for those that soak hay ....

S

SDH

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Rusty needs hay soaking else it makes him cough. Hay is included in my livery costs (otherwise i'd just buy haylage)

However sooooooo sick of trying to cope with frozen taps / frozen haynets / and just generally trying to soak the stuff in this weather, plus snow covered fields means he is coming in starving, that i'm going to buy some haylage for him on the way home
(plus i'm going away for xmas and my friend who pregnant and been told not to lift - so I would feel bad making her deal with wet haynets - is looking after my horses (along with her own) over christmas)

BUT how do you cope?
 
Personally... and this may be wrong...

I dont soak her hay when it is this cold.. i find the hay just freezes and dont think that can be good, so she is fed dry hay... she cant be worked in this weather so hasnt started coughing...yet!

How about shaking it up and puttin on the floor... it may get rid of some dust? x
 
none of the horses on our yard are getting soaked hay at the moment. This weather isn't going to last more than a few weeks (I HOPE!) so it might just be best to give dry / or haylage until it's possible to go back to normal again.
 
I really wouldn't soak hay during this weather - as others have said above. If it freezes it will make him cough as much as dry hay does. Try haylage while it is really cold like this -it will cost a bit extra but worth it.
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Have you tried steaming it?

I soak because our hay is quite dusty, now I stick a hay net in a dustbin pour a couple of kettles of boiling water over it then stick a lid on for a while...its the first time I've tried it but it seems to be working a treat and it smells lovely. Plus the horse is loving it!!
 
I steam my horse's in this weather. I put a net of hay into a large tub, pour a kettle full of boiling water on top, cover it with an opened-up plastic feed sack and leave it for half an hour. It smells lovely and apparently helps to swell the spores that cause coughing.
I use warm water for his feed too ......
smile.gif
 
There is no problem in soaking hay in this weather. Just continue doing it. It won't do the horses any harm. You do far more harm to your horse giving it dry hay.

I have also found that it very much depends on the hay. Bad hay will cause them to cough. Good hay will not.
 
I still soak mine and can't say they've ever coughed from having it soaked in cold weather. However, I only soak it before needing it so don't leave it around outside when wet so that it freezes. The biggest pain in this weather is having to defrost the water pipes several times a day.
 
Just buy a plastic dustbin or get hold of a thick plastic sack, put your hay inside. Pour a kettle full of boiling water onto the hay (its not the volume of water that steams it but the actual action of the hot water) and put the lid on the bin or tie the bag with bailing twine. Leave to steam for 20 mins. For the best results you need to shake the hay out so that the steam can penetrate it easier. No frozen tap worries, or spilt water forming slippy ice, or frozen feet and hands. Much kinder for the horse as less ice crystals are formed and steaming is proven more effective at removing dust and mould spores that soaking hay which strips too much goodness from the hay. I soak my hay but I just put it in a plastic tub and fill with cold water and leave to stand for 20 mins before tipping upside down and allowing to drain for half an hour. Then I mix it with the haylage we are supplied with at our yard, thus giving my horse a 50/50 ration. This helps to control his weight as we have found the haylage is quite calorific plus it is cheaper doing it this way.
 
I soak hay whatever the weather and if its drained well it doesn't freeze in the stables. I've got a good system that works for me.

I have an old bath and above that, screwed into a beam, (its all indoors in the hay stable) is a small winch with a piece of rope attached. (They can show you in the hardware shop how it works and it costs a few pounds). Across the top of half the bath is an old stable grill which I use for draining the nets. So I fill a net, push it under the water (with an old basket from a fridge!) then hook the top of the net with the hook thats at the end of the winch and haul up the net, swing it over to the grill, drop it down and unhook. Just repeat with as many nets as needed. I can fit 6 huge nets on top of each other.

I run a rubber pipe from the plug hole, through a hole in the stable wall out onto the yard where the water runs away. I change the water every day/every other day. The nets are just dipped in to get rid of dust as the hay is good quality but still get completely soaked right the way through. You can do all this without getting your hands wet too!

Just thought this might help anyone who needs an idea on hay soaking methods!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Have you tried steaming it?

I soak because our hay is quite dusty, now I stick a hay net in a dustbin pour a couple of kettles of boiling water over it then stick a lid on for a while...its the first time I've tried it but it seems to be working a treat and it smells lovely. Plus the horse is loving it!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto
 
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