Hay net soaking, poor CC.

C

CowCob

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Due to CC's now rather... ...Round... Figure by I'm planning to soak her hay but I've never had to soak hay before, and to be honest I have literally zero clue what the heck I'm doing. I've been told by some people that if I soak it for 3+ hours it'll ferment, then from someone else it was 6+ hours and from someone else it was fine to leave it overnight. I was planning to soak it overnight as Y/O and Staff do hay nets for me so instead of them filling a net and throwing it in I would fill it before I leave for home (about 3 'o' clock) and they'd put it in just after turn out when everything is getting done (about 6am) so that's about 16 hours. Would it be safe to leave it that long? Water would be changed daily obviously.

Poor CC is going to be mega abused, she's had about 2 months off with ulcers and me being ill so it's going to be a nasty shock for her to go out for a walkies in hand for an hour a day (in hand because it's on a road and the drivers are a bit silly so she needs to get used to them before I hop on) and ridden for 30 minutes a day. So the poor bab is going from a very happy chubby little field potato to a normal ridden horse (she'll be starting BSJA and a bit of XC/HT in the Spring so needs to be horse shaped to compete) she'll be taking sympathy votes of cookies via the post.
 
I soak overnight and have never had the hay show any signs of fermenting even in summer, the water is changed every time and the hay is rinsed with a couple of buckets of water before being left to drain, in winter it should be fine to hang up at 6am but it does take a while to drain so may make a wet area in the box if tied up still dripping.
The yard staff must start early if they are finishing about 6am, I think I would get them to leave it somewhere in the shade and tie it up when you bring in for the night so it can drain properly.
 
I soak through the day ( about 8.30, then hung on fence and rinsed with hose) for evening/night net, it can be soaked for longer in the winter due to cooler temperatures, during summer, it only needs about 3 hours soaking,
 
What about the staff putting in the net to soak after turnout,then you fishing it out and draining it before you leave. That way the hay will be soaked for nearly 6 hours and fed fresh.The staff will be absolute saints to lift and drain your net for you, it's a horrid job.I think an overnight soak and hanging all day would make for manky hay personally.
 
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