For those who steam their hay

[Minxie]

My pony is coughing and I need to wet / steam his hay. But he's at a private home and the husband puts hay out for mine and their ponies in the morning and afternoon.

I feed them at night so I'd need to steam enough hay for them in the evening but also for the home owner to put out in the morning. I was going to wrap it in a tarp or a couple of ikea bags (or something similar) to keep the moisture in so it doesn't just dry out but Is it okay to do that with hay - leave it damp overnight. It would be for 12 hours max.

I don't have the option of haylage as my pony shares his field with shetlands and they just couldn't get it without causing laminitis.

 

[Spottyappy]

I quite often steam my hay and leave it- life dictates it is the best I can do. I bought some huge bags off ebay like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290362044119.
I steam my hay in the morning,and then leave it til the evening. Been doing this a few years, and the horses have not come to any harm!
The only thing is, if you leave it over night, and it is frosty, you may want to find somewhere sheltered to put it, otherwise they will just have a giant hay ice lolly in the morning!

 

[Minxie]

Thank you spottyap. I could leave it in the home owners garden shed so hopefully not get frosted. Although the idea of a big hay popsicle is quite funny

Think i'll give it a go for a day or two and see how we get on. If you've not had any issues hopefully I shouldn't either. As me old mum was saying they eat hay thats been left out in the rain all day in the field so what difference would it make

Thanks again.

 

[Fairydust]

I steam my hay using a wall paper steamer and this works really well. I steam it over night, its on a timer so comes on about 5 am for their hay in the morning and then again about 2pm for the evening.

I have a 27 year old pony with really bad COPD, and fingers crossed, since I started doing this I haven't had so much as a wheeze and he is now bombing round his paddock like a 4 year old

 

[Weezy]

We steam hay by putting it in a bin, kettle of boiling water and leaving for 10 mins, and you can do another 2 too. You do NOT need to keep it wet, the steam kills the spores that your horse is reacting to. We steam enough in a morning to do 24 hours, as soon as they are done they are put in the horses's lunch/tea/supper baskets.

 

[Highlandsig]

When I steam the hay (in a basic steamer) I leave the morning hay in overnight and it is fine to use the following morning.

 

[messenger]

You can turn a wheelie bin into a hay steamer.

Buy a wall paper steam stripper, fill with water and position next to bin. Insert hose from steam stripper into wheelie bin (you may need to channel a hole out of the top of the wheelie bin where the lid shuts to get the hose inside the bin). Pop a haynet or 3 in and leave steaming away for 10-15 mins. Voila, perfectly steamed hay.

 

[Minxie]

Thank you so much for your replies. This is such a great site for information. I've got a compost bin (which I'll make sure is scrubbed clean) and i'll give the kettle a go first. I've found a wall paper steamer in tesco direct for £18.50 so if i think its a bit easier its not an costly outlay at all

A first for anything horse related

Thanks weezy for the bit about steam killing spores. I'd thought if it got to dry out the spores would 're-activate' so great to now it doesn't

Thanks again

 

[Janah]

Having soaked hay for ages for my two and found it impossible with the icy weather, OH has made me a steamer with a plastic dustbin and wall-paper steamer. I am so impressed as he thought the idea up on his own. Pleased to hear other people using the same method.

One of the good things about it is it uses so little water and the nets are easy to lift. The downside is doesn't remove the sugars in the hay, I assume. Both of mine are good doer's.

Jane

 

[Minxie]

Jane. Thanks for the reply. I didn't know it removed sugars but as my pony shares a field with shetland's its often difficult to find a balance between giving enough forage without too many calories. So it might actually work out to be beneficial all round if it means I can feed more bulk with less fat

)

I supplement tubs with alpha beet and alph alpha so I can easily up his calorie intake if I find he's not getting enough from the hay alone as a result of steaming.

) x

 

[stilltrying]

I share duties with a fellow livery and as mine will cough on dry hay and what with the whole frozen pipes situation i've taken to steaming hay rather than soaking (much less mess!) Have found hifi bags are quite good so I just do a kettle per bag and tie the tops with twine. They have been fine left for 12 hrs / overnight etc. In fact even in the snow one bag was still hot in middle some 3 hours later!!