C'est un grand changement. Really big.
Unbelievably exciting for some– Delivery was next day. This was unexpected and frankly unnecessary (the frenzied need to have everything RIGHT NOW can't make life fun for those in the driver's seats), but it’s kind of hard to complain.
– It doesn't smell quite as nice as his usual meadow hay!
– Hallelujah, he eats most of it.
– Less cleanup. Hay infamously gets everywhere. Not so much anymore. Unlike the baled variety we've been getting, it doesn't come in big tangled tufts for him to grab and drag out of the tray. As he's more interested in it, he doesn't feel the need to spread it out on the floor to forage. All this time he's been picking out the good stuff. Now it's almost all good stuff. I don't even have to sweep up most nights.
– "Dust free" wasn't an empty promise. In fact it makes me feel guilty that he's been putting up with dust for so long. It's been absolutely dreadful lately.
– £35 for 15kg, so ouch, as that's normally what we'd pay for about a year's supply.* A small amount will be clawed back in savings on petrol due to fewer trips picking up bales then throwing most of them away at the tip...
Allowing for his weight [just under 2kg] in hay daily, with a heavy adjustment for pessimism, I originally estimated this
would last 6 weeks. However, judging by his rate of consumption so far, projections are now up to two and a half or even three months.
I don't remember quite how we landed on
haybox.club. You know what it's like, you look at the pics, see what other people are saying about them, consult your gut… I liked that they weren't cutesy, but they lost points for being a little mysterious. I guess it would be nice to see their farm or operation or whatever. "Exclusive to us, you can only buy this quality of hay directly from us" also wasn't a pitch which resonated. But you've got to choose something and get on with your life.
* Slightly nervous about apostrophes after my Dealbreakers poll, I sought the advice of an expert on r/grammar:
Linguists call this the genitive of measure. We typically think of the genitive as indicating possession: John's hat, the dog's bowl. But the genitive has many other semantic roles, and measure is one of them. You are essentially saying "such a supply as to last one year".
