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Original poster

Anyone else have a problem with Pets at Home hay?

30 replies

whispywhisp · 17/12/2008 13:39

My last few bags of hay bought from PAH have been so dusty and damp - anyone else had this problem?

I've got an albino guinea pig who kept getting eye trouble - loads of trips to the vet - anti-biotics for a possible cold, eye drops for possible eye infection...sneezing etc etc....then I thought I'd buy some lovely fresh meadow hay (more expensive) and he's fine! The PAH hay is so dusty that the vet now thinks its too dusty for him and his eyes and although fine with my other pigs he has to stay on meadow hay now. Also I keep getting bags of hay that are damp inside. I've got two bags to take back - so annoying.

OP posts:
MerlinsBeard · 17/12/2008 13:47

We found it either very dry and dusty or damp and musty smelling. Our rabbit now has an aversion to ANY hay

their sawdust is the same (dusty)

Original poster
whispywhisp · 17/12/2008 14:01

I find their sawdust ok actually - he's only just a year old and has never had a problem with the sawdust but I don't tend to give him too much but their hay is just awful. Interesting you found it damp and musty too and at a fiver a bag I can't afford to keep throwing it away.

Have you tried meadow hay for your rabbit? Or Timothy Hay? Meadow hay is much more green/lush and not so dusty. Timothy Hay is very expensive but completely dust free.

OP posts:
saffy202 · 17/12/2008 14:59

I buy the timothy hay from PAH

smurfgirl · 17/12/2008 15:10

We use Timothy Hay for our pigs, its not cheap though. One of ours is red eyed/white fur and his eyes seem ok so far...

Original poster
whispywhisp · 17/12/2008 16:32

Timothy Hay is very good - I think its imported from the States? Only problem is I bought a bag from the vets the other day and it cost £8!

OP posts:
Pixel · 17/12/2008 20:37

If you have somewhere to store it (shed/garage?), you could buy a whole bale for £4 and it would probably last a guinea pig for a year and be much better quality. As long as you keep it dry and let the air circulate round it, it will keep, as long as you choose a good bale in the first place. Pull a bit out and smell it, it should be sweet-smelling, not musty.

southeastastra · 17/12/2008 20:39

we get hay from the local nursery, it's not dusty at all

Original poster
whispywhisp · 18/12/2008 10:08

I now get full bales from a mate who keeps horses and she buys it 100s of bales at a time. Its lovely fresh lush hay and I pay her a tenner for a bale. One bale can last up to a month with 5 pigs.

OP posts:
Pixel · 18/12/2008 17:39

at £10 for a bale of hay. We are currently paying £3.50 a bale for hay for our horses and it is really good stuff, very sweet and clean. If we had anywhere to store 100 bales we could probably get it cheaper than that.
We do have a supplier who delivers but if we get stuck for the odd bale we can get one at the local farm shop so it's well worth keeping an eye open.
If I still had small pets and no storage space I would consider sharing a bale between a friend or two, rather than pay rip-off prices for bad pet shop hay.

Original poster
whispywhisp · 18/12/2008 17:43

I pay a tenner for a bale because she very kindly wraps it up for me and is happy to put it in the boot of her car and pop it over to me too. She pays £3 per bale.

OP posts:
PurpleOne · 18/12/2008 20:42

Hated PAH hay. Made the piggies sneeze all the time.
One day, while I was cleaning the piggies out, I pulled out half a mouse from inside the bag. Entrails and everything.

Original poster
whispywhisp · 19/12/2008 09:55

Oh god..that's awful. I've pulled out a lot of pieces of wood, sticks and loads of dead leaves before but only recently have I had problems with one of my pigs suffering with eye trouble due to using such poor quality hay. Fortunately he's fine with meadow hay.

OP posts:
StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 19/12/2008 10:58

Their Timothy Hay isn't dusty but is £6 for a tiny bale. Am going to go to the local farm in the New Year and get hay from them. I've been put off before by reports of rabbits getting VHD and Mixy from fleas in farm hay. Though my rabbits are vaccinated against mixy they're not against VHD.

Otherwise you can get bales from DustFreeHay.co.uk but they're very expensive. Meant to be very good though. £27 for a large bale of meadow hay.

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 19/12/2008 10:59

Actually as the large bale is approx 15kg its cheaper than the stuff I'm getting from PAH. Guess it would last for ages.

GentleOtter · 19/12/2008 11:04

It has been a bad year to make hay due to the weather. It was nigh on impossible to get it completely dry and that is why your hay will be musty.
Take it back to the shop as they should not be selling this stuff.
Are you able to get some from a local farm? Most farmers would be quite happy to fill a bin bag with some fresher hay.

Original poster
whispywhisp · 19/12/2008 12:02

I now get my meadow hay from a mate who keeps horses but I also buy it online - a bale costs £7 plus £4 delivery. The online stuff is lovely and fresh and delivery is just 24hrs so its not in transit for very long at all.

I hadn't given the weather a thought with PAH hay.

OP posts:
StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 19/12/2008 12:04

Whispy - which online site do you get yours from?

Original poster
whispywhisp · 19/12/2008 12:34

I get it off eBay.

OP posts:
Original poster
whispywhisp · 27/12/2008 10:13

.

OP posts:
mysterymoniker · 27/12/2008 10:17

could you use haylage for this sort of thing?

Original poster
whispywhisp · 27/12/2008 10:22

Whats haylage?

OP posts:
mysterymoniker · 27/12/2008 10:29

it's sort of fermented hay, less dusty

Original poster
whispywhisp · 27/12/2008 19:31

bumping for MrsDoyle on another thread.

OP posts:
Piglet111 · 27/12/2008 20:02

haylage is very very bad for rabbits DO NOT give it instead of hay it will cause BLOAT

Piglet111 · 27/12/2008 20:04

my favourite rabbit supply shop the hay experts