Getting Timothy Hay From a Local Farmer

[chechinchillas]

It would be so much cheaper to get a big bale of hay from a local farmer, but I worry it will be too rich and cause the chins digestive problems. I have heard that it needs to be second cut timothy hay. Can you only get second cut certain times of the year or do they store it and have second cut available year round? What do you do to make sure it's safe and not too rich?

 

[cremellomare]

It depends on the farmer usually, I know where I get my horse hay the farmer has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, some is an alfalfa/timothy mix, some just timothy, you have to ask. Not sure about cuttings, but I am feeding 1st cut to my horse and chins right now, it is pretty stemy and coarse but neither one seems to mind! The chins gobble it up and so does my horse. This months batch I am going to get the 2nd cutting that has alfalfa stems/timothy, he said most of the leaves fell off of it. I don't think timothy can be too rich, but alfalfa can.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Second crop is basically the second time they cut a field, so you unless if you live in a place that is able to cut hay all year around you will get what ever is stored from this previous harvesting season. However, depending on how large of a farm that your supplier lives on it would depend on if they are going to sell what they have saved up. For example, we do not sell our square bales to others, if they want hay, they're buying it in large round bale quantities. Your going to have to talk to the farmer you plan on getting hay from.

I've never heard of it being too rich, correct me if I'm wrong, but since that hay from a farmer hasn't been sitting in a bag for however long, it is generally fresher and has more of the nutrients to it. I would just make sure that it hasn't been stored for over 6 months. Also, if you get a square bale, break it up outside, we've had snakes and mice get baled up with the hay, it scares the day lights out of ya, but they're dead.

I would also make sure that you know what kind of cut your chinchillas like, first crop has a lot of stems and is very coarse, where if you get into the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. crops they have more leaves and flowers in them.

I wouldn't buy a round bale if I were you, it'll rot before you get through all of it, I'd ask for possibly a square bale or half of a square bale. That is a lot of hay, and you don't want to waste your money on the chance of it becoming rotten or other critters getting in to it.

Just remember that if your getting alfalfa hay as well not to feed it as often as your timothy hay, because chinchilla pellets are alfalfa based and you want to divide up the different nutrients that are in each types of hay.

 

[chechinchillas]

Thanks this was very helpful!!

 

[tunes]

Since a round bale weighs anywhere from 1000 pounds and up, I would guess that's not really what the OP was looking at anyway. Most pet owners consider a standard horse bale (40-80 pounds) to be a "big bale" of hay.

Second cut around here isn't hay that was stored since the previous harvesting season. I can't think of anybody that does it that way when I've bought hay (I also used to live in Ohio). We can't grow hay in SD all year around and we get second and third cuttings for the horses and the cattle.

Check with your local horse farm. The one thing that makes sense is making sure of the content of the hay (pure timothy, alfalfa/timothy mix, grass hay, etc.) and then ask the person for a sample to see if your chins like it. A handful of hay from a couple different places isn't going to mess up their bales and when you explain it's for a small rodent, I'm sure they would be happy to let you try it before buying a larger square bale. Also, I wouldn't get all that excited about wasting part of a square bale. I doubt you will pay more than $10.00 for it anyway, but a horse owner is probably fine with selling you a half bale if that's all you need.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

Bale hay is what I use for my chins - I get it from a farmers co-op

 

[chechinchillas]

I got this info from Laurie at .com
"Any cutting of Timothy should be OK, but the feed analysis will vary from cutting to cutting, from farmer to farmer... It is the feed analysis, not the cutting, you should be concerned with. You can order a feed analysis on hay for around $20. Sometimes the farmer already has it and can give you a copy. You might make sure it has rained a few times since the hay was sprayed or fertilized. If there is an organic dairy near you, you might find out where they get their grass hay. The soil organic hay is grown in is better than the soil used to grow conventional hay...thus the organic hay itself is better.

You can also feed other grass hays...brome, prairie hay, orchard grass, oat hay, tifton, etc... it should run around $3-$5 for a 40#-50# bale.

 

[chinny]

How do you find out which cut of hay your chinchilla likes? I know to give it to them but if you got to a co-op and not a farmer would they still be able to tell you which cut they have available to know what your offering to the chin?

 

[jessican]

Seriously, I did this once and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I only have 1 chinchilla and no matter how much you give him, it takes a very long time to work through a small bale. We're talking a 40-50 pound bale. I kept it outside in the porch where the rain doesn't get to it. I stored it on a wood platform off the floor and would open the windows to let in air too.

Right now, it's been about 2 yrs. I've heard from several people (who are farmers themselves) about how long hay keeps (under the right conditions) and I'm not entirely sure what's right. But the stuff inside still looks green and mold-free.

It's definitely way more cheaper to buy from a farmer, but it's only good if you got a lot of chins or you can share with someone else. For example, I only paid $4.50 CDN for that 40-50 pound bale. Whereas in stores you could easily pay $7CDN for about 20 oz. Significant difference but well, I've take to buying Oxbow now. It's way more expensive but I won't find dead mice or snakes in there, I don't have to drive to boonytown to get it, and I don't need to worry about how long I'll take to finish the thing. Just my 2 cents.