Hay Products

[moletteuk]

Please post information, thoughts and observations about hay products here.

I'll get us started

For scale white paper in photos is A4 sheet (297x210mm approx 12x8")

Burgess Excel Dandelion & Marigold Herbage Timothy Hay





Price approx £4.50 per kg
Good quality, every bag always looks same good quality. Pieces quite short. Well liked by my degus. Not much dandelion or marigold at all.


Bob Martin My Little Friend Meadow Hay





Price approx £4 for 3.5kg (£1.14/kg) (available ASDA in UK)
Observations: Good value. Usually smells sweet and good quality, occasionally bag smells less fresh and seems of lesser quality, so can be a bit variable. My degus like it as well as more expensive hays. Smaller bags also available that are less compressed which my degus seem to prefer.


JR Farm Milk Thistle Meadow





Price approx £3.50 for 500g (£7.00/kg)
Looks quite green & grassy. Very little milk thistle (10%). Beware spikey! Not great value, but makes a change.

[blossombrooks]

Readigrass
£3.99 for 1kg bag
I feed this a couple of times a week mixed in with hay, the goos go mad for it. It's very green so offer sparingly not freely as hay.

[moletteuk]

Hay for pets hay from internet hay seller www.hayforpets.co.uk/products.html

I ordered a sample pack from them, so I only have tiny little bags, but they all smell fantastic.

Meadow Hay





Ings Hay (from damp meadows)


Timothy and Rye


All at £9 for 1.8kg, £12 for 4.5kg or £16 for 9.5kg, really good value for the bigger sizes. I think I'm going to order a big bag of the meadow hay.

[moletteuk]

So, my three enjoyed the hayforpets meadow hay at a time when they were being really fussy and refusing other hays. I've just got a bag of the hayforpets Ings hay and I think they are eating hay the most enthusiastically that they ever have.

Does anyone else have any hay reviews?

[moletteuk]

Pure Alfalfa Hay from Valley View Animal Feeds on ebay or website www.valleyviewanimalfeeds.co.uk/ but I can't find the full alfalfa hay on the website. Anyway it's £3.99 for 2kg plus £4.99 shipping.

ALFALFA HAY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ORDINARY MEADOW OR TIMOTHY HAY, IT HAS A Ca:P RATIO OF AROUND 5.5:1 SO IT SHOULD BE USED CAREFULLY TO BOOST THE CALCIUM CONTENT OF YOUR DEGU'S DIET IF NECESSARY. (eg if your commercial food has a Ca:P ratio of less than the ideal 2:1).

Calcium content for mature alfala is 1.1% and phophorus is 0.2%, so the calcium content is ideal, the high Ca:P ratio comes from the unusually low phosphorus level, making alfalfa a relatively safe way to boost calcium in the degu diet if required.

[dyzired]

www.petsupermarket.com/products/petsupermarket/pid-718500811.aspx?pn=timothy%20hay%20mini%20bale%2024%20oz.
This is the hay I think I generally get for my goos.
I like it a lot. Always smells fresh and sweet. Always of good quality. There will be a bunch of hay dust and debri at the bottom of the bag.. But overall I get my money's worth. This ones a smaller bag but there are bigger ones and I generally get a size somewhere in the middle. I think the prices range from $7-$25.

www.petsupermarket.com/products/petsupermarket/pid-875388058.aspx?pn=flower%20power%20timothy%20hay-%2016%20oz.
I've also tried this one. Atleast I'm pretty sure it was this one. Ill have to double
Check.
They liked it a lot. It had a wonderful smell and had yummy herbs and things in it as well. I liked this one but it wasn't a big bag for the price and there were lots of tiny pieces and dust, and just felt like I didn't get my money's worth. Wouldn't buy it for a hay to give often, but would buy again as a nice treat for them

[ntg]

Alfalfa King Timothy Hay
£8 at Pets at home for 1.8kg (£4.44/kg)

It looks like a small bag but they don't lie when they say it's compressed. I haven't tried it out properly yet but the small amount I gave them went down very well, to the point where they were arguing over it! I'll get back to you about how difficult it is to get out of the bag (I only bought it today).

For all it's compressed, the stalks seem long and the pieces are quite thick. Can't comment on the smell as my sense of smell isn't working properly at the moment My first thoughts are that it's worth the extra 44p/kg in comparison to the P@H own brand Timothy Hay.






Woodlands Camomile Harvest
£3.50 for 300g (£11.67/kg)

Not the best for price and only small amounts of chamomile in the pack but it's very popular with my boys. I use it as a treat for them so that they get a bit of variety. A full hayrack is usually gone before half the day is up.

[ilikedegus]

Just to add my boys' vote for Readigrass, they love it.

[moletteuk]

Rosewood Naturals Meadow Hay Cookies

1kg £4 from The Range

Contain over 20 species of grasses, plants and herbs.

They look visually to be mostly grasses. They smell really sweet and are low dust, and my degus seem to quite like them. They are in big chunks, only a dozen or so to the kg, pressed quite firmly together, but not as pressed as cobs like Pre Alpin (which my degus don't really like).

[moletteuk]

Woodlands Mini Alfalfa Bales

£3 for 500g from Pets at Home.

These can be used occasionally (in addition to normal hay) to add a little variety, or to add calcium to the diet.







These are quite firmly pressed together, my degus seem to prefer loose dry alfalfa, but these are easily available, they are easy and convenient. Make sure you don't end up adopting a hamster when you go in the shop to buy them