LouLou3
Well-Known Member
I've read on the tin-ter-net that steaming and soaking doesn't really remove the dust and mould spores - is this true?
Dusty Hay - do steamers really get rid of the dust?
- Thread starter LouLou3
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Mike007
Well-Known Member
Not exactly, a good hay steamer(I was very impressed with the Haygain ) cant wash dust out of hay as such. There are three forms of dust.1. Soil thrown up by tedders during haymaking. 2. Leaf shatter dust due to grass leaves drying and becoming brittle. and 3. Mould spores. Soil is damped down so is less likely to be inhaled as is leaf shatter.The big one is mould spores however. These are cooked and killed. Aspergillus moulds are nasty. They give humans chronic lung damage akin to "Miners Lung"Horses breathing is affected and it causes COPD. Ingestion of Aspergillus moulds is "supposed"not to cause the harmfull effects found in cattle. Lesions in the stomach. However I think research has yet to catch up on this one ,and it really wouldnt surprise me if a lot of ulcer problems were caused at least initialy by Aspergillus.I am very impressed by steamers.However there is also no substitute for clean hay.
Bay_Beasty
Well-Known Member
Ummm well, no, but this is how I thought it went, however I may be wrong, Steaming kills the fungi type stuff in the hay that gives it that musty smell and the spores that often make it 'dusty' however leaves the nutrients that is in the hay, pretty much intact therefore meaning that the hay still provides some essential stuff and not just bulk fibre. Soaking soaks the spores so there too big and dont get stuck in the mucus of the lungs causing coughing, however the soaking does lower the nutrient value of the hay quite a lot. but the age of the hay also affects the nutrient values, so last years hay is likely to be v nutrient low to this years hay.
Steamers however are v expensive. we used a steamer for wall paper customised with a water butt for catching water and it worked v well. However tbh, if I had a horse that suffered from dusty hay again, I would buy hayledge, its much less faff and steaming does cost a lot energy wise so its swings and roundabouts money wise.
Steamers however are v expensive. we used a steamer for wall paper customised with a water butt for catching water and it worked v well. However tbh, if I had a horse that suffered from dusty hay again, I would buy hayledge, its much less faff and steaming does cost a lot energy wise so its swings and roundabouts money wise.