Soaked Hay?

[fathorse]

I'm just curious as to how many people soak their horses hay?

 

[asbo]

i soak little ones & dampen jays

 

[spaniel]

Always soaked mine.

The hay produced in this country contains way too many spores and too much dust to be fed dry. This is no criticism of farmers but the fact is our weather is not the best for producing clean hay.

 

[Damnation]

I always soak the hay I give Poutu. Fussy mare won't touch it dry. She is on hayledge at the momentso I don't get soaked trying to tie her hay net up!

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Yes I tend to. Depends on the quality of the hay though.

 

[SAL66]

I do, but not really sure the time that I soak the hay really makes a difference.

 

[Stinkbomb]

I soak mine for 12 hours to reduce calorie content.

 

[Charlie77]

My boy Dunks his! he has it in a pile dry next to his water bucket & he Dunks it, so it is wet when he eats it. I cant do it any other way, he copied his mum when he was a baby. if I was to put a hay net up he would pull the hay walk over & dunk! Strange.

 

[fathorse]

Ha ha, what if you give him soaked hay...does he still dunk it?!

 

[KatB]

Havent been as been very lucky with very good hay. Horse coughed this morning though, so will be soaking just in case it is hay (and not the fact he was neighing with his mouth full!!)

 

[Charlie77]

Yes even wet hay would have to be dunked! The only down side is I have very dirty water bucket every day. He is 14 in July so I have given up hope thinking he might grow out of it! It was cute when he was still with his mum & they used to take turn in dunking!

 

[Baileyhoss]

anyone tried steaming your hay instead? our yo swears by the work it saves him.

http://www.haysteamers.co.uk/acatalog/Hobby_Plus_Hay_Steamer.html

and guess what, he didn't even have to by it. a v handy livery oh made one from a wheelie bin and a wall paper steamer.
It works brilliantly and can do 3 haynets at once!.

 

[jen1]

Never used to but our hay is horrible at the moment, very dry and dusty also my horse is on box rest so needs hay and feeds wetted down/soaked as advised by vet as he isn't getting as much moisture as normal when eating grass.

Would be interested to know though how long is 'suitable' for soaking and what the difference is if it's done for a couple of hours or over night. Been amazed though how disgusting the colour of the water is when I tip it out!

 

[bex1984]

yep, soaked for 24 hours to take all the calories out because he's on a major diet. He has a lot of hay though because it's just fibre, no goodness, by the time it has been soaked for 24 hours. It has been brilliant this winter for getting the weight off him.

 

[MrDarcy93]

I used too.. And Darcy[my horse] much prefered it too dry hay. coz it was giving him a cough from being to dry. we totally soaked the hay then get rid of the excess water. And coz im at a yard with over 30 horses they do it in big bales at a time. Darcy enjoyed it. but got a bit skinny and went off it.

So now he's on lovely haylage lol x

 

[Loika]

Used to soak hay but now on haylage much much easier and no coughing!! All hay used to get dunked, never understood that someone said it was a sign of poor teeth?!?! All I know is, when given the opertunity my girl will steal someone elses dry hay but refuses dry of her own!! Jealousy I think!

 

[Bert&Maud]

I got into the habit of feeding it soaked when I had older horses who already had issues with allergies. Now I've got a youngster I still feed it soaked as I want to avoid problems in the future. There is so much debate about how long to soak it for, to get maximum absorbtion without losing nutrients. My vet said 30 minutes or so. I always feed it loose on the floor. I steam it when the weather is below freezing and the tank is frozen!