Hay Standlee hay?

[HollyLeaf]

So after some thought, and finding out tractor supply carries these 50 lb bales of timothy for $18, i decided to buy a bale. Its Standlee brand compressed bale, and I was wondering if anyone else has an opinion on it. I havent heard of it before and cant find much info on past threads. But opening it up, it looks pretty green and smells lovely, harder stalks on the outside, mostly soft on the inside. Ive yet to see if the pigs like it, since their hayrack was already full i just set some in the litter box and they just used it as a bed, haha. But theyre not really picky so well see. I had trouble finding places to store all of it, as only half the bale fit in the storage container i found. I put a flake in the almost empty bag of kaytee i have, and the rest i threw in garbage bags and poked tons of holes in them. Then i stuffed them in the bathroom closet for lack of other space. Im not buying a whole bale again, but i wanted to try this brand. I hope it doesnt go bad before i use all of it haha. Anyway any thoughts on Standlee?
I also found dead bugs, like biggish bugs, is that okay as long as i sift through the hay before i feed it? Thats what ive been reading. Im super paranoid and really dont want any bug infestations... probably overreacting but yeah. Weve had rabbits and kept hay in garbage bags in the basement with no problems. But still.
Also, any suggestions where and how to store it? I know the whole hay needs ventilation thing, so i cut a hole out of the top of a sterilite tub and put mesh over it. Is that fine? The hay in the bags has tons of holes poked in the bags, but thats all i can do right now, i have no more containers or space for containers.

Sorry i rambled. Any thoughts would be great.

 

[bpatters]

Hay is hay is hay. Brands don't really matter as much, because all they do is package it and sell it.

It will be good for up to two years. And even if you wind up throwing part of it out, it's still a huge bargain.

 

[HollyLeaf]

Hay is hay is hay. Brands don't really matter as much, because all they do is package it and sell it.

It will be good for up to two years. And even if you wind up throwing part of it out, it's still a huge bargain.

You see, thats what was always my thought process too! Its all just hay right? It all comes from essentially the same place. So i wonder why some people make a huge fuss? My pigs love the kaytee ive been giving them, and i dont mind it myself, but now i see the standlee is greener. The kaytee was a last resort at the time i bought it so not first choice anyway.
And i dont think itll last quite two years, especially when i adopt my third pig (so excited!) but itll last quite a while yet.

My mum made a comment about the hay smell in my room now, but i think hay smells nice lol. I much prefer it to hamster smell or wet dog.

 

[magicpiggie]

@HollyLeaf How did you convince your parents to let you get a third? I really want a third but my parents won't let me. They say two's enough. I want a mini herd...

 

[HollyLeaf]

@HollyLeaf How did you convince your parents to let you get a third? I really want a third but my parents won't let me. They say two's enough. I want a mini herd...

Erm, well, they dont exactly know what im planning right now, heh.. but since im making the cage bigger and it was my moms idea to get Pansy a friend in the first place (she picked up charlotte and plopped her in the cage while i was working, huge surprise for me haha) i dont think shell care much. Im thinking i wont tell her until she comes in my room and discovers a third pig. Im kind of naughty hehe...but hey, my sister hid a rabbit in her closet for a week so, it runs in the family.

 

[HollyLeaf]

Also, ive been taking pretty fantastic care of them and the only concern my parents had, the smell, is nonexistant. And i took down my beloved fish tank so. That helps.

 

[bpatters]

@HollyLeaf, the problem with Kaytee hay is that it is more likely to be stale and dry because it's bagged in small packages and may stay on the shelf in a warehouse for a long time before it's sold. That's true of any hay sold in small bags, no matter what the brand.

The main problem with Kaytee is that it's mostly sold in pet stores, and it costs anywhere from three to hundreds of times more than hay you can buy online or from a local farmer.

This does NOT apply to pellets, where the brand of the pellets has everything to do with the composition of the pellets. Some brands are excellent, others are crap.

 

[HollyLeaf]

@HollyLeaf, the problem with Kaytee hay is that it is more likely to be stale and dry because it's bagged in small packages and may stay on the shelf in a warehouse for a long time before it's sold. That's true of any hay sold in small bags, no matter what the brand.

The main problem with Kaytee is that it's mostly sold in pet stores, and it costs anywhere from three to hundreds of times more than hay you can buy online or from a local farmer.

This does NOT apply to pellets, where the brand of the pellets has everything to do with the composition of the pellets. Some brands are excellent, others are crap.

Yeah, i can see that. Ill probably buy from small pet select next time i need hay, but im not buying in bulk like i did with this bale, haha.

And yeah, i know many pellet brands suck, i personally use oxbow. Its more expensive, but the bag lasts me a couple months so its fine.

 

[FoxOfShadows]

i bought a couple standlee timothy bales a couple years ago and both my animals(bun and pair of pigs) loved it but after those two bales my feed store never got those bales of timothy again since...wish they would but i ok with LMS 3rd cute as its awesome and critters love it to

 

[HollyLeaf]

i bought a couple standlee timothy bales a couple years ago and both my animals(bun and pair of pigs) loved it but after those two bales my feed store never got those bales of timothy again since...wish they would but i ok with LMS 3rd cute as its awesome and critters love it to

Im not sure if mine like it or not. Since ive been mixing it in it doesnt seem like theyre eating much hay. The rack used to be empty by time i got home from work, but now its still pretty full. I mean, i stuff it more so they dont run out before i get off work but it still shouldnt be as full as it is. And its still mostly their old hay which they loved! But a lot of the new stuff seems to be pulled out and turned into a nest and bathroom. Lol.

Did you mean KMS? KMS hayloft?

 

[pigmommy89]

The Standlee Hay has been very hit or miss for me. Sometimes it's very green and they love it, and other times I throw half of it away. Unfortunately, I may have to buy another bale tomorrow, because it looks like my online order isn't going to make it before I run out.

 

[FoxOfShadows]

Im not sure if mine like it or not. Since ive been mixing it in it doesnt seem like theyre eating much hay. The rack used to be empty by time i got home from work, but now its still pretty full. I mean, i stuff it more so they dont run out before i get off work but it still shouldnt be as full as it is. And its still mostly their old hay which they loved! But a lot of the new stuff seems to be pulled out and turned into a nest and bathroom. Lol.

Did you mean KMS? KMS hayloft?

yes meant KMS Hayloft

 

[GeekPrincess]

I've gotten the 10lb boxes of Standlee brand for the last year. It was hit or miss this fall and I'm currently getting oxbow because my local pet store has it fairly cheap.
My boys don't care the brand as long it's green and soft. They prefer orchard over Timothy which is fine with me.

I wish I had the space for a 50lb bale!

 

[HollyLeaf]

I've gotten the 10lb boxes of Standlee brand for the last year. It was hit or miss this fall and I'm currently getting oxbow because my local pet store has it fairly cheap.
My boys don't care the brand as long it's green and soft. They prefer orchard over Timothy which is fine with me.

I wish I had the space for a 50lb bale!

Lol i dont have the space. I need to get rid of some of it. Hopefully someone on fb will buy what i dont need right now