Hay Steamers

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Lynz25

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I have a horse who gets COPD in the winter when on hay. I've started to look into getting a hat steamer has any one got one / any good recommendations and have they been of benefit or not???
 
After reading posts on here I made my own. I brought a water butt from B&Q, and a wall paper steam stripper. The water butt came with a tap to fit - which I left off - and you just pop the wall paper stripper hose in through there.

I usually spray a net of hay (hay shaken out thoroughly) with the hose first, and then steam for about 20 - 30 mins. I put 2 bricks in the bottom of the water butt so there is a gap in the bottom of the tub before it hits the hay.

Our pony doesn't have COPD but does have trouble with her breathing over the winter. THe steamed hay does work more effectively than soaking IMO - and it is so much easier than soaking too.
 
tbh the easiest way is with a kettle and a HiFi bag (or similar), i did a wallpaper stripper + metal bin but it was a nightmare having to remember to switch it off, and i was always worried it might catch fire. two kettlefulls in a plastic bag works very well...
 
I find the kettle method doesn't stay hot enough for long enough to steam the hay thoroughly. I went down the DIY route and in works brilliantly. Most days I'm at the yard in the evening for at least an hour which is long enough to steam two nets, but if everything's left ready and I'm going to be less time then I put it on a timer so one of the nets is ready when I get to the yard.
 
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After reading posts on here I made my own. I brought a water butt from B&Q, and a wall paper steam stripper. The water butt came with a tap to fit - which I left off - and you just pop the wall paper stripper hose in through there.


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Same here, dead easy. The bricks in the bottom seem quite important to help the steam get into the hay. Alternatively something made of mesh would be good, like a chip pan basket or similar! Anything to keep the hay off the bottom of the bin. My wall paper stripper has a cut out so when it runs out of water, it switches itself off.
 
I made a home made one as per the great instructions from users on the forum! used a large water tub(tap hole in bottom that the hose from the wall paper steamer fits in perfectly)put two bricks on the bottom to raise the bale up a bit and a bit of mesh over the bricks and I use a timer in the plug socket to run it - no stress and it turns it's self on and off as good as gold!! highly recommend it.
 
I made my own, like Kerilli I worried about turning it off, and forgot a few times. So I bought a havy duty steamer and a plug in timer thing.
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I've gone the expensive route of a hay gain

Why not the home made? Well they don't get hot enough, and I don't use haynets.

So with the hay gain I can put a whole small bale, its on a timer so steams at 5am and then I have delicious smelling hay to feed in the morning. I just take it straight from the hay gain and put on the floor.

Benefits
- its made for the job and has a warranty
- the hay gets much hotter than a home made job, you need to get it above 70oC to start denaturing fungi spores
- The spikes means that the hay is thoroughly steamed
- So quick and east to use

Cons
- Cost - £1.5k is a lot of dosh
- electricity to run steamer, but than same if you use a home made device and used the same sized steamer!

It takes less than 3 minutes to set it up (most of that is getting the hose out to fill it). My time is precious and rather than hauling wet net around and spending time waiting for them to drip etc. I would still buy this again, simply because its a pleasure to use and saves me at least 20 mins per day - so around 2.5hrs per week - If you are £20 per hour that means its paid for itself in 30 weeks.
 
I agree that a proper hay steamer is definitely the way to go, but i bought one of the Happy Horse ones - their professional model. It was £895, so is a good bit cheaper than the haygain one. i did a good bit of research into the two and opted for happy horse mainly because of price, but also as it looks like they've been selling steamers for a good few years whereas i think haygain only launched theirs this year? my professional steamer fits a full bale of hay, but i just do haynets in it as i don't need to do a full bale at a time - the haygain seems to be designed to do just a full bale at a time rather than haynets or loose hay. The steamer is really easy use and is lovely to have in the feed room in winter – smells fabulous and the heat is fab! it also runs on a timer,w hich is so handy. I believe they have a new one out that i would have gone for as it's a bit smaller and a bit cheaper again - i think it does about a half bale of hay, so woudl have suited my girls fine. You never know though, maybe I'll get more horses in the future and so need to do more hay at a time!! I have 1 horse that has copd and she has not coughed once in the last 2 months!
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and i would never go back to soaking...wish i'd splashed out sooner!
 
i have a home made steamer, made in exactly the same way as previous posters with a timer attached. steam is pushed into the water butt under pressure for 40 minutes, i cannot see the difference between a proffesional steamer and mine in its effectiveness, steam is at 100 degrees C so i cannot understand how anyone can claim it doesnt get well above 70 degrees C inside. i have been using it for nearly a year now and if the huge improvement i have found is all phychosamatic on the horses' part i would be amazed.
 
I also have a Happy Horse steamer, got it in July when one of mine went on box rest and have used it everyday since. It's the slightly smaller one than Piglet99's; it's got the heavy duty steamer but does about 3/4 of a bale and was just over £400 with delivery. Absolutely love it, and my boy hasn't coughed once, would buy one again without hesitation. I put mine on a timer for 1.5 hrs each day, which is probably slightly too long but I don't think it makes much difference.

Wouldn't get Haygain on principle now after we had looked at them at Badminton and rep rang just a couple of weeks after I got the Happy Horse and was furious that I had gone elsewhere and made some very derogatory comments about it, despite me telling her it did exactly what I expected of it. What a bitch! I had a good mind to report her - there's nothing like healthy competition in business and theirs is silly money for the same thing! I think she was just annoyed that I was obviously a serious buyer and she had just missed out on a sale, he he
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Having a quick look at their website mine seems to be the Stable Mate, although they have already changed what they look like even since July. I know the price was due to go up by about £100 a month or so later and I guess this must be the new designs. Mine is a beige box, similar to those garden storage things you buy for the garden, with a separate heavy duty steamer (not attached to the side like the big one). It doesn't have the prongs in the midde either, but I think it does have small wheels. I easily do 5/6 sections in this and could get more in if I tried, but I like to spread it out a bit. Horsey is also on rubber, with Nedz Bedz, but he hasn't had a snotty nose since buying this, so if he's happy, I'm happy. A lot easier than soaking hay. You might be able to pick up a secondhand one on ebay or somewhere
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I had a similar thing Lynz25 with haygain! I spoke to them at Blenheim - they were very pushy on the day but fortunately i didn't give them my details so they couldn't ring me after. i realy couldn't survive without the steamer i have now now. i'm sure if i really tried i could have probably made a home made one, but knowing me i would have mucked it up and ended up with something that would catch fire or explode! if i were more diy minded maybe! but i see it as an investment...i spent £895 on the happy horse one (though admitedly if i'd waited a couple of months i could have got the smaller stable mate for less money - the one you got SuzySue didn't seem to be available when i was looking in early september?), but what it saves me in time, hassle, frozen fingers and hopefully vets bills will hopefully make it pay for itself in no time!!
 
I spoke to the hay gain people at YHL and they were really good, not pushy at all, found them to be very approachable. They have even offered me a trial to see if it works.

Think I'm going to get a plastic garden chest and a steamer and pass it to my dad to do a DIY job on it. If it does help but not getting it fully damp then I may buy one.
 
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...i cannot see the difference between a proffesional steamer and mine in its effectiveness, steam is at 100 degrees C so i cannot understand how anyone can claim it doesnt get well above 70 degrees C inside.

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Have you monitored the temperature of your system? The haygain actually struggles to get much above 80oC after an hour. The problem is that you are not using a sealed container, so as the steam escapes you are not getting up to the critical temp. This means that you may have swelled the fungi spores, but you will have have sterilised your hay.

I looked at Happy Horse, and chose the haygain as I think the case is much better designed, and it does get to a higher temperature.
 
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