Steaming Hay - how long? Is it better than soaking?

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SunshineTallulah

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Hello!

Am trying to eliminate anything that could be causing coughing.....

Is steaming hay better than soaking it?

I can steam it in a dustbin by pouring a couple of kettles of hot water over the haynet. How long do you then leave it to steam???

TIA
 
I'm not sure a couple of kettles of boiling water would do the trick ST? I think thorough steaming wets any spores/dust as effectively as soaking but maybe (dunno - just guessing) doesn't leach away quite so much of the nutrition. But I would guess that if you have a horse with COPD you would need really thorough soaking/steaming for it to be effective. I know they make electric steamers but they probably cost an arm and a leg! Have you tried ned on haylage?

Good luck x
 
steaming is much much more effective than soaking but i dont know if a kettle would be thorough enough?
the new haysteamers usually work for 35-40 minutes though if you're thinking of giving it a go!!
 
Ok - thank you!

A friend suggested, sticking the hay in a dustbin, couple of kettle fulls of boiling water and leave the lid on - but omitted to tell me how long for.

I figured it was worth a try!
 
We've just started steaming our hay but we made our own contraption, as we thought the 'proper' steamers were a bit pricey (think £600!). We fashioned one up using a wheelie bin and a wallpaper stripper from B&Q. Type 'steaming hay' into the search engine and you'll get a fair bit of info.
 
[ QUOTE ]
A friend suggested, sticking the hay in a dustbin, couple of kettle fulls of boiling water and leave the lid on - but omitted to tell me how long for.

I figured it was worth a try!

[/ QUOTE ]
I think it's about 20 mins... or until the water goes cold
tongue.gif

Definitely worth a try
smile.gif
 
About half an hour is fine - I do mine with 2 or 3 kettles and its nice throughout but you may need more dep on size of your net and dustbin. Doesn't matter if its still warm when you get it out as by time you have walked across yard and hung it up in your box it has cooled enough.
 
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