how long is hay good for?

[LongTimeLover]

I bought a 5lb bag back in February and feed my chin hay daily and the hay is still green and smells fresh but my chin has decided to stop eating it in the last day or so which makes me wonder if it's starting to go stale.

How long is hay usually good for? I've been keeping it in a garbage bag in a rubbermaid container for the last month or two.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Spoof]

've been keeping it in a garbage bag in a rubbermaid container for the last month or two.

That might make it moldy, would suggest tossing it and getting fresh.

Hay can last for years, I have two and three year old stuff here. It needs to be stored in an open air container (paper bags work) where it won't sweat.

 

[tunes]

Hay can be good for a long time, even years, when stored properly on a farm. It loses some of it's nutritional value over time, but horses will still gobble it down. I will say though, a plastic bag in a Rubbermaid container is not the best way to store hay. That's having two objects that contain moisture, and cause sweating, and putting them together. At the very least I would remove it from the bag and put it in the rubbermaid container, either leaving the top of or poking holes in the side of the container.

It may just be that your chin is bored with the hay. Mine seem to get hay overload if I offer hay every day and will stop munching for a few days. I usually throw in cubes during that time, then offer the hay again and they start eating it again. You can also try offering different types of hay, timothy, alfalfa, oat, grass. Sometimes mixing it up a bit will make them interested in it again.

 

[AZChins]

Sometimes it just gets so dried out that they don't like as much anymore, but I've had hay that has been perfectly fine for up to a year, maybe more.

 

[Essentia]

Same here. I've had hay for a year before and the chinnies liked it all the same.

 

[Sierra]

I keep my hay in a tote with the lid off. My girls seem to like the wild hay compared to the little small animal bags. They seem to eat more and I can't keep up with them. I used to be able to restock my hay every other day with cage cleaning but not anymore.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I keep mine in laundry hampers since they have the holes in the side, this way the hay can breathe and not sweat. To contain the mess of the hay falling through the holes, I have a trash bag spread around the bottom, like a Christmas tree skirt.

 

[AZChins]

If no one cares much about the aesthetics of it, a cardboard box with holes poked into it makes a great place to store hay. Then again, a tote with the lid off of it or a hamper is fine, too...just as long as it isn't sealed so that condensation can build up and mold it. It's easy for us here in the desert to keep it from molding, but for other people with actual humidity in the air it's a good idea to keep it inside in a place that is nice and dry. An air conditioned room will usually be good enough for that, definitely do not leave it in a hot garage or shed or a place without any ventilation - that could lead to moldy hay.

 

[Idgie]

I usually buy a fresh bale every fall, though I probably could keep it for much longer. (For only $6 for the year, I figure that I may as well get new stuff.) I took a big garbage container on wheels and drilled 1" holes in it. That way it can breathe, it is easy to get the hay out, and I can move it if I need to.