HAY - STEAM OR SOAK ????

[derricks]

Hi All

Winter has hardly begun and I am already fed up with soaking hay. I feed a mixture of Hay and Haylage as this helps with my budget !!!
Please can you let me know if you prefer to soak or steam your hay. The hay I use is really good quality but everything that I have read suggests that hay should still be soaked before feeding. Whats the best way to steam hay and how long do you need to steam it for before feeding it ?

 

[samp]

I feed my mare her hay dry - it is really good stuff, if it was dusty and she was coughing I would soak it

 

[riotgirl]

I feed dry at the moment, but sometimes it gets a little dusty towards the end of the bales so I'll damp it then.

 

[Nic]

Soak unless the taps are frozen! Then we resort to steaming.

 

[Sparklet]

Not an expert but I believe steaming involves a dustbin and a kettle. Fill dustbin with hay (in a haynet if big enough), pour kettle of boiling water over the top - put lid on and leave. I suspect it only needs about 5 mins.

Supposed to be better than soaking.

 

[tuscanyD]

Steam? We are steaming hay now are we?
Dear me I'm getting old - I still remember the rows in the 80's about how long it ought to be soaked for.

A thorough explanation of steam method would be good - sounds MUCH easier than soaking.

 

[pottamus]

I would be interested in finding out about steaming too and whether it does work as well as soaking it from a dust point of view. Touch wood... my boy seems ok on this years dry hay but if he starts coughing I will have to soak and that is a nightmare for me in winter. I have no water or elec at stables so have to cart hay home (5 min walk), soak it and cart it back...nightmare.
So the steaming in a bin could be an option for me...so is it a plastic bin you use then? And how long so you steam it for?

 

[MagicMelon]

I never soak or steam. Just feed it dry. I find 2 of mine dont like wet hay and just waste it!

 

[johnsongreyhorse]

I feed it dry at the moment, will soak if dusty. Have to feed my old horse haylage as he even coughs with soaked/steamed hay.

 

[Tempi]

i hose down for about 10mins then let drip dry.

there is currently a post in NL about this, along with a bit about steaming which you might find usefull

 

[mpicton]

I soak, I've heard steaming is supposed to be better but I really don't have the time to be boiling kettles for ages...sounds lazy but soaking suffices for me!

 

[RachelB]

We have two baths and two sinks at the yard to soak our hay in, which is really useful and makes soaking easy. I used to soak mine as my horse coughed, but we have finished the old hay and are on to the new batch which is much better quality so I can feed dry now without coughing. I've never steamed hay, but then I've always had good soaking facilities so I've never had to!

 

[happyhack]

we steam because we found that soaking just didnt make any difference from serving it dry. the boys cough alot on dry and soaked but not so much on steamed. we also put a bit of breath easy over it to steam with which makes it smell divine!!!

 

[pootler]

I always soak whether the hay is good or not. From the info I have read it's very difficult to tell whether the level of spores/dust just by looking at it. I figure better safe than sorry!

 

[piaffe]

I feed dry hay as its good quality. If it wasn't i would always steam it. Always have done as its better than soaking

 

[druid]

I feed dry, only steam if the horse needs it for a medical reason

 

[meandmyself]

Dry or soaked, depending on the horse.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Dry normally, but if dusty, stem in a dustbin.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Ditto Nic01

 

[fizz-tally]

i steam mine, have 3 bins which i stack up in the tack room, fill all 3 just before i start to do anything at the yard at night, 1 kettle per bin, cover & leave for 10-20 mins while i do everything then hang up

smells great & when you pull them out & see how much yucky stuff comes out it makes you