How long should I soak his hay?

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tremorfa

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Clyde has been on box rest for 7 weeks. he has been on ad lib hay with no problems.A week ago, I gave him some hay which was mouldy inside- obviously did not realise this until he had eaten into it. Since then, he has been coughing. So, I decided to soak his hay and the result was amazing- the cough stopped within a short space of time. I made the farmer come and pick up all the old stuff and supply new- which is really nice. However, the minute Clyde eats dry hay, he coughs, so have decided to soak all hay until he is back out in the field. So,my question is- for how long do you soak hay? I soaked one lot for hours on Friday and had great difficulty lifting the damn thing! Is it ok just to soak for say, 30 minutes? Will that be long enough?
 
Im not too sure how long is best to soak hay as there is an argument that if you soak it for too long (hours) that the hay will lose its nutrients (or most of them anyway). If i was soaking mine (i have done in the past), then i would do it for about 30 mins and no longer. I think that if your soaking it to prevent coughing then you just need the hay to be wet so its not dusty. Im no expert on the subject, thats just my opinion
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i have always been told to soak hay for about 15-20 minutes thoroughly, otherwise you start loosing any goodence in the hay.
have you tried haylage this tends to be less dusty?
 
I soak my hay as its rubbish (except the lovely big bale hay i give to the liveries which is lovely) but i have to use crappy small bales which are quite dusty. So i put it in a haynet, then have a big tub of water and dunk it in that for 2 minutes, then get it out a put it on a grill to drain out.
I used to do it for 20 mins (recommended time) but it got so heavy and took all the goodness out i stopped that. I've found there to be no difference only soaking it for 2 mins, my horses still don't cough, which they will if given dry hay.

Heres a link to another thread from the other day-
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...&PHPSESSID=
 
If really a serious allergy problem (like my boy), my vet said it had to soak 6 hours min. Otherwise it's useless. Only way to eliminate the microscopic particles in hay which are the ones causing allergic reactions.
I have mine soaking in the morning for the afternoon and in the afternoon for the next morning.
Hope this helps...
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Good luck !
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[ QUOTE ]
If really a serious allergy problem (like my boy), my vet said it had to soak 6 hours min. Otherwise it's useless. Only way to eliminate the microscopic particles in hay which are the ones causing allergic reactions.
I have mine soaking in the morning for the afternoon and in the afternoon for the next morning.
Hope this helps...
smile.gif
Good luck !
laugh.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I always soak mine overnight or from morning till evening. I found that soaking for just 1/2 an hour didnt do much.
My thinking is if it soaks the nutrients out then I just feed a wide spectrum multi vitamin, would rather have to replace those than deal with COPD or something.
 
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