Storing hay help

[Amy27]

So, I had a mouse in my house like 4 months ago. Today I go to get my oil changed and some rodent had eaten my air filter. I have a bale of hay in the garage and some in the house. I think it is attracting the rodents. I am not sure how to store it so it still is ventilated but not available to rodents. There is hardly anything in the garage so I know they have to be going after the hay.

I want to store it in a trash container with a tight lid but them I am worried it won't get ventilation. However, it will be in my garage so it won't get wet. Can I do that or will it make the hay go bad from moisture and no ventilation. I am not sure what to do here. I prefer not to put nouse traps out 1 because in the house the rabbits and cats have free range and I would feel horrible if they got in the mouse traps. Even having them in a closet would make me nervous. I could put them in the garage. But if I can remove the source of the rodents hanging around I would prefer to do that over killing them. The one that was in my house we didn't kill. We caught it and let it loose far away from my condo. I don't even live in the country. I live in a huge condo complex.

 

[aurora369]

I keep my hay in a deck bin. So far in the last three years I haven't had a problem with keeping by bale (sometimes I can even fit two smaller bales in it). No problems with mold or moisture even when stored outside.

You could give something like that a try. Or the garbage can would probably work, although you want to maintain the tightly compacted bale as much as possible while storing.

Here is a link to what I use:
http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/...bcatId=DeckBoxesPatioBenches&Prod_ID=rp091377

I have also seen some people use this too:
http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/...oor&SubcatId=HorizontalSheds&Prod_ID=RP091378

-Dawn

 

[kahlin]

We used to keep the hay in the house in storage bins....but we just don't have the space. My husband decided to put it in the shed, even though I 100% disagreed because of the potential to bring furry non-bunny critters inside when we were ready to bring it in.

Well, as it naturally happens in my marriage, I was right. And in came a chipmunk. Grr. So now we still keep it outside, but my husband has to go through it strand by strand before he brings it back inside.

 

[kahlin]

Oh, I realize I didn't offer you a solution...just voicing that yes, hay can attract non-bunny creatures.

 

[Maureen Las]

I use these butI have hay in the house ; it lets the hay breathe, however, I am uncertain as to whether a mouse could chew through them :?; they are super nice


http://www.tackwholesale.com/full-bale-p-325.html

 

[Amy27]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I might try what you posted Maureen. It is pretty cheap and looks really nice.

 

[snap]

Got a feed store near you that supplies barrels?

I keep timothy hay in it's bag, because it's from the pet store, but I keep my coastal in a metal barrel out at the barn and bring home when needed. I also just used to keep half a bale in a metal trash can for my sheep/goat last year. My barrel is owned by the school, but I know most people buy there's at the feed store for like $20-$30. And my trash can is like a 30 gallon and was $20, you can buy two for the whole bale.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I store our hay in Rubbermaid storage containers.