Soaking Hay

[Blossom]

I have just some really lovely horse hay for Ebony it is really nice lovely and fine. I was just wondering what is the best way to soak it, I have never soaked hay before and haven't fed hay to Ebony since she was poorly at Christmas time, before then she was living out and I used to just put a couple of slices of dry hay in the field for her, I now feed her horsehage as she also has some respiratory problems - I only feed her one section a night of this and thought that I could mix it with some of this yummy hay that I have now so that she has got more to eat at night time - does that sound like a good idea? As you know she is stabled at night now so eats her horsehage from a net.

So how is the best way to soak hay? For how long etc? Anything else I have forgotten?

Many thanks

 

[galadriel]

When I've soaked hay for boarders, I did it according to the instructions from their vets. I would soak for half an hour at least.

The easiest way I found is to take a haynet at a muck bucket; open the haynet and put it across the muck bucket; put hay to be soaked over top of the haynet so it ends up inside; close haynet over top; fill muck bucket with water, leave to soak.

It was least splashy to dump the bucket out, holding onto the hay, and then pick up the haynet. It's heavy, but at least all the moisture is in the hay, and not splashing all over your legs from the bucket too. Another way I found is to soak it right in the stall, then (leave the water in) hike the haynet up using whatever I was going to hang it from as a pulley. Then drag the muck bucket to somewhere you can dump it.

Some horses also think the hay-water is really tasty; it's got all the dust that you just soaked the hay to dampen, but they're drinking it, not breathing it. If it's warm, the water gets very smelly very quickly--dump it fast when you're done

The hay is going to drip like crazy, so it's helpful to have a flat rubber tub below it to preserve your bedding.

 

[ros]

The important thing about soaking hay is that it's fully immersed so the water gets the chance to soak right through all the fibres. Some people like to put their evening hay in to soak in the morning, and vice versa, but I think sometimes this is more a question of convenience than necessity. The traditional view is that you have to soak it long enough for any dust spores to swell, but I think half an hour to an hour is probably ample if you want to be on the safe side. I just stuff my haynet in a big black bucket full of water and leave it for 10 minutes or so if I'm in a rush, or an hour or two if I'm not.

One thing you have to consider is that the longer you soak the hay, the more nutrients will leach out in the water, so if you have good quality hay with higher feed value it's a pity to waste it by over-soaking.

As to whether it's a good idea for Blossom, haylage will probably give you slightly better nourishment so if she's not the greedy type and needs feeding up you might be better sticking to haylage; on the other hand, it's darned expensive if you buy the small bales, so if she doesn't need the extra fodder to keep her weight up, you'd probably be OK to mix in some soaked hay, or even switch to hay altogether. If it's simply a question of her respiratory problem, try the mixture and see what happens, and stick to haylage if it doesn't work

 

[DebO]

You could put the haynet into a dustbin, fill the dustbin up with water and soak no longer than 10 minutes. Push the bin over to empty it and pull the haynet out and leave it to drain before you try to lift it.

Nutrionalists say that any longer than 10 minutes washes all the nutrients away. Longer than 10 mins you wont be able to lift the haynet. All you are doing by soaking is allowing the pores to swell and stick to the blades of hay.

 

[artemis]

I've seen people pour boiling water over their hay, particularly when the temperature is below freezing, otherwise you end up feeding a hay popsicle. Anyone tried liftng a frozen hay net?

 

[Piaffe]

We have wooden pallets to drain our hay on - it stops the hay getting dirty and the water drains better than if it is left on the ground.

Alternatively you can steam the hay - as artemis said, in the winter months, soaking leaves you with a hay ice pop!!

For steaming, you need a good large plastic feed sack with no holes (chaff sacks are good) and a couple of kettlefuls of boiled water. Put your hay in the bag, pour over the hot water and seal the bag - leave for a couple of hours and its ready. to seal the bag, we normally just fold over the open top and stick a brick or something on top.