Any ideas on hay storage for the allergy sufferer?

[aurora369]

I'm looking for ideas on how to store my large amounts of hay in such a way that it will reduce my boyfriends allergies.

He's absolutly miserable with all the hay in my living room, so we gottalking on how we could store it in a way to reduce his allergies.

As I can't store it ouside at the moment, it's my landlords backyard,we've got to think of something inside. We where thinking ofthose vacuum seal bags.

If I could get a bunch of really big vacuum bags, and seal the majority of the hay away, I think that would work.

Does anyone know if being vacuum sealed will ruin hay? Or does anyone else have any ideas?

Thanks,
--Dawn

 

[SOOOSKA]

Can you use the big Rubbermaid containers. I've seen huge ones at Walmart that are quite cheap.

Soooska:apollo:

 

[aurora369]

I've already got my hay in rubber maid bins. It still bothers his allergies.

His allergies are so bad that 1st cut timothy makes him break out inhives if he touches it. When he was a child, his mom couldn'tput him on the grass to play because he'd break out in hives.He's absolutly miserable, and I hate seeing him suffer likethat. He's constantly sneezing, and his nose won't stoprunning, and the allergy medicines aren't doing anything!

He's going to talk to his doctor about getting allergy shots, butthat's a long term solution that takes up to 6 months to work, andisn't garunteed to work.

So I need a interm solution, and I was thinking vacuum sealing the haywould help get rid of a large amount of allergins. I justhope it doesn't ruin the hay...

--Dawn

 

[SOOOSKA]

Dawn,

I have really bad allergies and asthma as a matter of fact.My doctor prescribed Reactine 20 mgm, which if you have a drug plan iscovered. I use to have a drug plan before I was laid off, they areexpensive but they do work. It's worth a try.

Soooska

 

[aurora369]

He's tried all the over the counter products,the only one that has done anything is the Allegra-D, but's not workingvery well anymore. He's also hestitant about taking ananti-histamine that is too strong as he worries about the long termaffects.

I'm sure we'll find a solution that will work, we'll just have to try a few things.

--Dawn

 

[missyscove]

I don't know about vacum-seal bags, though they do have those zip loc big bags, you might try that.

 

[aurora369]

I think those where the kind I was thinking of.

You put your stuff in one end, zip it up and attache your vacuum to avalve at the other end. It sucks all the air out, and it'smoisture proof.

I just don't know if the hay will be okay in the bags...

--Dawn

 

[missyscove]

http://www.ziploc.com/?p=b8

these are what I was talking about.



Thesehttps://www.spacebag.com/spacebag/901715/arewhat you're talking about. I don't know if the vacum partwould affect the hay.

 

[aurora369]

The only problem with ziplock bags, is I have an entire bale! That's alot of zippy bags...

Maybe I could just shove it all in those big plastic garbage bags andtie the ends off. But I know hay is supposed to haveventilation, so I don't know if that would make it go bad.

--Dawn

 

[missyscove]

that's why I was recommending the "big bags" they're like 2 feet wide or something, lol.

 

[aurora369]

Really? That big?

Do you know where I could get them that big? I've only ever seen the ones at the grocery store.

Wow, I didn't realize that they came that big. I'm going to look for some.

Thanks for pointing them out!

--Dawn

 

[missyscove]

I think they have them at Target, do you have target?

 

[aurora369]

I don't think we do.

I e-mailed them and asked if there was anyone local that would sell them.

Other wise, I may be able to get my boyfriends mom to pick some up next time she goes to the states (she goes quite frequently).

Thanks for the tip Missyscove!

--Dawn

 

[SugarGlider]

Hay needs to have ventilation andbreath. I'd suggest getting rid of the bale and buyingsmaller bags from wal mart or something to lesson the problem.

 

[aurora369]

I've been scouring the interenet is hopes of coming across the magical answer.

From most of my readings, the reason you are supposed to provide airflow for hay is to control the moisture. Hay that becomesmoist will mold and lose nutrients.

I think as long as the hay is dry, vacuum sealing it should not makethe hay go bad, as once the hay is sealed, no moisture can get in.

Most information I could find was about storing large amounts of hay,for stables or farmers. Because they store such large amountsof hay, the only way to prevent moisture build up is to provide airflow.

But I think that for small amounts of hay, different avenues of storage could be explored.

Ideally, I would build a hay shed in the back yard or on a patio andkeep a small bin inside, but as I do not have access to either a backyard or patio, I have to store it all inside.

I think alot of the problem is that the lids on my bins are not able to close all the way, as I have too much hay in the bins.

So I think what I'm going to do is vacuum seal all the hay inthe large bin in sections of 2-3 flakes per bag, just using plasticbags and a vacuum cleaner then tie off the bags.

In the end, doing this and having the hay spoil is still cheaper thanbuying small bags of lesser quantity hay from petstores.

If this experiment doesn't work, I'll have to just buy in smaller quantities.

Wish me luck, and I'll let every one know how this goes, and how the hay fairs.

--Dawn