Soaking hay

[frostyfingers]

I have been advised to soak my horse's hay as the vet thinks he has low level COPD. I've not need to soak hay before and was wondering if there was a "recommended" time for it. An hour, a couple of hours, shorter, longer.......

He's not impressed by it at all, and thinks it's disgusting, which surprised me!

 

[FrostyFeet]

I just make sure it's thoroughly soaked,usually ten minutes or so,as it's only a matter of removing dust not sugars. It may be that with a shorter soaking time you find he'll eat it,as it tends to be when the sugar is soaked out that they become less keen!

 

[FrostyFeet]

Just noticed we're both 'Frosty' !! 😃

 

[Enfys]

Perhaps you might consider steaming as an alternative to soaking hay if it is just a question of dust rather than sugars.

I had one horse with heaves that had to have steamed hay (I used the plastic sack, kettles of boiling water method), it was a giant PITA to be honest, but that was from my personal point of view.

I CANNOT soak, it just wouldn't work, our temperatures in winter mean that even if the hay didn't freeze in the water it would turn into a hay popsicle within minutes of being hung up

http://www.equi-therapy.net/equi-therapy/nutrition/soaking-hay-horses.shtml

 

[tallyho!]

Just rinse under running water if COPD. Or steam....

People soak hay for far too long in this country. 30 mins is enough to leach out sugars. After that, every water soluble mineral that is valuable in forage is lost and you have to buy expensive supplements to put it all back in the diet.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

At my last yard they put the haynets in a bathtub and made a lid with a hole. Sealed the net in and poured boiling water in, then left the steam to fill up the bathtub and steam the net. I just rinse it thoroughly when introducing horses that have been on haylage to hay to avoid removing the nutrients, if you are trying to drop weight then you can soak for hours or even double soak and rinse to leave you with not much else than fibre

 

[applecart14]

Can you not steam it instead?