How do you soak your hay (to remove sugar)?

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CobsGalore

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Please tell me your process for soaking hay...

- What do you soak it in?

- How long do you soak it for?

- How do you hang it up when it's so heavy?

- What do you do in the Winter when everything is frozen?

- How do you easily change the water, or do you soak it next to a tap?

Thank you!
 
- What do you soak it in? Use a dustbin or large trug bucket and something heavy on top

- How long do you soak it for? anywhere between 6 - 12 hours

- How do you hang it up when it's so heavy? Split it into smaller nets so you have less to lift

- What do you do in the Winter when everything is frozen? Struggle although its been quite mild this year, try lagging your bin or trug with and old rug to stop it freezing.

- How do you easily change the water, or do you soak it next to a tap? Soak next to tap or hose, and tip away yukky water and start again each time.
 
- What do you soak it in?
Water Butt - put hay net in water butt on top of one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/PLASTIC-GAR...&qid=1390995465&sr=8-8&keywords=garden+riddle and something heavy on top to stop it floating up

- How long do you soak it for?
Between 4 and 16 hours (4 in winter, 16 in summer)

- How do you hang it up when it's so heavy?
Attach hose pipe to water butt tap and drain - don't have to lift hay net out and because it is sitting above the height of the drainage tap it isn't sitting in the dirty water so can be left until you need it

- What do you do in the Winter when everything is frozen?
This is tricky but raising the water butt off the ground on bricks and wrapping it in an old turnout rug helps. Also I don't soak overnight in winter

- How do you easily change the water, or do you soak it next to a tap?
Hose pipe

Thank you![/QUOTE]
 
I use a cut off blue plastic barrel and its parked next to the hose. I only soak for one hour cos mine is due to his cough.
My other half has made me a trolley with a mesh top so i pull it out onto that and it drains through the mesh, then i wheel it across to his stable and dont have to lift far to hang it up
 
I do what dalidaydream does and use a waterbutt on a stand. It's made soaking hay a breeze this year in comparison to previous years. I won't worry about using it when it gets below freezing although I am sure that lagging it in some way would help.
 
Don't forget you have to rinse the hay after soaking - you'll see lots of yucky brown liquid wash out of it. That's what has been leached out, and needs rinsing away.
 
- What do you soak it in? large blue barrel tub

- How long do you soak it for? 20 minutes, this is to reduce dust, to remove sugars I know its longer, up to 20hrs dependant on reason you're soaking it for.

- How do you hang it up when it's so heavy? I pull out the tub and rest across top of tub to drain off excess water, then move in my wheelbarrow to stable and use my maaahoooosive muscles to heave'ho and hang up (aka cotton strings).

- What do you do in the Winter when everything is frozen? Don't empty the tub if taps are frozen and re use existing water

- How do you easily change the water, or do you soak it next to a tap? turn tub over, usually ask for help to empty, then refill using hose pipe. Tried to use a big flexi tub thing and didn't work as well, ended up soaking it in two halves, annoying and timely.

http://geegeeandme.blogspot.co.uk/
 
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