when soaking hay....

[ChubbyPony]

can you re-use the water? it is soaked in a bin...can I take one haynet out and put another in to soak? or do I need to tip the water out and get fresh?xx

 

[Mongoose11]

Fresh needed.

 

[bgb]

I have always been taught to re-use the water. This way the first hay you soak in it loses the dust but also nutrients, then the next net you soak loses the dust but keeps the nutrients as the water is already full of it.

 

[milliepops]

Fresh water each time for me. I read that the filthy water produced by proper soaking (as opposed to dunking ) is similar in content to effluent. Grim! I use my mares left over drinking water each day to soak my hay.

 

[LD&S]

I think it depends why you are soaking, if it is to try and remove/reduce as much of the sugars as possible then you will need fresh, if it's just to take out the dust then I I think you can reuse but only a couple of times as it gets a bit rank.

 

[amandap]

Depends why you are soaking. If to remove water soluble sugars then you definitely need fresh each time. The water can only 'hold' so much sugar, once the balance between sugars in hay and sugars in water is reached reusing water wont remove any more so it's pointless bothering to soak.

 

[WandaMare]

I change the water each time and rinse the soaked haynets off with the hose before feeding.

 

[ChubbyPony]

thanks will change it as its to get rid of sugar x do I need to rinse off the haynets...we don't have a hose?

 

[rema]

I do the same as Milliepops..I use what's left of the three horses water to soak my hay..I'm trying to get rid of as much sugar as possible for my Lami prone boy..

 

[Perissa]

thanks will change it as its to get rid of sugar x do I need to rinse off the haynets...we don't have a hose?

Yes it needs rinsing until the water runs clear.

If you don't the hay smells rank.