Hay storage question

[JackRabbit]

I just received a large hay order (the farm where I order hay from is about out of 2nd timothy until Fall). We rarely use our living room so right now the boxes are stored in there. My house is two stories, built on a concrete slab and the living room is downstairs. We go straight from heat to a/c. It is pretty humid here!

My questions are about storing the hay, air flow, and humidity. The hay ships in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box (@ 20 lbs per box). As soon as the hay arrives I open the box, cut open the bag, uncover the top of the hay, and loosely close the top of the box to keep dust out. This works fine normally when the hay is used up over a month or so. This shipment if hay needs to last until October. Am I still OK storing in the same manner? Should I poke holes in the box/bag? Just completely remove the bag only? Leave the top of the boxes completely open and put something like cheesecloth over them to keep dust out? Do I need to run a dehumidifier in addition to the a/c or a fan? The humidity in the living room ranges from 45% to 60% because the kitchen and laundry room are somewhat nearby. All boxes are sitting on top of other cardboard boxes so the hay boxes are @ 12 inches off the floor.

Thanks!

[Sarita]

No, you don’t need to do all that – I have stored hay inside in a box or even plastic bag for months as long as you have controlled air, it’s really not a big deal.

In the past when I had lots of rabbits and needed lots of hay I just stored it in the box it came in – just took it out of the plastic. I kept it in the closet – there wasn’t really any a/c or heat in the actual closet though.

[BB Administrator]

Sorry — in super admin mode! (aka: computer boy)

Since you stated it gets pretty humid, and it’s the moisture you want to avoid getting trapped inside, then I think that poking a few holes throughout the plastic, or just transferring it to the cardboard box, like Sarita did with her larger hay supply, would be a good way to go.

Helloworld!!

[Deleted User]

Not that I’m talking to you anymore JR (team Tucker), just wanted to say ‘HI’ (lol!) and let you know that our humidity is super high here in Summer and I store Henry’s hay in the plastic bag it came in plus a box to hold in the mess in our family room which is also on a concrete floor and have never had a problem. But I will add, the amount I buy in any one go is a lot less than you, so I too would pierce holes all over the bag then store it back in the box if I ever was able to buy a larger amount. Hope this helps??? Cheers JR (still not talking to you – team Tucker!).

LOL!

[LongEaredLions]

You’ll be ok. I store my hay in trash cans with open tops for several months, and it does just fine.

[Author]

Messages