Why is molasses-free chopped hay so hard to get?!

[StinkyAcres]

I'm so frustrated. My 16-year-old sheep has a hard time chewing due to missing teeth and she gets laminitis if she eats too much feed with molasses in it. I've spent hours looking for molasses-free chopped timothy or timothy blend and they seem to either be out of stock or the prices are outrageous.

Anyone know where I easily could get molasses-free chopped forage or molasses-free hay stretcher? I may end up cutting up hay with scissors....

 

[Rock17]

There is a place where I live but they don’t ship and only have one shop in the uk. It is very expensive ($15 in American money per bail)

 

[StinkyAcres]

Cheapest I can get here (Vermont, US) is about $40 for 40lbs. The current chopped forage she is on now (has molasses in it) is $20 for 40lbs.

If I lived just a few hours away in the next state over I could get it cheaply and easily from a co-op...

 

[Rock17]

P.S. one bail weighs 15lb

 

[StinkyAcres]

P.S. one bail weighs 15lb

So it's about the same price, huh? Do you know if alfalfa/timothy cubes have longer fibers in them?

 

[Rock17]

So it's about the same price, huh? Do you know if alfalfa/timothy cubes have longer fibers in them?

Sometimes. Not always. Seems to depend on the bail

 

[StinkyAcres]

I found one alfalfa timothy blend cube that says "Long-stemmed fiber source" so it might work. I'll have to soak them for her to be able to eat them, but it might be the best option right now.

 

[Acre4Me]

I'm so frustrated. My 16-year-old sheep has a hard time chewing due to missing teeth and she gets laminitis if she eats too much feed with molasses in it. I've spent hours looking for molasses-free chopped timothy or timothy blend and they seem to either be out of stock or the prices are outrageous.

Anyone know where I easily could get molasses-free chopped forage or molasses-free hay stretcher? I may end up cutting up hay with scissors....

TSC sells compressed bales of Timothy and Timothy pellets, and Timothy orchard mix. Yes, pricier than a bale from a farmer, but not $40.

 

[StinkyAcres]

TSC sells compressed bales of Timothy and Timothy pellets, and Timothy orchard mix. Yes, pricier than a bale from a farmer, but not $40.

My sheep can't have regular hay because she can't chew it. And I'd prefer not to get pellets because she needs the longer stems. I think I'm going to try the cubes.

 

[cassie]

Can you get hay cubes? I used to know someone who soaked them and then fed them to her goats.