Storing large bales of hay?

[Bonsai]

Note: I wasn't sure where to stick this but since it pertained to rabbit food, why not here. Sorry if it is in the wrong place!

I'm picking up a bale of orchard grass in the morning for my rabbits and for whatever reason, the method of storage never dawned on me until now. This bale will be 50lb or so - so it is no "small" bale by any means.

Before, I had bales and they went bad quickly because I honestly had no idea what I was doing. This hay will be super fresh so I would very much like to keep it that way!

Is there any particular way that I could store it outside if I don't have a loft/shed?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Watermelons]

Wherever you store it, it must stay dry, and it must have ventilation.
Could store it under a deck or in a shed in a large Rubbermaid that has ventilation holes.
I don't know what weather where you are is like, but I know here even stored like that it risks getting musty if left too long. I store mine inside in the basement just wrapped in an old bedsheet.

 

[Zeroshero]

If you are getting your hay from a feed store ask if they carry bale bags
http://m.horse.com/item/tough-1-hay-bale-bag

 

[Azerane]

Agree that it must be kept dry and needs ventilation. I keep mine in several bags, they're called garden bags or tough bags and are like a woven plastic material. I then keep the bags raised off the ground with a couple of lengths of timber inside the shed. It's a cheap option that cost me about $6 for 3 bags.

 

[Bonsai]

We have very humid, very wet weather more often than not. For TN to not have humidity would be like it snowing for 5 weeks in Arizona. So yeah, I've found our weather is not very good for hay! One bale I had molded. It was really bad and it wasn't even an old bale!

The bale I am getting is from a local farmer who produces very good hay. This bale has been baled this past week and is very fresh and soft. He had already sold his small bales of timothy when I called, unfortunately.

I'll go by the local feed store and ask about bale bags! I do have a shed but it does not have very good ventilation because my grandpa and dad had no idea what they were doing when they built it... Could that be a problem? There's really nowhere I can put it that it will be dry AND have ventilation. I could keep it under the carport, under a table for shade, but would that work? It would be out in the open pretty much, which I know can be bad... I don't really have much option open to me and seeing as I can't afford to buy small boxes or bales at a time as they would be at least triple what I pay for this bale. I'm paying $7 for it so compare that to $20+ for a month supply. That's enough for a set of NIC for a bigger playpen! My dad was supposed to bring me a free bale from a friend of his, but I can't let Heidi go hay-less any longer... Waited for nearly a week. @_@; -end rant-

This particular farmer cuts me a deal sometimes - he has even given me custom order bales before since I told him it was for a rabbit lol. I rather like buying from farmers, though, as its local business and he's super nice.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I use a giant rubber maid bin. It fits most of the bale, with only a few flakes left out and that is mostly so it isn't packed too tight. I leave the top off. I do wash out the bin every few bales and make sure it is dry before putting a new bale in.
For day to day use, I have a smaller bin that holes a couple flakes and is easy to move around as needed.

If you have a few larger bins, use those. Keep the lid off and don't back them too tight. Cardboard boxes could be suitable as well, just make sure they can't get wet as the hay would get wet and mold.

 

[LionBunn]

I use the black industrial trash bags to split it up. It helps that so hay doesn't poke through. I let them open and store them in my basement which stays pretty dry. Thats worked well so far. I found a great hay farmer that cares about his hay. I lost my good hay person to bad weather so i had to look around. Before this person i bought a bale from a different farmer and it was garbage. I threw most of it out. I found my source on craigslist and saved his number. I get a 40-50 lb bale for 5.00. My bunns love it.

 

[Zeroshero]

I live in AZ so I have no experience dealing with humidity LOL. However, when our hay bales get wet/damp I usually upen them up so they can dry out. We have four horses though so the hay doesn't sit around long enough to mold. If it will be stored in a shed it will be fine if you have a pallet to keep it off the ground, I have seen small pallets that fit a bale but you may have to build one as they are not always easy to find. If you can get away wth not covering it or containing it somehow I believe it might last longer in the shed on a pallet.

 

[majorv]

We live where the humidity is almost always in the air and I'm able to keep my bale of hay in a large plastic patio bin that sits outside next to our lawn building. I have it on a piece of plywood that is sitting on top of bricks. It has small vent holes in the bin. Works great for me....

 

[Bonsai]

Thank you all for sharing your methods! Unfortunately, my grandpa kinda pulled a jerk move today and didn't take me to get the hay I wanted. Instead, he took me to get an $8 bag of "good" hay from the pet store. =/ I got the greenest package I could find but it is soooo dusty. I swear there's about 3in of dust at the bottom. I am so not thrilled right now...

Again, thank you guys for your methods! I'm going to definitely try a few of the ideas I saw when (if) I finally get my bale.