Safe material for soaking hay in

[JenJ]

Over the last couple of years, I have, through much trial and error, come up with a hay soaking system that is as easy as I think it can ever get.

An automatic timer on a hose attached directly to the tap fills my container with water between 04:00 and 04:16am every day. An automatic timer on another hose coming out of the container drains the hay from 06:00am. The haynets are held a few inches off the bottom of the container on a wire shelf to enable them to drain properly.

Every morning, I simply take out the drained nets from the container and put in the dry nets for the next day. The only maintenance that is required is hosing out the container every few days.

In order to achieve this level of automation, I use mesh netting to line the inside of container so that bits of hay don't get stuck in and block the hose outlet. The one I currently use is, I think, the weak link in my set up. It tears too easily, sticks to itself when wet (when I'm trying to clean it!) and is generally a bit unwieldy and inelegant.

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I was thinking of using material instead, then I thought that a fitted bedsheet might work well as it would have the elasticated top to go around the outside of the container. And I could chuck it in the washing machine on a cold rinse every week to keep it properly clean. But I'm concerned about chemicals leaching into the water and contaminating the hay. Would an organic cotton bed sheet be more suitable? Would it also need to be undyed, or would organic dyes be safe?

The hay wouldn't be sitting directly on the sheet but might come into contact with it at the sides.

If the organic sheet wouldn't work, can anyone suggest something that might? Needs to be easy to take in and out of the container, and easy to clean with a fine enough weave to trap most bits of hay.

Am I just over-thinking my attempt to eliminate the need to think?

 

[Landcruiser]

Hessian, maybe like the stuff they use to press cider apples?

 

[SEL]

I'm in awe of your set up!

Muslin cloths are used for traditional cheesemaking so must be safe. Would that work?

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Well impressed with your clever ideas. How about Dragons den - Deborah Meaden !

 

[quizzie]

Try a firmer, more robust version of what you currently use.

I use "Veggimesh" from Gardening Naturally on my veg patch, and would say it is not flimsy, definitely doesn't stick to itself when wet, and would not tear easily.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Tht sounds absolutely incredible! Rediculously incredible. When i was soaking hay I'd wondered if it were possible to somehow turn a tap on automatically but decided probably not!

Personally, I think you are over thinking the fabric/chemicals leaching idea though. Hay nets are not made out of organic cotton but we use them? Not picking holes just trying to make lif easier!

 

[Surbie]

I'd go for an organic cotton bedsheet over muslin - purely because muslin can be quite delicate and hay is very spiky.

Also very envious of your set up. We only have 1 tap for the whole yard so I doubt I'd be popular if I tried it sadly!

 

[Red-1]

BF says perforated polypropylene would drastically reduce the amount of hay going through and would be robust and easy to clean. It is about £65 for an 8ft x 4ft sheet. It is 3mm thick. He used it for the filter on his hay soaker.

 

[NiceChristmasBaubles]

Ooh we need pictures of your set up. I have had to start soaking hay after my mare got laminitis in April, and it's the bain of my life!

 

[Gloi]

That is amazing!

 

[JenJ]

So, photos, links and notes!

(I'll try and remember to take a photo tomorrow morning of the soaked/drained hay.)

As I said, it's a little inelegant, but it functions well enough. The mesh netting is the worst part of it, so I think the sheet will be a lot tidier/cleaner/easier.


For the automated water in, you do need to have a dedicated tap outlet so the tap can be left permanently on - I bought this double tap when automatic waterers were being installed in my stables and asked if they would mind adding the extra outlet from the pipe along the outside wall.

I used 3/4" hose as I wanted to maximise the flow of water, however the timers/fittings that I've added since I originally started would limit the flow anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. Plus, as I now have it automated, it's not very important how long it takes to fill/empty as I'm not standing there waiting!

The black elbow is covered in yellow silicone tape, but I can't remember why - probably from a previous iteration.



I initially had a digital timer on the inflow, but when I tried to automate the draining, the pressure from water in the container wasn't enough to trigger the valve opening. I found this manual timer coped with the reduced pressure well enough, and it allows up to 8 on/off timings (the digital one was only 1 on/off timing I think) so I also replaced the inflow digital timer with the manual one as well, so I could set two soaks a day when I had one pony on box rest.

The hose out just drains into the woods behind my stables.



I searched for ages to find a wire rack with the correct dimensions to sit on the wheel base of the container, eventually finding these metal shelves in IKEA which are almost a match. This holds the nets 3-4 inches off the base allowing them to drain well. The mesh/sheet lines the container and goes underneath the shelf.



I initially used barbell weights on the second shelf to weigh the nets down, but they kept falling off during the fill process. Eventually tried these inflatables, cable tied to the shelf, which mostly work. Sometimes the shelf has fallen to one side, but I think this happens during draining as the nets are thoroughly wet through, so not a problem. I experimented once with leaving the weighted shelf out, and the next morning the nets were only wet on the very bottom, so I presume they just floated on top of the water!

(I don't know why this particular photo has come out in a weird tone, but in real life it doesn't look as manky as this suggests!)


Obviously a lot of this is location specific and tailored to my needs, but some of the individual elements could be applied to many situations eg the draining shelf, the weighted shelf, the timed outlet, none of which require an independent water supply.

The container is BIG. But I wanted it to be wide enough to hold each net lengthwise. My ponies are little and so only have 2 - 2.5kg of hay, which are in the smallest nibbleze nets. There are other sizes of this Strata container available, or many other containers would work just as well.

I drilled holes through the containers for the in and out hose fittings and widened as needed with a Stanley knife. Given how clumsy I am, this meant that everything leaked at least a bit at first, hence I have copious supplies of silicone tape and waterproof tape. The outlet tap fitting still isn't watertight after about 4 attempts to redo the tape, but as it only leaks a little bit, and doesn't significantly affect the water level covering the hay, I now just pretend I don't notice.

I had to raise the container a decent amount to allow vertical space for the timer and also to allow gravity to give a bit more pressure for the water flow. I just chopped up some old rubber matting to use as a stand.

As I said, there has been a LOT of trial and error, and wasted time, money and effort, but I've now got a set up that does exactly what I want, and the only things that I still have to do (put the hay net in and take it out) can't be automated anyway, so, I'm satisfied with it.

If anyone can make use of some of these ideas, and benefit from my mistakes and learnings, I would be thrilled!

(Apologies for so many of the links being Amazon, but sometimes they are the obvious answer)

Container https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NPKKYQZ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

Hose https://www.toolstation.com/reinforced-pvc-water-hose/p12506

Double Tap https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C7W4XD4Y?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_24

Manual Timers https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N5PYUZ3?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
(Previous Auto Timers https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09P2Y9NRG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_18)

Tap In https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09VH3TYQK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

Tap Out https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08PKR4YWX?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Silicone Tape https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CZZDWXN?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_20&th=1

Plumbers Tape https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071X6PC89?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_21&th=1

Waterproof Tape https://www.toolstation.com/gorilla-waterproof-patch-seal-tape/p18482

Shelves https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/boaxel-wire-shelf-white-30449588/

Weights https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BDF6FD9B?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

 

[JenJ]

Hessian, maybe like the stuff they use to press cider apples?

I'm in awe of your set up!

Muslin cloths are used for traditional cheesemaking so must be safe. Would that work?

Try a firmer, more robust version of what you currently use.

I use "Veggimesh" from Gardening Naturally on my veg patch, and would say it is not flimsy, definitely doesn't stick to itself when wet, and would not tear easily.

BF says perforated polypropylene would drastically reduce the amount of hay going through and would be robust and easy to clean. It is about £65 for an 8ft x 4ft sheet. It is 3mm thick. He used it for the filter on his hay soaker.

All great suggestions but having had some reassurance that I'm overthinking, I've gone with my original bed sheet idea

Tht sounds absolutely incredible! Rediculously incredible. When i was soaking hay I'd wondered if it were possible to somehow turn a tap on automatically but decided probably not!

Personally, I think you are over thinking the fabric/chemicals leaching idea though. Hay nets are not made out of organic cotton but we use them? Not picking holes just trying to make lif easier!

I never even thought of that...

I'd go for an organic cotton bedsheet over muslin - purely because muslin can be quite delicate and hay is very spiky.

Also very envious of your set up. We only have 1 tap for the whole yard so I doubt I'd be popular if I tried it sadly!

Yep, I've gone for the organic bedsheet. To be honest it was the corner of the metal shelf that was doing the most damage to the mesh, but the spiky hay certainly wasn't helping!

 

[scats]

What a clever system!
I’m only hay soaking for an 11hh pony now so I do her night net in a tug trub. I use any water left over from their night water buckets and then just top up with the hose (I can usually fill over half from their night water, which makes me feel better re water waste)

I sold Polly’s hay cube last week as I just won’t use it anymore.

Soaking hay is one of the worst jobs!

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Thank you for taking the trouble to post photos and details. I’m not currently soaking hay but will definitely copy your system if the need arises.

 

[JenJ]

What a clever system!
I’m only hay soaking for an 11hh pony now so I do her night net in a tug trub. I use any water left over from their night water buckets and then just top up with the hose (I can usually fill over half from their night water, which makes me feel better re water waste)

I sold Polly’s hay cube last week as I just won’t use it anymore.

Soaking hay is one of the worst jobs!

I nearly caved a few weeks ago and bought two hay cubes, as how to 'serve' the hay in the stable was another dilemma I was having (my 'solution' can wait for another post!) but I realised that my biggest problem with soaking hay was the timing of it, for which I do 'need' the automatic timers.

 

[JenJ]

Oh, and I remembered why I had the yellow tape on the inlet tap - it was so I could see it easily and not accidentally knock it when putting haynets in or taking out!