DIY Hay Steamer, is it as simple as a ....

a friend made one for me . it works brilliantly - the only problem is that I find the steamer gives up the ghost after a few months. you will need to either buy a professional steamer or be prepared to replace it. they do usually have a twelve month guarantee so keep your receipt and take it back. Screwfix are excellent with returns
 
That is really kind of you, i am based in South Essex :)
i will check out Horsehage now :)
i attempted the kettle and bin method yesterday but he wasn't to sure about it, gave it a good sniff and then walked away :( I was sure it was going to be a hit, it smelt wonderful! like a fresh cup of good tea!
He isn't a fan of soaked hay, i thought steaming was going to be my answer! ... mind you i did give him mainly steamed but when i noticed him not eating it i added a few sections of dry hay as i think with him tummy issues not eating any hay would be worse. He seemed to eat all of the dry and then had no choice with the steamed and had half, i suppose i have to try just offering steamed.



Cecile said:
I am also quite impressed with the Haygain although I'm not that taken with the drain hole in the bottom, not really that much water to drain but when I first used it I thought it had sprung a leak so it was dragged out of my tack room :)

What part of the country are you in HorseKaren as I have a haygain you could use for a month if your vet is recommending this - although its too big to put in the back of a small car

Other than that Horsehage make a pretty good product, it is in the blue bag
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I've used a DIY set up on multiple yards. for my own horses my dad made us a deluxe wheelie bin version :D it took 2 big haynets and both were perfectly steamed to the core. We had a timer on the steamer (after we killed the first one on the first day!) and after that it was fab.

I also worked on a yard with a DIY one, it was a big storage box which fit almost a whole standard bale of hay in. Again we had a timer on it and it was set to finish 20mins before i got to the yard in the morning so they all had fresh steamed hay for breakfast - lush in weather like this!

Just makes sure you buy a good quality steamer and don't put the hay directly ontop of the steamer plate as it wont circulate as well - this would be my ideal steaming vessel: http://www.solentplastics.co.uk/tan...-plastic-storage-tank-mobile-container-truck/
 
Horsekaren said:
That is really kind of you, i am based in South Essex :)
i will check out Horsehage now :)
i attempted the kettle and bin method yesterday but he wasn't to sure about it, gave it a good sniff and then walked away :( I was sure it was going to be a hit, it smelt wonderful! like a fresh cup of good tea!
He isn't a fan of soaked hay, i thought steaming was going to be my answer! ... mind you i did give him mainly steamed but when i noticed him not eating it i added a few sections of dry hay as i think with him tummy issues not eating any hay would be worse. He seemed to eat all of the dry and then had no choice with the steamed and had half, i suppose i have to try just offering steamed.
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This is the one I thought of for your horse, it also keeps really well at this time of year if you only have one to feed

http://www.horsehageforage.co.uk/WP/?page_id=22

I like to do one thing at a time when one of mine is confusing me with a health problem so I know what is working best or worse, mine look at me as if I am trying to poison them with soaked hay and one gets the squits, not good at this time of year so I gave up soaking years ago as became fed up with hay nets full of lovingly soaked hay being ignored and no-where sensible to throw it out :)
 
how long are you soaking for? Mine is only soaked for 15 mins to deal with dust. That way the hay stays very fresh and they prefer it to dry hay. In fact they won't eat the dry if they have the choice of the wet. If it is soaked for a long time it becomes disgusting and mine wouldn't like it either. Some sorts of hay soak badly if soaked for too long.
Do you feed your hay after the hard feed? I have found doing so makes them immediately walk over to the hay and start eating.
 
Horsekaren said:
That is really kind of you, i am based in South Essex :)
i will check out Horsehage now :)
i attempted the kettle and bin method yesterday but he wasn't to sure about it, gave it a good sniff and then walked away :( I was sure it was going to be a hit, it smelt wonderful! like a fresh cup of good tea!
He isn't a fan of soaked hay, i thought steaming was going to be my answer! ... mind you i did give him mainly steamed but when i noticed him not eating it i added a few sections of dry hay as i think with him tummy issues not eating any hay would be worse. He seemed to eat all of the dry and then had no choice with the steamed and had half, i suppose i have to try just offering steamed.
Click to expand...

I have just checked out South Essex, I am near Newbury so I am sure between us we can work something out to get it to you if steaming is the way to go. It comes with all the instructions and is very easy to use
I'm not so hot on PM's but send me one if steaming is the way forward and I will work out how to reply and we can get a plan of action sorted to get it to you
 
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