UK The Hay Experts company

[cookie_gal]

Hi there

As I'm in the UK I've been looking out for some decent websites. Has anyone here heard of The Hay Experts - Quality Hays Toys and Treats for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and other Small Herbivores ? They have loads of hay varietys including oxbow stuff.

I'm ordering their 9 (?) sample hay kits for £3.99 which seems a good deal especially as there is free post and packaging for this too! They also accept cheques which is great!

One other thing, one of the products has rye and other hays in it, (broken link removed). I assume this would be okay to try too? Its just the rye I am unsure about. It appears pretty decent.

Anyway, any thoughts and opinions are welcome!

edit! just noticed regular p+p is £4.25 so I guess it depends what you order.

 

[JarBax]

Yes, They are a great company! Good custmer service too. The rye is fine. Will update later (there is a thread on here (UK) re. their sample bags), was just checking me e-mails, and got sidetracked! Tut tut!

 

[jabberwock]

Yes, I' recommend them too. Their Field Fresh Meadow Hay is grown using organic methods and my pigs are thriving on a mixture of that and Oxbow Bunny Brome (their favourite, but much more expensive).

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

It's a great company. The hay is lovely. And for every sale of the Field Fresh Hays (all kinds with "Field Fresh" in front of it) Green Fields Rescue benefits.

Timothy and Rye is my pigs favourite. They had the sample packs of 8 different hays and overall they preferred the less green stuff!

 

[cookie_gal]

Thats great to know, well I hope mine enjoy their hay then!

 

[JarBax]

Right! Back from work, with a bit more time! Here is that link to the previous post re. the Hay Experts https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/bedding-hay/20163-hay-hay-hay.html

I have to say, my girls dived headfirst into the incredibly green 'simply grass'! I have since ordered 6 large bags of the stuff, and mix it with Orchard Grass and other cheaper hay/grass. With 3 hayracks, they don't half get through it - but they're worth it!

 

[cookie_gal]

Would you believe it that I did a search for the company and nothing came up! So thanks for that.

 

[JarBax]

I wonder if maybe the searches only come up with more recent stuff, so we don't keep trawling up old threads (just a wonder) - it took me a bit of looking for too! lol

I really like how the Hay Experts only sell hay in paper bags - and so you get a free toy every time!

 

[CavyKind]

These people really do sell fabulous hay and are so nice to deal with, the service they provide is second to none. I have just placed an order, stocking up for the holiday period!

Barbara

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

They stock Oxbow Cavy Cuisine now. Woohoo!

 

[magicroundabout]

hi there, just reading this thread and thanks for the link! just though id say that i use (broken link removed) they are good for hay and natural treats, my boys love the strawberry and raspberry leaves they do!

 

[Maisiepaisie]

I'm ordering their 9 (?) sample hay kits for £3.99 which seems a good deal especially as there is free post and packaging for this too!

edit! just noticed regular p+p is £4.25 so I guess it depends what you order.

It is free p+p, I just ordered some. I only ordered the sample hay kit as I think if you order any additional items you have to pay p+p.

Are all those types of hay in the sample kit good for guinea pigs, does anyone know?

 

[thalestral]

They're all great for guinea pigs We've been ordering most of our hay from The Hay Company recently as the girls just go absolutely bonkers for the Simply Grass. With my latest order I've put down for a sample kit so I can see what other hays they like that I can add to their mix.

 

[JarBax]

My girls adore the simply grass too. Nothing comes close as far as they're concerned!

 

[callykins]

Heh after checking out that site i just managed to spend nearly all of my moeny on Cory. Have just about enough left to get myself some shampoo i hope...... Great site though.

 

[thalestral]

With my latest order I decided to try ordering a large amount of the Field Fresh Timothy and Rye hay - but it's really yellow compared to the sample pack.

I was wondering, is it still just as good for the piggers? My girls definitely don't seem as interested in it now compared to their Oxbow hays.

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

The general rule is: the less green it is the less nutritious. However, my pigs loved the timothy and rye almost above all, despite it being the brownest of them all!

 

[muffin]

Don't know if this helps but a lot of UK horse quality hay seems to be brown. People with horses seem to go by the rule of thumb that if it isn't brown it wasn't dried out properly?

 

[jabberwock]

I think that generally the UK doesn't have an ideal climate for producing very green hay (see separate thread about the weather!). If the grass is too dry before cutting then the resultant hay will be gold in colour. But often in the UK there isn't really a choice about when to cut the grass for hay - at the ideal first cut stage it's frequently too wet. According to some websites I've read the gold/brown hay is lower in protein but higher in fibre than it would have been had it been cut under ideal conditions.
As muffin says, lots of horsey people feed the browner hay as long as it's smells nice and fresh. In the end it's better to have a browner hay than one which should have been green but has actually gone damp and mouldy.