Hay soaking - revolutionised

[Tizer]

Like many people I have struggled with soaking hay nets through the winter, tried steaming but it was just as messy.

Always got soaking wet when hauling it out of the bath etc.

Well this year I was determined to find a solution............

(wish I knew how to do pictures)

.... 1. Take a wheely bin

2. Remove lid but leave handle

3. Cut the front of the bin off to about 24 inches slope the sides to
meet the back at an angle

4. Fix a tap at the front (cost £3.49)

VOILA one hay soaker with handle and tap.

I actually drain the hay and then wheel it into the stable and my boy is happy to eat his hay out of the bin.


Jobs a good un !!

[Iron Maiden]

I've learned a trick off another NR, fill a bin with hay, pour over a full kettle of boiling water, stick the bin lid on immediately, leave overnight & as if by magic, dust-free hay. I can't believe it's as good as soaking but my horse has stopped coughing & you don't have those icy yard/what to do with the soaking water when the drains are frozen? nightmares.

[artemis]

I have an easier method than that. I have a plastc wheelbarrow with a removable plug. that makes soaking a doddle. Useless as a wheelbarrow though. I think it was intended for gardners - it has two wheels.

[XxXAmeyXxX]

Good thinking only problem i see with that is
a) the funy looks you could recieve from people seeing your horse with his head shoved in a bin:p
b) Your horse become very excited about seeing bins whilst out and about thinking its !!!FOOD TIME!!!!

[Ptaty70]

I've learned a trick off another NR, fill a bin with hay, pour over a full kettle of boiling water, stick the bin lid on immediately, leave overnight & as if by magic, dust-free hay. I can't believe it's as good as soaking but my horse has stopped coughing & you don't have those icy yard/what to do with the soaking water when the drains are frozen? nightmares.

Oo I love this one!!!!! just wondering how to implement it at my stables.. thinking hat on..:rolleyes: (that's my 'thoughtful' smiley!)

Also, like the barrow with the plug! Depends on cost I suppose. Shall take a look on the internet.

Have only just started to soak CWs hay due to coughing and it's flipping miserable, especially as I go up there at about 8pm some nights and by that point the taps have sometimes frozen.

[artemis]

Barrow with plug cost £14.99.

[Mareish]

I switch to haylage when it starts to get frosty - can't stand frozen hay :)

[Ptaty70]

artemis, i looked on the internet and couldn't find one. Could you tell me where you got it???

thanks!

[Mareish]

I had one from Aldi, unfortuntely the plug has to be pulled from inside the barrow which isn't easy with a haynet in it so you still have to haul it out, they're not very big either.

I have seen them at various garden centres the same

[Ptaty70]

still.. £15 is a great price despite the having to search for the plug. shall take a look! thanks!

[Chip]

Ladies, have you tried putting a cord or something on the plug. Make sure it stays out of the barrow. When you need to drain, just pull cord. Voila

[KateWooten]

Why are you soaking the hay ? Not quite a facetious question - I understand it's dusty ... my problem is, I have this hay, a whole garage full, amd when I throw it to the ground, a puff of white 'smoke' appears. That's mold spores, right ? Not just 'dust'. Even if I soak it, it's still not right to feed it to horses is it ?

[Mareish]

Ladies, have you tried putting a cord or something on the plug. Make sure it stays out of the barrow. When you need to drain, just pull cord. Voila

No as it was a very flat plastic bung so not really possible to attach anything.

[Mareish]

Why are you soaking the hay ? Not quite a facetious question - I understand it's dusty ... my problem is, I have this hay, a whole garage full, amd when I throw it to the ground, a puff of white 'smoke' appears. That's mold spores, right ? Not just 'dust'. Even if I soak it, it's still not right to feed it to horses is it ?

It may not be mould, we had a batch like that last year, hay was beautiful but it was white and cloudy when skaen, it was dust from the farm where it had sat in the barn.

I have to be careful what I feed Lily as she gets like an asthma and has pollen allergy too. I soak as a precaution to stop her coughing.

[Lucy J]

my mare dunks each mouthful in her water bucket ;) she's a self soaker!!

[Mareish]

my mare dunks each mouthful in her water bucket ;) she's a self soaker!!

ah good girl :p

[Accy]

ill be off to garden center at weekend for bin with lid loving the idea of the kettle of water, sounds excellent for our yard and my boy

[jovi_y2k2]

Why are you soaking the hay ? Not quite a facetious question - I understand it's dusty ... my problem is, I have this hay, a whole garage full, amd when I throw it to the ground, a puff of white 'smoke' appears. That's mold spores, right ? Not just 'dust'. Even if I soak it, it's still not right to feed it to horses is it ?

some is dust some is fungal spores, as long as its not visably mouldy throughout the bale soaking will help. when you soak hay you are sticking the dust and spores to the hay so the horse ingests them rather than inhaling them

[Mousemagic]

Think the wheelie bin one is inspired. Esp. with a tap to empty it when finished with. I only started soaking my hay when I moved yards a year ago. Previously, he was fed dry hay. Must admit he had a bit of a cough now and again. They were horrified when I arrived and they saw me about to chuck a big slice on his floor. So now all fed in haynets and soaked in dust bins. I always check the water and make sure it is fresh. Normall can soak a couple of hay nets before have to change.

Although, I thought that you could soak equally well with a full kettle - then put the lid on and leave for about 15 - 20 mins.

Read that soaking for too long is equally as bad as not soaking at all.

[jovi_y2k2]

Read that soaking for too long is equally as bad as not soaking at all.

it just depends what you're tryin to achieve, ive done quite a bit of research into hay soaking for my dissertation. if its just for dust reasons, then 5 minutes is optimal, but the hay does have to be soaked i.e. submerged in water not just wet with a hosepipe.
soaking any longer and you are removing the nutritional content of the hay. for overweight horses or lamanitic, soaking the hay for 12 hours will give them something to chew on but will have little or no nutritional content. this is why the water turns brown after soaking.
steaming the hay is better than soaking as it removes less of the nutritional content than soaking.

I also found out that if you soak the hay but then let it dry, the hay will actually have more dust and fungal spores than it did before you even soaked it at all, which i found interesting.

it is also important that the water is disposed of into suitable drains and not into any water courses as it is 10x stronger than raw sewage! (A fact i found particulary disturbing!!)

[Mousemagic]

Jovi y2k2

This is really interesting and I expect v. useful to other readers. For my horse - it would be from a dust perspective. However, it would appear worrying for those horseowners who are understandably "trying to be organised" and soaking enough haynets for a week (esp. if they work). I understood that soaking (completely - which is quite right) made the spored expand - which meant they were less likely to be problematic to the horses wind.

The drying part is obviously worrying - how many of us have read "Winter Time Saving Tips" - in the monthly Horsies - and they suggest - soak your haynets for the whole week !