Soaking the goodness out of hay

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brightmount

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My daughter's ISH is officially too fat. She has just one very small hard feed to put her F4F into, other than that she gets grazing and hay. She is obviously a good do-er as she is worked nearly every day but still has a belly.

The back lady suggested soaking her hay for at least 12 hours. Now this might be a numpty question but I'm not used to soaking hay this long and need a few practical tips, because I have only ever sprayed a haynet for a few minutes and strung it up to drip. To soak hay for at least 12 hours I will need to put it in something - a dustbin or wheelbarrow. But as for draining it, there must be a technique. (I believe soaked hay water is toxic so it wouldn't be good to feed it too wet.)

And would it matter if it was soaked for more than 12 hours as that would be more convenient in terms of how often I'm up the yard?

Are there any do's and don'ts that I should be aware of?
 
We soak hay for 12 -24hrs for fatties. Also feed it loose, so just stuff a dustbin then pop it under the tap and fill it up, with a couple of bricks ontop. When we need it we just tip the bins over. We aren't connected to mains water or drains though.
 
We have a wheelie bin with a tap at the bottom. We soak hay overnight, then in the morning drain it, hang it up and thoroughly rinse it with fresh water. It stays there throughout the day and is then fed that night.
 
The effluent from hay soaked that long really isn't nice!

Have you considered feeding a really good quality oat straw instead?
 
[ QUOTE ]
The effluent from hay soaked that long really isn't nice!

Have you considered feeding a really good quality oat straw instead?

[/ QUOTE ]

No I hadn't thought of that, it would make me a bit nervous as she's on a straw bed and I might make her into an indiscriminate straw eater. Huh the problems of fatties
confused.gif
 
I soak mine in a huge bin (in the net) then remove it, rinse it, and drain it for as long as it takes to muck out etc. I then put it in a HUGE tub trug in the stable (obviously, minus the net) so we havent got a wet floor.
 
When i had to soak mine for 12 hours i put a haynet in a normal dustbin, filled it up with water and when i came back later i pushed it over for the water to drain and then put haynet onto a plank of wood over bucket, rinsed it and left it to drain while i mucked out etc xxxx
 
It's important to rinse the hay thoroughly with fresh water. And also very important where the water it was soaked in goes as it is very harmful to wildlife etc.
 
People RINSE they hay? I've never heard or done that! Usually soak in a bin for however long, tip the bin over, drag haynet out with the flow of water to help, stand bin up and put haynet on top to drain - voila! Have to say, I very rarely soak hay now though, but YO does.
 
I've never heard that you have to rinse soaked hay. Daisy's only ever eats soaked hay because she's a fatty and while the hay is drained before she eats it its still very wet. What damage have I done to her? Surely even if you rinse it most of the water is still in the hay because it really soaks it up.
 
Yep, should defo rinse it off I'm afraid. Ok if only soaked for an hour or so but taste/take a look at the water after 12hrs and see for yourselves!!
Always change the water after each soaking and let it drain for a bit to prevent wet beds and sore backs!!
TBH you are much better off finding some clean but old / last years hay with a low feed value to save all the faffing about. Often farmers or hay merchants are happy to get it off their hands for a very reasonable price.
I personally wouldn't feed straw as it can cause compacted colic in some horses (particularly those on a diet) and often has a lot more chemicals used on it than hay (but some people obviously get on with it so who knows !!).
Good luck with your 'fatty', I've got an ID and she's actually even called 'Fatty' for a very good reason!!!!
 
Im using last years hay but still advised to soak it as horse has had lami what damage is being done with it not being rinsed,my horse has no problems with eating it
 
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