Toxic water from soaking hay??

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Daphnelia

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I am posting this on behalf of a friend, who is currently looking after a couple of laminitic ponies. She soaks hay for 24 hours before feeding it, but doesn't empty out her water barrels every day, just tops it up with fresh water. Will this cause the water the hay is soaked in to become toxic? When I was little at the riding school, I don't think we never emptied the old baths we used for soaking hay..
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Hay should only be soaked for a maximum of 20 mins otherwise it re-absorbs the dust/spores etc after this period that is left in the water. I understand the that the ponies are Laminitics and so she probably feels she is reducing the sugars by doing this but it is a very unhealthy method.
 
Ditto Dressage_Babe and yes the water is toxic!!

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Environment Agency guidelines for stables states that the following is mandatory

* "Run-off from manure heaps, contaminated yards, stable washings and hay soaking should not be allowed to enter surface waters or watercourses unless a written authorisation (a discharge consent) has been received from your Environmental Regulator."

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Hay soaking water becomes about as healthy as raw sewerage very quickly. Your friend really should be changing the soaking water a few times in that 24 hour period and I would certainly wash the hay in clean water just before serving.
 
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Hay should only be soaked for a maximum of 20 mins otherwise it re-absorbs the dust/spores etc after this period that is left in the water. I understand the that the ponies are Laminitics and so she probably feels she is reducing the sugars by doing this but it is a very unhealthy method.

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I don't think this is correct. The soaking causes small particles to swell up so they are ingested rather than inhaled. You only need to soak the hay for 5 minutes to achieve this. The hay must be fed wet, it is if the hay is allowed to dry befoe feeding that the mold spores propogate.

Soaking for 24 hours allow nutrients to leach out of the hay so don't do this if you are only soaking for dust reduction but want to retain the nutritional content. For fatties though this is a good way of feeding fibre withut the sugar content. The water should be thrown away though, and fresh water used for the next soak. Ideally you should rinse the hay off before feeding.

The water has all the nutrients in it which is why you need to throw it away and start again . It is also disgusting, especially in summer (I think has similar compsition to sewer effluage
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QR thank you all. Re: why she hasnt noticed no idea, I mentioned it and she said she'd never heard of it. Hence me asking on here. Will it have done the ponies any damage?
 
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QR thank you all. Re: why she hasnt noticed no idea, I mentioned it and she said she'd never heard of it. Hence me asking on here. Will it have done the ponies any damage?

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Not if they're still standing
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Kanter: My information was written on evidence that a local hay grower, equine nutritionist & Vet carried out some scientific experiments to test all types of hay for laminitics to race horses the farmer produces all grades of hay purely for horses.
 
I have been soaking my boy's hay for 3 years now (vet's orders as he has a dust allergy). Vet said 6 hours minimum. The smallest particles or spores aren't neutralized under 6 hours.

This is how we do it: Fresh water late afternoon for soaking until next morning. And fresh water again in the morning for his late afternoon serving. We never use the same water, keep soaking hay in cool spot in summer and in warm one in winter !

Boy has never had a problem but YO recycle the water for watering her plants. Will keep a close eyes on her roses and geraniums
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Hay should only be soaked for a maximum of 20 mins otherwise it re-absorbs the dust/spores etc after this period that is left in the water. I understand the that the ponies are Laminitics and so she probably feels she is reducing the sugars by doing this but it is a very unhealthy method.

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Bo**ocks. I've two ponies diagnosed years ago with COPD and since laminitis. Their Hay is now soaked for approximately 8 - 12 hours (change water each time). No breathing problems and no laminitis.
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Fresh water should always be used. The bowl it is soaked in should be thoroughly rinsed out each time before re-filling with fresh water.

Hay can be soaked overnight if you wish. However do not soak it for long periods of time on a warm day as this can cause bacterial activity which can cause problems.

The longer the hay is soaked the greater the reduction in nutritional quality of the hay.
 
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Hay should only be soaked for a maximum of 20 mins otherwise it re-absorbs the dust/spores etc after this period that is left in the water. I understand the that the ponies are Laminitics and so she probably feels she is reducing the sugars by doing this but it is a very unhealthy method.

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Bo**ocks. I've two ponies diagnosed years ago with COPD and since laminitis. Their Hay is now soaked for approximately 8 - 12 hours. No breathing problems and no laminitis.
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I think it's the sugars that can be re-absorbed, not the dust/mould spores. The latter just swell up. This is why ideally you change the water a few times if you want to maximise the nutrient leaching.

96% of the dust / mould spores are 'deactivated' after 5 mins, so no need to soak longer than this for COPD sufferers. For laminitics you are soaking for a different reason, to reduce the sugar content of the hay. So you soak for longer. Nutrient leaching is high after 12 hours, and marginally higher after 24, but the water becomes increasingly pollutant.

Hope this helps
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Kanter: My information was written on evidence that a local hay grower, equine nutritionist & Vet carried out some scientific experiments to test all types of hay for laminitics to race horses the farmer produces all grades of hay purely for horses.

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Not sure how old this information is, but I go to regular meetings with nutritionalists of feed companies, to get updated with recent research and their advice is to soak for 12 hours plus, especially for laminitics.
 
Anyone any tips of hanging a wet haynet without a) getting soaked and b) killing yourself with the amount of effort it is to lift the blooming thing high up to tie it through the ring??
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chickeninabun, I use two nets instead of one. That way they are lighter to tie up. I drain the worst of the water but still haven't solved how not to get a wet front when I tie up.

I have a fatty and soak for about 2 hours this time of year, and it is a very tiny net given at lunchtime so he has something in his tum as he stays in all day off the grass.

I use fresh water each soaking.
 
even if you dont change the water every day but do it every weekend as long as you wash it with clean water before you feed it to your horse what harm can it do?
 
I ALWAYS get wet from lifting very heavy soaked haynet out of the dustbin!! No way of avoiding it I think. I did consider feeding haylage instead but my horse needs a v.large haynet with tiny holes to keep him occupied. Perhaps someone could invent a hay soaker and drainer in one thats electric and does all the work for you!!
 
Don't lift the hay out of the bin! Tip the bin over. Haynet comes out with water and drains quite a lot while on the floor. Then hang it up to finish draining when its a bit lighter.
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I still can't do it without getting wet though
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Anyone any tips of hanging a wet haynet without a) getting soaked and b) killing yourself with the amount of effort it is to lift the blooming thing high up to tie it through the ring??
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I don't do haynets (apart from for soaking) they are dangerous

Still would like to find a way of trickle feeding my boy his hay though!

My soaker bin is a low one so don't have to lift the net out to high
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KVS: You really are quite the nasty person, I hope you sleep at night, do you follow me around slating my advice because you're jealous. I have read a couple of your posts which seem to place you in the 'novice' catagory so if you do need any help you are very welcome to PM me and I will try to advise you. However, in the meantime if you do not agree with what I write please don't lower the tone by swearing at my comments. Thank you.
 
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Hay should only be soaked for a maximum of 20 mins otherwise it re-absorbs the dust/spores etc after this period that is left in the water. I understand the that the ponies are Laminitics and so she probably feels she is reducing the sugars by doing this but it is a very unhealthy method.

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I suspect that is not correct. Using the same water may be unhealthy, but soaking for longer than 20 minutes is fine. If all you want to do is remove the dust, steaming is sufficient.
 
I dont need to soak hay for Littleman, but i did have to for my previuos mare and this was my routine.
I usually soak a net in the morning for the evening, the net which has 3 slices in goes in a big dustbin, by brute force and sometimes standing on it! water up to top of bin and normally it will stay emersed.
When i get down the yard am or pm the first thing i do is tip the bin over, to drain most water out, then i will lift the net on to the bin lid, laying on the floor, this allows most of the water to drain away. Then i go and do what needs to be done, ie morning = stables, afternoon = groom and ride, when i have finished (approx 1hr) i will hang up the net, by then it is considerably lighter and you dont get soaked.

Littleman is not fed out of a net, and i think if i had to soak his hay he would still have it on the floor. I would buy one of those rubber mats with big holes in (used for gateways / driveways) and i would sit the hay on that to allow it to continue draining.

Hope this is of use.
 
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