Where do you store your hay?

[JennG]

I'm doing research and trying to find a new place to buy hay. I get tiny bales now of Kaytee but I'm looking into ordering at least 25lbs from somewhere.

So, those that order huge amounts, where do you store it and how do you store it? I mean is it in a box with holes in your basement or garage or where? Thanks.

 

[BabyGrl]

When I got my box from KM I removed it from the plastic and put it back into the box. I ripped the top off the box and stabbed it all over with a knife to help air it. The box stays right under the table that I now have the cage on.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I store it in the hallway in the box it came in. I have a smaller bin that I store under the cage that I fill up every week or so.

When I move I will be storing the big box in a closet and still be using the small bin to take a little out of the stash every week or so.

 

[sooocute!]

I buy hay from a local farm by the bale. I store it in a large metal garbage pail (metal so it is not air tight) in my basement...which is behind my garage so it is easy access when I bring the bale home. My basement is dry, so mold is not an issue. I use a smaller pail with a lid to carry some upstairs. The bale is more hay than the garbage pail can hold, so the extra goes in a plastic garbage bag which I leave open also in the basement.

 

[kimberly78]

I got my hay from sweet meadow farm. Since i foster I go through hay like mad!! They say to store the hay in a cool dry place in the cardbaord box it came in to keep it venilated. I keep mine in the shed and have a plastic bin with holes drilled in it, located in my pet room for quick feedings. Plastic generally is a no no cause air cant get in, but if you make holes for it, its fine. The also tell you not to break up the bale, only to break what you will use, this will help it keep longer. I have 30lbs of hay and nothing has spoiled yet

 

[pennick]

I have it in the original box and the original plastic bag. I opened the top of the bag to let it breathe. I have my 25lb bag in my bedroom in a corner of my room.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I have hay everywhere right now. KM's bluegrass is sitting in the middle of my kitchen, the 3rd cut timothy is under the kitchen table and the bermuda is in the utility room. I have small boxes of each in my room for the girls.

My utility room is a huge mess right now thanks to my son Jesse. I have to get it cleaned and straightened up to store all the hay in there. The hay I got from KM is in large cardboard boxes, the plastic bags were removed and holes punched in the boxes. The bermuda is stored in large steralite tubs without lids.

 

[JennG]

Well I guess I'll be cleaning out my basement. I'll probably store it in there but I'll have to figure out where. I do get water on the floor occasionally will this cause it to get moldy or if I keep it in the box with holes punched in it, will it absorb the moisture from the water?

 

[RyanR]

I am keeping my 12lbs of KM hay in my guest bedroom. With holes in the box and checking it out every day to make sure no mold grows it also gives the room a nice scent of tyme. People think I have a candle going when they visit me.

 

[JennG]

Well I really want to get some KM hay but I still have to figure out if the water that comes in the basement (usually in the spring) would mold the hay. I'm still debating on where to put it. I need to because the new girls have finally figured out just where the hay is at and they're eating it alot quicker now.

 

[aqh88]

Keep it on a table or use grids to build a shelf for it to sit on up out of the water. I wouldn't put holes in the box. In fact anything but the 3rd cut timothy I keep it not only in a closed up box but in the plastic. The hay can actually absorb humidity from the air if it's dryer then the air. Boxes of course soak up water and if there's no plastic and the box gets wet the hay gets wet. The 3rd cut is an exception because it wasn't cured as long or in as dry of weather so it's still wet/fresh enough to mold if it doesn't get air flow. The hay shouldn't mold if it isn't in direct contact with water and is allowed to breathe. I think in this case I would shove the plastic down to cover the bottom of the box and leave the hay sitting on top of the plastic in the box. If your basement is really musty with not only water but very poor air flow then they hay probably won't fair well.

I leave the bluegrass in the plastic in the box since right now the weather is so dry. If I was anywhere more humid than Iowa in winter I would dump it out of the plastic into the cardboard box. If it's just one box I store it in my mom's office but for the 200lbs that just got shipped it's going out in my stable next to the alfalfa hay the horses eat. It rains into the stable several times a year when big storms come. Usually there's a puddle on the concrete I have to clean up but the hay is fine so long as it doesn't rain directly on it. Sometimes the bottom bales get ruined and any hay enclosed in a hay bag picks up too much moisture with too little air flow and molds but hay left in the open does fine. I haul hay to the apartment in 2 plastic storage containers and stack them on a shelf made out of grids across the room from the guinea pig cages.

 

[JennG]

It doesn't get bad. We had a flooding down there one Spring but the landlord has since put in a new waterproofing system that seems to work. We have a hole near the washer where the water sometimes settles in there. I was going to put it up off the floor a good two feet. I'm thinking I may need to put it on my son's side of the basement where it's finished. Thanks for the input.

 

[2pigs4rats]

I store my hay in the shed underneath a desk to keep it cool and dry, it always smells fresh when I get it out and bring it in.