What people feed, and what they say about it

“Weaned lambs need to keep growing through their first winter and cheap hay is a false economy at that stage. The brome has kept the weight on them without creeper feed, which I did not expect.”

“We resell about two hundred ton a year. Pricing is transparent, the pallets arrive strapped properly, and I have never had to argue about a damaged load. That is the entire basis of a wholesale relationship.”

“Running a 40-stall boarding barn means I am buying hay the way other people buy fuel. Having the protein and moisture published up front means I can set my feed charges honestly and not get caught out mid-winter.”

“Third season ordering. In that time there has been one bad pallet, reported with photographs on a Tuesday and replaced by the Friday with no argument and no paperwork. That is why I am still here.”

“Hundred and ten pairs to carry through winter. The round bales hold together in the feeder instead of collapsing into a wet heap, and the waste is noticeably down on last year.”

“We go through a lot of forage and the consistency lot to lot is what keeps me here. Twelve deliveries this year and the analysis has barely moved half a point.”

“Ninety stables and three arenas. Contract tonnage locked in at a fixed rate last spring saved us roughly eleven percent against the open market by February. Worth doing.”

“Two hundred ewes. I buy on fibre and price, not romance, and the meadow mix does the job at a number I can live with.”

“We foster around sixty rabbits at any one time and hay is our single biggest cost. Buying the small squares and splitting them ourselves cut that bill by about a third.”

“First horse, and I had no idea what I was buying. I emailed asking a fairly stupid question about cuts and got a proper two-paragraph answer back the same day. Nobody tried to upsell me.”

“We sell grass-fed direct to customers who ask real questions about what the animals eat. Being able to show them an actual forage analysis instead of waving vaguely at a field has been worth more than I expected.”

“Straw for 3,000 laying hens on deep litter. Hollow stem, low dust, and it composts down properly afterwards. Ordered monthly since March.”

“My event horses were dropping weight through the autumn season no matter what hard feed I threw at them. Switched the forage base to the alfalfa and the condition came back in about five weeks without me adding a single scoop of grain.”

“Oat hay at the soft dough stage is hard to find done properly. Most of what I get offered has shattered and the grain is on the field. This had the heads still in it.”

“Miniature horses get fat looking at a field. The low-sugar teff in small squares means I can weigh out exactly what they get and nothing more.”

“Two cows, six sheep, a dozen hens and a very opinionated donkey. Being able to get a single mixed pallet rather than committing to a full load is the only reason this works for a place our size.”

“I stock it in my shop and it sells itself. Customers come back and ask for it by name, which has never happened with hay before.”

“I have bought timothy from four suppliers in six years and this is the first time the second cut has actually looked like second cut. Fine stem, leaf still on it, and green right through the middle of the bale rather than just on the outside.”

“I am four hours from the nearest town of any size and most suppliers quote me a freight price designed to make me go away. This lot actually delivered, on time, for what they said.”

“I breed and show Netherland Dwarfs and the 2 kg bundles are perfect. Hand-sorted actually means hand-sorted here — I have yet to pull a coarse stem out of one.”

“Reining horses are fussy and mine will leave anything stemmy. The brome goes down to the floor of the stall every night. That is the whole review.”

“Four guinea pigs, one of them asthmatic. The dust extraction is not marketing, you can smell the difference when you open the bag. His wheezing settled within a fortnight.”

“My mare foundered in 2023 and finding hay I trusted became the whole problem. The teff comes with an actual NSC number on the lot, not a shrug. My vet asked where I was getting it.”

“Equine hospital. Our inpatients are often colicking or post-surgical, so consistency of forage is a clinical matter, not a preference. We have had no reason to change supplier in two years.”

“Milk is made out of forage quality. We tested the alfalfa on arrival against the published figure and it came back within two tenths of a point. That is better than our last supplier managed in three years.”

“We take in horses that arrive at a body score of two and have to be brought back slowly. Clean, low-sugar forage is the entire programme and the teff has let us do it without colic in two years.”

“Pack llamas, worked hard in the summer and rested in winter. Easy to adjust between the meadow mix and the brome depending on the season without changing supplier.”

“Nobody else would give me paperwork on endophyte status. These people sent the lab result before I had even asked. With in-foal mares that is the only answer I will accept.”

“Sulcata tortoise, and the vet wanted high fibre and low protein. Works out cheaper than the pet shop pouches and there is no comparison on quality.”

“Donkeys need poor forage, which sounds easy until you try to buy it deliberately. The first-cut fescue is exactly the low-energy, high-fibre feed they are built for.”

“We feed everything from Przewalski's horses to giant tortoises and our nutritionist signs off on every forage lot. Being able to supply documentation without a three-week wait made the approval painless.”

“Ordered for our pony club camp with about nine days' notice and it arrived two days early, stacked on pallets and shrink-wrapped. Forty children, zero hay drama.”

“Forty-two dairy does. Alfalfa through lactation, grass hay when they are dry. The split works and I have stopped buying two different things from two different people.”

“Endurance horses live on forage and electrolytes. I want fibre, not sugar, and I want to know what I am feeding. Both boxes ticked, every lot.”

“Alpacas need low protein or they get fat and the fleece suffers. The first-cut grass hay sits right where my vet wants it and the histogram results this year were the best we have had.”

“Show steers get fussed over more than most children. Clean bright hay with no dust matters when you are clipping and hauling all summer.”

“My gelding is 29 and has four teeth that still work. The orchard grass is soft enough that he can actually manage it, and he finishes his pile now instead of leaving half of it in quids on the floor.”

“I buy the straw for mulch rather than bedding — two acres of market garden. Clean, weed-seed free and it has not introduced anything I then had to weed out. Four stars only because it is not cheap for mulch.”

“Angora goats and loose hay chaff are natural enemies. Feeding from a rack with this cut, I am picking far less vegetable matter out of the mohair at shearing.”

“Chinchillas are impossible. Mine rejected three brands before this one. Resealable bag keeps it fresh, which matters when one small animal takes two months to get through 2 kg.”

“Good value on the meadow mix for growing heifers that do not need anything rich. Delivery was straightforward and the driver knew how to get a flatbed up a farm track, which is rarer than it should be.”

“Honest hay at an honest price. Not the cheapest on the page but the meadow mix has no mould, no dust and no surprises, and that is what I am actually paying for.”

“Open to the public six days a week, which means the hay has to look good as well as feed well. Bright green bales in the racks genuinely do change how visitors see the place.”

“Our riders are children with disabilities and the ponies have to be calm and sound. Switching to a consistent grass hay took the week-to-week behaviour swings out of the herd almost immediately.”

“Second-cut anything is usually too rich for huacayas, so I appreciate that the listings are honest enough about protein for me to buy the right thing first time rather than guessing.”

“Took a star off because the first pallet turned up a day later than the window I was given. The hay itself was faultless and they called me before I called them, which counts for something.”

“Boer goats will waste anything they can pull out of a rack and tread on. Finer stem means less of it ends up as bedding, and over a winter that difference pays for the price gap.”

“Bought forty rounds in September for winter. Stacked them outside under tarp and opened the last one in March with no spoilage past the first two inches. That tells you it went up dry.”

“Four Welsh cobs in harness work. The orchard grass keeps them fit without the fizz I get off anything richer.”

“Lambing shed bedding is not glamorous but it is the difference between healthy lambs and a watery mouth outbreak. This straw is bright, hollow and properly dry.”