Soaked oats, just a few small numpty questions!!

[Vickijay]

Hi,

On HHO advice I am going to try my fussy 4yo TB mare on soaked oats. So I brought some today. Just a few questions....

Is it bad to soak them for more than 12 hours?? Like today I put them in for tomorrow morning at 3ish but I wont be there till 6.30am tomorrow, is that bad??

Could you soak them for less?? So could I soak the evening ones in the morning?

How do you drain them??

Can they be stored out of the water till the evening??

and whats your routine to when you soak and drain them?

Im a bit tricky as dont have set times I get there each day, normally im there between 6.30 and 9am and again between 2 and 5pm

Sorry for all the potentially stupid questions, Im just a bit worried about them fermenting or something!!!!

Thanks

Vicki x

 

[eggs]

Have never used soaked oats before.

Have you tried adding sugar beet to your mare's feed to try to encourage her to eat it?

 

[Chico Mio]

OK. No not bad to soak for longer. My routine goes like this:

Day 1 Morning Put oats in sack/water
Day 3 Morning Hang oats to drain (so, soaking for twenty-four hours)
Day 3 Evening Tip drained oats into storage bucket with lid
Day 3 Evening Put oats in sack/water
Day 4 Evening Hang oats to drain
Day 5 Morning Tip oats into storage bucket

Etc Etc.

I put up enough oats for four feeds at a time, they stay fine in the storage bucket in a cool place - I even feed them if they've started sprouting a bit.

 

[Vickijay]

[ QUOTE ]
Have never used soaked oats before.

Have you tried adding sugar beet to your mare's feed to try to encourage her to eat it?

[/ QUOTE ]

She doesnt like it, not the mollased stuff, not the unmollased stuff. She also doesnt like any kinda nuts, mint, mollases, any kind of chaff, ready grass etc.

She likes the mix she gets but not really fussed. People on here say that soaked oats may be the answer. She only came out of racing 4 months ago, I think shes just a bit fed up with hard feed

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

You will find that the time you soak them for changes through the year - the colder it is the slower the enzyme activity so the longer I soak them. In the winter I would always soak for 24 hours - from spring to autumn (ie whilst it is warm) you can soak them for less.

We always soak enough for 2/3 days - when they are drained we keep them in a bin (we have adustbin inside a dustbin, the top bin has holes in the bottom so we just tip the soaked oats in and they drain in there. Just empty the water out every days or so).

If your feed room/storage gets chilly I put the soaking oats inside a feedbin to help maintain the temperature.