Hi, anyone has some experience with hay steamer? like haygain is it good for the horses? I wonder if it would be good to buy one for my horses cause hay is a bit dusty and some horses are coughing and i cannot buy other hay at the facility.
thank you
Hi OP,
I have a Haygain steamer and I really like it. The 1/2 bale size is pretty portable and does a nice job.
ok thank you, i have two horses, is it good the small one? and how long does it takes to steam?
It’ll depend on the amount of hay you feed per day and how often you want to steam. If you are steaming once per day for both horses, you might want to consider the full bale size.
What I have found is that when you first switch the boiler on, the first load will take between 40 and 60 minutes to reach 180 degrees. Factors for that include how much hay you put in, whether you wet it first (I always do), and the temperature.
Once the boiler is hot, the second load should only take around 20 minutes or so. I can steam two loads on one boiler - I have not attempted to do three loads so I can’t say if you would need to add water for a third load.
I wheel my 1/2 bale size outside the barn and wet down the hay inside. If it’s raining, I’ll pull it back into the barn to steam. Otherwise, I just steam it outside, using an extension cord. The full bale might be a bit heavy to do that but you can use a drip pan under the steamer to catch any condensation and steam without wetting the hay or just use a gallon or so of water to wet it.
You can also steam in nets, although I haven’t tried that.
A (cheaper but messier) alternative to a steamer is to simply… rinse off the hay.
I’ve used various things from a laundry basket to (currently) a flat mixing tub, all with holes drilled in the bottom.
https://www.agrisupply.com/large-mixing-tub/p/54765/
As I understand it, the real problem is the horse breathing in the dust/mold spores. So if you get it all wet, the problem is solved. The idea of ‘killing’ the mold spores with heat is interesting, but I’d rather try to rinse them away than kill them and leave them in there.
This is kind of a middle ground between steaming and soaking. It works for me, YMMV.
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My husband made one based on pictures I gave him from the internet. I’ve been using it going on 2 years now. It has kept my RAO horse’s breathing clear. Once a year he usually needs a round of Dex, otherwise his coughing and breathing issues are non-existent. I go through a wallpaper steamer every 4-6 months or so but at less than $100 to build, it has been a great deal. Also, I soaked this horses hay for the better part of a year before going to the steamer and it did nothing to help him. So steaming, even with a crappy homemade rig, makes a big difference.
