Hay ! I'm making a mess.

[Jenn]

Hay there and here and there and here. I just have hay everywhere. I did a search on all threads with the word hay in it and couldn't find help. (I gave up after page 7, and you know the help was probably on page 8) I did find some fun older posts, but I digress. HAY ! I need a better hay solution, or a hay solution period. I don't mind it as much when the chins knock the hay from their cage but I am more annoyed with myself when I am pulling hay out of the container to put in the cage I make a big mess.

Any advice on hay storage, or getting hay to the cage with less mess?

Thanks !

[Crazy Chin Lady]

I don't think this would be much help, but my husband and I have a Rubbermaid container that we keep the food in and another one for hay. We stick the dish in the container, fill it with hay and hope that a lot of it doesn't get on the floor! Normally we're pretty good about keeping it in the dish transferring it to the cage.

[veggiegirl]

I'm afraid I can't be of much help either. I have a lot of hay around here for my rabbits and it does get scattered around! I've read that hay is supposed to be kept in an open conatainer that lets air circulate, so I open up whatever bag or box it came and then set in it a plastic bin where I keep a lot of the other rabbit supplies. I buy hay in small quantities so I'm able to store it like this. It doesn't really get messy until I give it to the rabbits and they throw it everywhere! I've just accepted that I have to clean the area (and the whole room) every day with my little broom and dustpan. Hope someone on here has a better method to share with you!

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I keep hay in a rubbermaid bin with holes drilled in it for ventilation and air circlulation...what I do is drag the bin to each cage, fill the bowls in the bin and when I put the bowls in the cages, I have the bin right under it to catch any stray hay that might try to escape...This does NOT keep hay off the floor, but it does minimize it some

[Rocheal]

We have the same problem with hay everywhere when we try to give hay to the chins! I have no solution for that.... Although we make hay boxes for less mess once you give the hay to the chins!!

[DirtySouthChins]

We do the same, we keep hay in a rubbermaid container and have it close by the cage when filling their hay basket up. We have homemade hay cubes made from galvanized wire (they are really easy to make) this helps minimize the hay scatter inside the cage as well.
I think it's just something we all deal with

[Jenn]

drat ! I was hoping for a magic solution. I do like the rubbermaid container idea, I'll give it a go, my hay is in bags and I have heard before it's better to store it open to the air ( I just leave the bag open) but dragging it cage to cage and pulling out handfuls, I'm so messy ! lol It's enough to clean up after the chins. It isn't that is is hard to clean up but like you say it's a twice a day ordeal. I get as much off the floor as I can with my little dustpan and hand broom, pick up what I can, and vacuum.

I put those hammock things in my cages and surprise non of my chins really cares for that, but they have been making handy hay holders.

I was out at the Costco here ( a big wholesale shopping warehouse) and saw a big shop vacuum. It got me to thinking I want one. Not the one they had there it had more features than I think I want. I just want a good sucker with a big bucket. Currently I am using my Kenmore Canister and as it is my house vacuum I imagine as much chin room vacuuming as I do and what I vacuum up in there I can justify needing a special vacuum for the chin room. I am thinking a little dustbuster would be handy too.

Just trying to streamline some processes here, I want to be able to expand my chin herd but I better get more efficient! I also found some cool slide in place wooden flooring that's got me thinking too. All of my cages are on wheels and going across carpet is doable but a smooth surface would be easier. Of course my chin room is one of two room carpeted in the house, the rest of the house is hardwoods but non of my other rooms are really suitable for my babies, it's karma probably I really should have behaved more in my early twenties. OK now I need to find the website that sells the money tree seeds, anyone remember which one it was?

Thanks for the hay ideas.

[Denise]

Jenn, I bought huge cardboard boxes that are used for storage (sweaters, blankets, etc.) and keep all my hay in there. I have two of them and cut holes on the top of the cover and put them in my closet. When I am ready to fill up the herb pots I use as food bowls, I simply put the herb pot in the cardboard box (because it is so big) and fill it up so I don't create a mess.