pay the price of the hay. I don't find it expensive at all considering how amazing their hay is. I decided to be like everyone else and ordered KMS, due to arrive next Friday, so I'll be able to compare KMS to SPS. My only complaint with SPS hay (and it may just be normal for all hay) is that at the bottom there is quite a bit of dust/powdered hay. But overall, I will order it again because my five pigs absolutely love it! They wheek for it as soon as they hear the box open. And if they're happy, so am I :)
 

GPlove94

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I have an 8 pound box of Timothy Hay from Small Pet Select at the beginning of June and I have no complaints. It took shipping 8 days to get from their store to my door, but I live on the opposite coast as well. Someone above mentioned something about brown hay, I'm not quite 1/2 way in to the box and have had no brown hay whatsoever. It is so fresh and smells absolutely amazing...but I love the smell of hay lol In my opinion, it is reasonably priced too IF you buy 20+ pounds of hay. If you're a fan on their Facebook page, they always have free shipping codes so you just pay the price of the hay. I don't find it expensive at all considering how amazing their hay is. I decided to be like everyone else and ordered KMS, due to arrive next Friday, so I'll be able to compare KMS to SPS. My only complaint with SPS hay (and it may just be normal for all hay) is that at the bottom there is quite a bit of dust/powdered hay. But overall, I will order it again because my five pigs absolutely love it! They wheek for it as soon as they hear the box open. And if they're happy, so am I :)

Let us know what you think and add pictures!! Please :)
 

pinky

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If you buy packaged hay, the boxed hays tend to be fresher and the large manufacturers like KM, Oxbow, Sweet Meadow, Small Pet Select will stand by their product if there's an issue. When I buy boxed, I check current prices with shipping and buy the least expensive one. I always buy 50 lbs to get the lowest price per pound. Drs Foster & Smith carries different brands of hay and often has sales and always has free shipping on orders of $49. If I can buy fresh bales, I go that route. My vet said the roughage is better for them, anyway, so it doesn't have to be all leafy green. Just pull out any weeds.
 

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@Artista lol I love the scent of timothy hay!!!! I'm kinda weary about getting hay online because you never know what to expect and I live in the east coast in the south so longer shipping for me WOO. I'm one of those very picky people that have to pick out what they want. I've heard they have good customer service though? So I'll just give it a shot. I'll probably just pick the brown pieces out anyways.
Customer service is stellar. It's very rare to find such outstanding service. If you're really curious about what people think of KMS company, do a search here. Lots of praise.
 

YourSoJelly

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Have you tried to get local hay? Thats my personal favorite because you know the conditions they were grown in. My horseback riding trainer cuts her own hay, and one bale should last me about a year. Try the local route over the shipping route. I will suggest you go to a horse barn because cow barns typically have 1st cut hay(the worst cut). Try finding a local stable or riding center, or even a house with a horse in the backyard. That's just an idea.
 

GPlove94

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Have you tried to get local hay? Thats my personal favorite because you know the conditions they were grown in. My horseback riding trainer cuts her own hay, and one bale should last me about a year. Try the local route over the shipping route. I will suggest you go to a horse barn because cow barns typically have 1st cut hay(the worst cut). Try finding a local stable or riding center, or even a house with a horse in the backyard. That's just an idea.

I think I'm going on a hunt for horse stables now, just gotta figure out how I'm going to store all that hay. But if I cant find any I'm definitely going to order kms as soon as I run out of this oxbow.
 

YourSoJelly

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I bought a hamper, and I put the bale in there. I have 3 sows so it doesn't go that fast. Good luck!
 

iluvguineapigs2

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I hear Oxbow is good, but I still haven't found a place that sells it yet :(.
My guinea pigs prefer that grass I dry for them over the store-bought Timothy Hay :).
 

Beth Pearson

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I bought a hamper, and I put the bale in there. I have 3 sows so it doesn't go that fast. Good luck!

That's an awesome idea! I have been searching for feed stores around here for bales but Tractor Supply is about all we have unless we go out in the sticks :)
 

GPlove94

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I hear Oxbow is good, but I still haven't found a place that sells it yet :(.
My guinea pigs prefer that grass I dry for them over the store-bought Timothy Hay :).

You can find oxbow in petsmart stores the largest you can get there is 40oz for $25 which is way too expensive. You can get oxbow cheaper online if you search.
 

GPlove94

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@YourSoJelly how many lbs of hay did you get for your 3 sows?? and how long does it last and stay fresh??
 

YourSoJelly

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I actually haven't had the ability to get a bale this year because the hay product by me is was low, because I'm in the heart on hay production, and it's in high demand. In working on getting a bale now. The bales are about 30-40 pounds(I think).
 

piggi_zone

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From what it looks like sps has great quality but less selection. I do like the cute box for sps
 
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