Vet/Emergency Funds

Hi everyone, happy Sunday! I'm writing to you today about having a Vet/Emergency fund for your little ones. This applies not only to guinea pigs, but any pet. It is always a good idea to have extra cash set aside so that, no matter the circumstance, you can give your friend the care he/she needs.

This is the first question you need to address when starting a vet fund: How much should I be saving up? The answer varies, depending on how old your animals are, how many you have, what kind are they [cavies or chow chows? rabbits or rhodesian ridgebacks?], and other questions. This is definitely something that you need to sit down and brainstorm on your own, but I will give you the guidelines I came up with way back before I adopted my bunnies.

An emergency could be a one-time visit, a couple hundred dollars and everything's fixed, or it could be a long drawn-out process. You really should plan for either. I recommend at least $500-700 per guinea pig, depending on your average vet bill/ER bill. To give you an example, the vet I see regularly is $45 per visit, but my emergency vet (Cornell) is nearly $200 for a fairly small emergency.

For rabbits, it's a good idea to have at least $700-900 on hand The reason that number is slightly higher is because folks are more likely to have 2+ guinea pigs, compared to one or two rabbits [not true for everyone, of course]. But if you have three guinea pigs, and one gets very sick, you have at least $1500 in care funds for it. Whereas, if you have one rabbit and it gets very sick, you only have $900 in care funds.

There is no set amount, no limit, to how much you should have saved, but the numbers I've given should cover you for basic emergencies. In five years keeping rabbits and guinea pigs I've only had to go to the ER vet once for Benner [Newman's brother] about a week before his death--he wasn't eating and his regular vet was on vacation--the only other emergencies I've had was Sophie-Mo and Olive's emergency spays [$240 each], and Newman's upper respiratory infection, which went downhill so fast after I noticed it that we couldn't get him to a vet in time.

It's best to have a vet fund before you adopt your friends, since almost no vet these days will accept a payment plan. [many do take Care Credit though, which is worth looking into if you have a lot of animals and no vet fund]. Some vets will work out a payment plan if you have a particularly hefty bill and you've been a client for a certain amount of time. My vet allows this for me, and I usually have my balance paid off within a month. I do this so that I don't have to take money out of our emergency fund if I don't need to.

It's also very important that you register with a vet before an emergency arises. Our emergency vet requires a $60 registration fee for each animal, so for my 9, that's $540. Do I have all of them registered? No. Three of my animals are registered there though, one of whom is still living; and the vet knows me from the House Rabbit Society. Some clinics, however, provide emergency care only to registered clients, whose animals have already had one routine check-up with them. Our regular vet clinic is one of these clinics, but our exotics vet doesn't do emergency care regularly, so we have to have a back-up.

The moral of the story being, have a vet fund and a vet before you need one.

I may add to this later, but for now I'm filing this in Cutting Back and HDYDI.

Fleece Bedding Breakdown.

This post, as the title suggests, is a breakdown of the ins and outs of fleece bedding. As a newbie I found the GPC Forum post to be wordy, long and a little confusing. So I have taken the main post, plus the more helpful of the replies, and boiled them down to this user-friendly post.

What is it?

Polar fleece is a 100% polyester fabric, made from recycled plastic bottles. It's super-soft, doesn't rip easily or fray, and once it has been "broken in" [by tossing it in the washing machine a couple of times] it wicks any liquid from the surface, which makes it ideal for small animals such as guinea pigs, ferrets and rats, who have bare feet and carry their bodies so low to the ground and thus are particularly vulnerable to urinary tract infections.

Where can I find it?

You can find polar fleece at Big Box-Marts, thrift stores [fleece throw blankets], fabric and crafting supply stores such as Jo-Ann Fabrics and Hancock Fabrics. Fabric supply stores and some Wal-Marts have many colors and patterns of polar fleece available for purchase by-the-year. All you need to do is let them know how much you need. Most bolts of polar fleece are 60" wide, so for, say, a 2x4 cage [28"x56"] you'd only need 1 yard [36"x60"]. Most places that offer by-the-yard cuts will also have fleece throws available, which come already cut and hemmed; I find these usually work perfectly for a 2x3 or 2x3.5-sized C&C cage, or a similarly sized cage. If possible, you should get anti-pill polar fleece, as it will last longer than just regular polar fleece. It's also best to get two sets of fleece and whatever you'll be using underneath it [towels, etc], for an easy cage cleaning.

How much is this going to cost?

That question is best answered here.

How do I get the fleece ready for pigs?

Make sure you have a good absorbent material to go underneath the fleece. Mattress pads, towels, puppy training pads and newspaper are all common choices. Fleece itself is not absorbent, it simply wicks liquid away from the surface. It needs somewhere to wick the liquid to. If you use fleece and fleece alone you'll be sorely disappointed.

Also make sure that you send your fleece through at least 2 wash cycles; 3 if you have a front-loading washer. In my experience, you do not need to use detergent, and you don't necessarily need to tumble-dry it between washings.

How do I set it up in my cage?

The best way to set up your cage so that your fleece doesn't become a mess is to set up a kitchen area and use a hay rack. Your pigs will do most of their "business" in this area, as an added perk.

As far as putting down the fleece, first layer your towels 3-4 layers thick, or use 2-3 layers of mattress pads. Place your fleece over the top of the towels/pads, and tuck the fleece under the towels [you'll want to leave about 4"-6" on either side of your fleece blanket]. If you find that your pigs are burrowing under the fleece you can use bricks or binder clips to secure the perimeter fleece.

This all sounds like a lot of work.

It doesn't have to be. Cute and stylish cage liners are available online in a number of places.

I make customized cage liner pads, available here. And so do a few other folks, here, here, and here.

How do I clean/care for it?

For regular upkeep you'll want to sweep or vacuum your fleece. Every 4-7 days you'll need to thoroughly sweep/vacuum/shake out the fleece and throw the fleece and towels in the washing machine. Never use fabric softener. Line or tumble dry. I prefer line drying, as the fleece always seems to smell fresher. How often you'll need to wash your fleece depends on your cage size, number of pigs, their age, and etc. For more cleaning tips, go here.

Did I miss anything? Please comment with questions/concerns/praise.

Cutting Back: Episode 5: Hay part II

This is a follow-up to my first Cutting Back post. I have some additional information to share with you all.

Buying hay locally

I have found a few more websites that connect you with hay sellers in your area:

Internet Hay Exchange has listings in all 50 states and allows you to post wanted ads if you can't find what you're looking for in the sellers' advertisements, plus a hay price calculator and other neat stuff.

The Hay Barn, though most of its listings are here in America, is an international website that works basically the same way as the Internet Hay Exchange, allowing sellers and buyers to post ads and search by state. Personally I think it's easier to navigate, even though it has fewer listings.

Lastly, the Texas Department of Agriculture has a Hay Hotline on their site, which lists hay for sale in not only Texas, but many other states. It is worth a try if you are really having trouble finding hay in your area. It allows you to search by type and quality of hay, and you can narrow it down to organic/not organic as well.

Farm Fodder is a site for Australian farmers, with several listings for hay.

Storing hay

If you are having trouble wondering how you're going to store an entire bale of hay [usually around 40"x24"x24", 40-50lbs] in your house or apartment, I have some more ideas for you.

This website and this one sells hay bags which, though costly, are easy to tote and contain a lot of mess. The first website also sells half hay bale bags, among other things.

You can also share a bale of hay with a friend. You can use a chainsaw to chop a bale of hay in half, or you can remove the bailing twine/wire and break it up into flakes--a bale usually consists of 8-10+ flakes, depending on how your hay was baled.

I didn't mention this in my first post, but garages are a great place to store hay, so long as there isn't a lot of direct sunlight or any leaks, you can put a pallet down [often free at places like feed stores or home improvement stores, even from local barns] and put up hay like you would in a barn. I plan to do this for the coming winter, since I just renewed my lease and my roommate suckered our landlady into giving us the garage she was renting out separately.

photo credit

If you have any tips to share, please post them here!

Cutting Back, Episode 4: Bedding

After more procrastination than I care to think about, I present to you the fourth installment of Cutting Back. This post is mostly about the joy and wonders of fleece bedding, but I also have some tips for those of you who prefer not to handle poop on a daily basis.

Fleece Bedding

I'm not sure who ever discovered that Polar Fleece is perfect for guinea pig bedding, but I want to publicly congratulate him or her. Many of us--be we environmentalists, penny pinchers or just avid pigpen-interior decorators--are eternally grateful. Fleece bedding reduces our impact on the environment because it is made from recycled plastic bottles and we get years of use out of it--keeping tons of single-use disposable bedding off of transport trucks and out of landfills. It is an initial investment [depending on your cage size it could be anywhere from $20 and up] but it will pay for itself within a month or two.

Acquiring polar fleece

You can get polar fleece from a number of places.

Most people get it new from a fabric supply store, They usually have it for $8-$13 per yard [36"x60"]. For this post we will assume the fleece was $11 per yard. Once you've gotten a sifficient amount of polar fleece, it is important to wash it 3-4 times on a "heavy duty" cycle in your washing machine with detergent, but NO fabric softener. Most fabric softeners hinder the fleece's ability to wick moisture from the surface. And they are usually unnecessary. You do not need to hem your fleece, it will not fray.

I prefer to get mine from thrift stores. A normally-sized fleece throw will fit a 2x3 or a 2x3.5 C&C cage quite nicely. My boys Milo and Winston share a 2x3 currently, and this is what I use for them. Fleece throws at my local Salvation Army usually cost $2.49. They also have the added advantage of already being somewhat worn-out, which is important if you want the fleece to wick away your pigs' urine and keep them nice and dry. This way you only have to wash them once as opposed to 3-4 times.

A very important note about acquiring fleece secondhand: PLEASE be sure to wash ANY fleece, towels, or other fabric products you get from a thrift shop before giving it to your cavies. My entire herd is recovering from a lice infestation because I recently put them on wool blankets that had lice living in them unknowingly, without carefully washing and line-drying them as I usually do beforehand.

Just as you would quarantine a new guinea pig before putting it with your existing herd, Quarantine anything you get secondhand before exposing it to your cavies. I usually wash all my pigs' bedding with Arm&Hammer powder detergent, a squick of non-chlorine bleach and very very hot water. I then tumble dry them and hang them on the clothesline to bleach in the sun. Skipping this important process just once landed my poor cavies in a world of yuck and I do not wish the same on your dear beloved pets.

What goes underneath?

In order for this method to work, you absolutely must have something underneath the fleece. Otherwise, the results will be just as disgusting for you to clean as it is for your guinea pigs to live in.

Many people, myself included, prefer to put towels underneath the fleece. I acquire my towels from a thrift store as well, using the same sterilizing method as described above. I usually put 3

layers of towel under the fleece; a normally-sized towel folded in thirds fits almost perfectly in a 1x2 grid space which makes it easy to calculate how many you need. Towels at my local thrift store usually go for $1.99 apiece.

The average price I found for a new towel [I compared Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Wal*Mart, K-Mart and Big Lots] was about $3.50 per towel.

You can also use Mattress Pads, at around $6.00 per pad. I wouldn't use less than two layers. One Mattress Pad fits perfectly into a 2x4 C&C cage.

If you so choose, you can use Newsprint under your fleece. Though it is not ideal, if you are a subscriber or if you get it free from your workplace, it is the cheapest option. For this post we will consider it $free.

Some people use Puppy Training Pads, but not only do these create unnecessary waste that will never disappear, but if your cavy ingests a significant amount of this soft plastic material, it can cause intestinal blockage and in severe cases, death. I don't recommend using Puppy Pads under your fleece because of this and also, they are not very absorbent.

Expense analysis:

For this post we will assume you have a 2x4 C&C cage, since this is the most common size. I would be happy to fudge with the number if you'd like to know what the cost would be for your particular cage, please just comment below. We are also assuming that you have two sets of fleece and towels in this post.

+Fleece and towels acquired used: $21.00

+Fleece and towels acquired new: $50.00

+Fleece [new] and newsprint: $22.00

+Fleece [new] and mattress pads: $45.00

Compared to the old way(s)...

Again, assuming you have a 2x4 C&C and change the bedding weekly.

+Yesterday's News: $315.00 per year

+Equine Pine: $126.00 per year

+Woodstove Pellets: $84.00 per year

+Aspen Shavings: $273.00 per year

+Carefresh: $613.00 per year

Kitchen Areas

Kitchen Areas are a wonderful addition to the fleece-bedded cage. For those of you who don't use a hay rack, they're a great place for your pigs to play in the hay without making a big mess all over your fleece. They're called Kitchen Areas because that's

where all the food is! The hay, pellets, and salads are served there.. why? Because guinea pigs are furry poop tubes. When something goes in one end, something is pushed out the back end. Rabbits are the same way, but they can jump higher than cavies can.

My kitchen area for my girls' main cage--a 2x9 C&C--is 28"x21", or 2x1.5 grids. It is simply a box I made from leftover coroplast. When I want to clean it I remove the entire thing, dump its contents in my compost heap or garden or around the lilac bush, scrub it down with vinegar and water and fill it with disposable bedding.

Many people use their old pet store cages or lofts as kitchen areas, which work quite well. Beware that if you use either of these options, it is not considered part of the overall square footage of the cage, which is why when it comes to cavy cages, bigger is always better.

Here is a short assessment of disposable beddings that can be used alone or in combination with one another for the kitchen area or the entire cage..

Disposable Beddings

+ Mulch hay: $Free-$2/bale

Mulch hay makes an especially great top layer for your cage or kitchen. It is simply old, leftover hay that is completely brown and has no nutritional content. If your pigs eat it, it will not harm them. Make absolutely sure that the mulch hay you are getting is not at all moldy. If you find a moldy part of your hay bale, remove it and much of the hay surrounding it and do no give it to your guinea pigs.

You can go about finding mulch hay the same way you would go about finding hay by the bale.

+ Pelleted Beddings: $4-20/40lb. bag

Pelleted beddings make a great bottom layer for your cage or kitchen. They are not as hard on a guinea pig's foot as they appear. Pelleted beddings are very absorbent and expand when they come into contact with liquid. They do not stick to the bottom of your pigs' litterbox, which is a problem with most other beddings.

[In order from least to most expensive:]

Wood Stove Pellets, Equine Pine, Feline Pine, and Yesterday's News are some of the most popularly-used pelleted beddings. Make sure that if you use wood stove pellets, you're using a pellet without any propellent.

+ Shavings: $10-$15/4 cu. ft

The only shavings that should be used for your guinea pigs are Aspen or

kiln-dried pine. These are free of the aromatic oils that can cause infections. Shavings are soft on the feet but not terribly absorbent. They are best used as a top layer paired with a pelleted bedding.

+ CareFresh: $18-$24/60L

CareFresh is some of the greatest bedding out there. It is lightweight and soft yet very absorbent. It's quick to decompose and is the perfect addition to vermicompost. It is quite expensive, but when I feel like a splurge, I go straight for the CareFresh.

Cutting Back, Episode 3: Veggies

Hello all, I'm back from the North Country! And man, I had such a blast and learned SO much. If you want to see photos from the trip, they are here on my Flickr page.

So this episode of Cutting Back is all about veggies. And I'll be honest, a lot of this is common sense stuff that many of us don't really think about. I've been back from the North Country for a week and a half now, and I've been working on this post for a while trying to compile all of the little stuff.

It seems obvious, but that isn't alway the case..

Know your veggies. It is definitely important to know your veggies. Too much of something, like spinach, kale or silverbeet [swiss chard] can be bad for guinea pigs. If you don't memorize well, I recommend you print out Ly's Nutrition Charts from Guineapigcages.com and keep them in your purse/wallet or bring them to the grocery store. In a nutshell, your pig's menu should be lettuce-based, with a good variety of leafy greens each week. My guinea pigs usually get 1-2 kinds of lettuce, one dark leafy green and one or two kinds of herbs each week. I know my veggies very well because I have been doing this for a long time. Practice makes perfect.

Stick to your budget! I spend between $19-$21 each week on greens for my 7 cavies and two rabbits. More than that, and I know I've simply bought too much. Less, and I know I'll be back to the grocery store later in the week. Make a budget, and stick to it. This goes a long way with helping you to cut back on your expenses.

Prep your veggies ahead of time. Many of you are familiar with my post on prepping salads. If you need to cut down on the time that that prep takes, you can cut out the washing/spinning step, which takes the longest and can be done at the time that the salad is served. I do this when I have a busy weekend and don't have two hours to devote to making 10 boxes of salads.

Prepping your salads in advance allows you to portion out your greens so that you're giving your pigs the amount that they need, and you're not using too much and running out early, messing up both your budget and your weekly routine.

Grow your own. I'm not suggesting you go all-out and flood your balcony with 21 heads of lettuce, 3 tomato plants, 2 bell pepper vines and a 2 window boxes full of spinach. Though it you want to, by all means. The more you grow, the more you'll save. I grow about 1/3 of the greens that my cavies eat in the summer time. If you have space on your steps, your porch, your balcony or, if you're lucky enough, some backyard, I encourage you to get your hands dirty and grow some food for your pigs.

Get it locally/in bulk. Things like carrot and celery greens are something that most farmers remove before selling their product. Contact a local farmer and ask them for these perfectly nutritious, delicious greens. I also recommend shopping at the farmer's market when greens are in season. The prices there are much better and the money you spend goes back into your community.

If you have a lot a lot a lot of green-munchers, you can buy a box [about 20-25lbs] of greens from the grocery store for around $20. I know many fosterers who do this. Just be sure you can keep the greens cool. They won't last longer than 7-10 days at the very most.

Storing veggies

I have a lot of green-munching mammals in the house, and I am lucky enough to have two refrigerators. But it has not always been this way. There are many ways to store your veggies.

Coolers. While I was boarding my animals over this past summer/fall, I kept a large cooler in their room so that I could keep their food as close to them as possible. The downside was that, especially in the summer, I had to change the ice at least once a day.

An old chest freezer/fridge. I am a big fan of repurposing old chest freezers and refrigerators. These are very hard to 'recycle' and often they're doomed to hundreds of years in a landfill until Wall-E discovers a plant in a shoe inside one of them. You can use them just like coolers, except you have much more room! If you buy your greens in bulk this is the way to go.

Your ventilator drawer. If your house isn't overflowing with guinea pigs, you can just use the ventilator drawer of your fridge. Really, anywhere that is between 40-55F will do. Many people just keep greens in their basement.

How Do You Do It?! Episode 1: salads.

I can't count the number of times I've had this exact conversation: "How many guinea pigs do you have?" "Two. What about you?" "Seven." "SEVEN?! How do you do it?!"

In honor of that ever-present question, I'd like to introduce y'all to a new series called How Do You Do It?! [fear not, penny pinchers, I still have plenty of money-saving tips to share with you.]

Episode 1: Preparing Salads.

With all of the salad-eating critters in this house (currently there are ten!), the sheer idea of preparing a fresh salad every morning and evening is exhausting. I prepare all of my salads for the week in one fell swoop for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it saves a boatload of time. It also allows me to budget better, since I can portion everything out in advance for the week, and I'm never stuck making that late-night run to the supermarket because we ran out of parsley. I always know days in advance just exactly when the food supply will run out. I like to mark this day on the big office desk calendar on the side of our main refrigerator.

So here, just for you, is a set of step-by-step instructions on how I prepare my salads for the week.

Step 1: Assemble your containers.

To store my salads for the week, I use big plastic containers that once held salad mixes. In Upstate NY, these containers are not recyclable, because they are stackable. But, so long as you are not using them to store a cold liquid or anything hot, they make wonderful storage containers. I use them for everything, from dishwasher detergent to Bunny Chow. One of these big containers holds about 8-10 cups of packed greens. So it is perfect for my 7 guinea pigs. I give them half of a container in the morning, and

half at night. You can also use tupperware containers, ziploc bags or any container you'd like, really.

I keep all of these containers in our spare refrigerator, which also stores our local meat [frozen], big meals, and other non-everyday stuff. Putting a piece of paper towel or a washrag in the bottom of the container helps to keep your salads dry while they are being stored.

Other essentials: A cutting board, a salad spinner [your salads will not keep if they are soaking wet], additional containers, sunglasses.

Optional: a bucket for your scraps--for compost!

Step 2: Cleaning Your Meals-to-be.

Give your veggies/greens a rough chop and throw them in the strainer part of the salad spinner. Spray them with a mixture of 1 part distilled white vinegar and 1 part water. This is especially important if you are not using organic vegetables. Pesticide poisoning is real and it has claimed too many lives. Rinse thoroughly with cold tap water. Shake out as much water as you can. Spin them through the salad spinner and, when they are as dry as can be, set them aside

in one of your extra containers.

Repeat this for all of the veggies and greens in your salad.

And don't forget to chop up your worm food nice and small for those tiny mouths!

Step 3: Distribute.

You can do this one of two ways:

If you are planning to use one container per day, you can lasagna-layer your greens.

If you plan to use one container for a few days in a row, you can toss the salad to ensure that everybody gets a bit of everything.

Here I have shown the lasagna-layering in action, as it is the method that I use.

Close up your containers and stash them in the fridge.

Step 4: Treat yourself.

Congratulations! You've just saved yourself some pretty valuable time by preparing all of your salads for the week all at once! Don't forget to mark your calendar, and help yourself to some of these cherries that I bought mostly for the guinea pigs. Mostly.

A word about local and organic.

As a future farmer, I am very passionate about choosing foods that were grown or raised sustainably by farmers I know--locals. More and more people are choosing local and/or organic foods to boost their health; why not for your pets? Your guinea pigs should be getting most of their nutrients from their fresh foods, as these are much easier for their little bodies to absorb. Local and organic foods are richer in antioxidants and their vitamin/mineral contents are higher than those of conventionally-grown veggies.

Keep in mind that even though many small-time family farmers may not be USDA certified, they likely follow a similar--sometimes a much more strict--set of guidelines for their farming practices. Most family farmers know that it's best to work with nature, not in spite of it.

Cutting Back, episode 2: pellets.

Pellets, like hay, are very costly to ship. In this post I am going to compare the three highest-quality pellet-makers for guinea pigs: KM's Hayloft, Sweet Meadow Farm, and Oxbow Hay Company. Since Oxbow no longer sells directly from their site, I am also comparing the top three sites they sell from, Leith Petwerks, PetFoodDirect and Dr. Fosters and Smith. Here we go.

Storing bulk pellets

50lbs of pellets showing up at your doorstep can be a little intimidating. But storing it is easier than you may think. First, calculate how much you will need in the next three months. I have found that my 7 guinea pigs [fed 1/8 cup each per day] go through 5lbs every 19 days. So they would need about 24-25lbs. Store these pellets separately from the remaining pellets.

Take your remaining pellets and clear some freezer space for them. We have an extra fridge/freezer. Put them in a plastic bag and let them shiver in the freezer for the next few months. This is so that the vitamins and minerals in the pellets don't break down.

As for the pellets you're going to use in the next three months, you have many options. You can use a plastic bag, a metal "trash can", a plastic storage bin, or any combination you wish, as long as the pellets are kept in an airtight container out of direct sunlight so they don't go stale or lose their vitamin C content.

Moving on to the exciting part.

Keep in mind that many of these sites offer sizes other than 50lbs, but not all do, so I used the one bulk size that all of them offer.

Also keep in mind that the estimated shipping is using the respective websites' shipping calculators, using my Syracuse, NY address. Their locations are noted so you can find the provider nearest you.

Expense Overview.

+KM's Pellets: 50lbs+shipping = $105.28

KM's Hayloft ships from Washington State.

+Sweet Meadow's Pellets: 50lbs+shipping = $42.43

Sweet Meadow ships from Massachusetts.

+Leith Petwerks [Oxbow Pellets]: 50lbs+shipping = $98.54

Leith Petwerks Ships from Oregon.

+PetFoodDirect [Oxbow Pellets]: 50lbs+shipping = $84.28

***location to be added.

+Dr. Fosters and Smith [Oxbow Pellets]: 50lbs+shipping = $80.98

Dr. Fosters and Smith ships from Wisconsin.

And lastly, comparing to the old way...

50lbs of pellets at PetsMart or my local vet = $140 + tax.

Cutting Back, episode 1: hay.

The first post! Oooh what fun.

This blog is intended to be informative, helpful and fun. I thought I'd start with the basics.

Having leased a house and then almost immediately lost

my job back in late November and eaten up almost all of my savings in the past couple of months, I was recently forced to cut way back on my expenses. I'm sure the story is similar for many pig owners across the country. Here's what I'm doing.

#1 expense: Hay.

Yes, yes. I admit it. I didn't even bother ordering it online. I bought it in those 48-96oz. plastic bags at the pet store. It cost me a fortune. To those of you who think you're getting a great deal paying $60 for 25lbs. of hay, I say, GO LOCAL!

Get your hay from a feed mill or a local farmer. It took me less than half an hour to find decent hay around here. $4 for 40lbs. of it. The guy I got it from even offered to deliver it since he works right near my house. So in three or four months when I run out all I have to do is haul it from his truckbed to my basement.

How to find local hay by the bale:

My first and best suggestion is Craigslist. Some sections of Craigslist are sketchy and should be avoided, but the farm+garden section is not one of them. do a search for 'hay' and you will most likely be overloaded with ads. You can narrow it down based on what quality of hay you want. If your pigs are picky, search for 'horse hay' or '2nd cutting hay'. depending on how good the season was, some places may have 3rd cutting, but it's not something I've found in the past few years.

My second suggestion is to try your local feed mill. They likely have hay by the bale, and while this is sometimes not the best stuff, the same terms apply. Ask for horse hay, or 2nd cutting, or be straightforward and tell them "I want the greenest bale of hay in your loft"

How to store a bale:

There are many solutions to the storage-space pickle that 40lbs of hay puts you in. The way I do it is I got a cardboard box from Sears, zip-tied that together, cut a hole in the [broadside] top and throw it in the basement.

Our basement is leak-free and has a dehumidifier. This is by far the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

You can also use several plastic storage bins, though this can be messy and is typically more space-consuming, some people find it easier because they can keep one of the the bins in their pigs' room/near their enclosure and just swap them out.

if you want something sturdier or more waterproof/raised up/prettier than these options, you can use a found object. I know someone who found an old chest with two doors that opened at the front. She removed the legs and repositioned them so that the doors opened upwards, not outwards. I also know that when my mother gets rid of her old clawfoot tub, that's going straight into my basement to store my hay in style.

You can store hay any way you want, really, so long as it's not in a moist environment and so long as its out of direct sunlight, all will be well.

Expense Overview.

I have seven guinea pigs, which go through a bale [40lbs] about every 3 months. That's 4 bales a year, at a cost of $5/bale [the extra dollar is for delivery], =$20 per year.

If I were to order through KMs Hayloft, I would need 160lbs per year, which would end up being approx. $240.52 per year.

And If I were to order through SweetMeadow, it would run me around $173 per year.