Steaming Hay - How to??

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dollyrocks02

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Hello,
I haven't posted on here for ages! My mare is in all the time at the moment due to the weather/ground conditions. She has a slight dust allergy, which is managed by giving her soaked hay and bedding on rubber matting + shavings. However I obviously haven't been soaking the hay due to it freezing, so I've been chancing it with dry hay (its actually not dusty anyway) however she has been starting to have a few coughs, so I am thinking about steaming, How do I do it? and how long do I let it steam for? I know its still going to make the hay wet, but I thought not as much as soaking and it might be nice if it gets a bit warm for her on these cold nights!?!
I don't want to start feeding her haylage as she's not being ridden at the moment, let alone go out in the field and as she's quite sensitive to what she is fed I don't want to give her anything that might make her too buzzy!
Sorry for the silly question!
Many thanks in advance!
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oh p.s - please don't suggest one of those steamer things as sadly I can't afford one!!
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As I don't have electric at my yard, I bring my hay home in big thick strong bags. Put 2 kettles of boiling water over in the morning, and leave it until the evening. It sort of stews, but the horses seem to love it!
Otherwise, invest in a plastic dustbin, and steam in there. Time varies, but believe it should be for about half an hour to stop the dust.
 
Cool, thanks guys.
After I posted I then had another look around for this topic and found it had been discussed a couple of weeks ago - sorry!! As I say I haven't been on here for a while!
Will give it a go tomorrow!
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My friend helped me make one with a wallpaper stripper & a wheelie bin. Basically, he drilled a hole in the bin, low down & the hose from the stripper goes through & steams 1or2 nets for an hour. It's not dissimilar to a proper steamer. I have it on a timer & it's ready in the morning & evening. I already had the bin, so it just cost me £30 for the stripper.
 
You could abandon the hay and feed haylage for the time being. Haylage doesn't have the dust particles that are in hay, so doesn't need soaking. You'd have to manage her switch over carefully though.
 
My friend brought a cheap wallpaper steamer for about £20 and puts the end in a alfa a bag of hay and leaves for about 20 mins to steam. This worked brill- sounds similar to legaldancers idea but with a bag instead.
 
We did the same as Legaldancer - sooo much cheaper than the ready made steamers and you can pick up a Blackspor wallpaper stripper for as little as 15 pounds. We use big bale haylage now so dont need to worry anymore.
 
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