Hay cough

[Tacobell]

Hi all , just looking for some advice . My horse has developed a small cough on the hay he is on currently . Nothing too major , normally when I pick up trot he will have a couple of coughs and then stops. Sometimes have heard him once or twice in stable . He is on normal meadow hay , however he can be fussy with hayledge but is absolutely obsessed with rye hay, which I know isn’t the best for them but if it has less dust content I could potentially mix with meadow .
Would you suggest I try this or try the hayledge again from another supplier ?

a few issues I have … YO doesn’t like the hose being used for long periods therefore I don’t think soaking would be an option . I could buy a hay steamer but I have no where to put it due to being on diy

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I used to steam my hay in a black bin. I just tipped a couple of boiling hot kettle fulls of water. Seemed to work! Could you just damp it with the hose?

 

[Sossigpoker]

Would the YO let you fill a large tub or bucket and dunk your haynet there?
You don't really want to ignore this as this can develop into a bigger problem over time.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Mine has allergies and can be the same with hay. I've dunked a hay net before, or just sprayed it down a bit with the hose and that was enough.

At one point I had a bin collecting rain water and used that water for soaking/dunking. I could also just take water out by the bucket and dump them over the hay. Or I've also left the net out for a bit in the rain, but not too long. So if it's wet weather, you can avoid hose use.


I'm sure someone is going to tell me rain water is terrible to use for some reason, but my horse survived fine ?

 

[meleeka]

Even damping it with the hose will help a bit. I agree with this, not doing anything now can lead to if becoming much more of a problem.

Would the YO let you fill a large tub or bucket and dunk your haynet there?
You don't really want to ignore this as this can develop into a bigger problem over time.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Mine has allergies and can be the same with hay. I've dunked a hay net before, or just sprayed it down a bit with the hose and that was enough.

At one point I had a bin collecting rain water and used that water for soaking/dunking. I could also just take water out by the bucket and dump them over the hay. Or I've also left the net out for a bit in the rain, but not too long. So if it's wet weather, you can avoid hose use.


I'm sure someone is going to tell me rain water is terrible to use for some reason, but my horse survived fine ?

Rain water is absolutely fine. Usually the issue is that it is collected via dirty gutters or/and into a dirty container so bacteria builds up. But the water itself is fine.
If you have a hygienic way of collecting it , then that would be a great way to save a bit of money.

 

[LittleRolo]

Filling a tub to soak a haynet in won't take any longer than filling water buckets. What I do is use what's left in my water buckets to fill soaking tub and top up if needed

 

[Shysmum]

Trust me you need to get on top of this urgently. Shy now has full blown COPD, after just a mild cough.