Do these really work for horses with mild to moderate RAO? My horse has cushings so can’t use dex.
You can sort of make your own and give it a trial run for very cheap. My gelding had a cough I couldn’t get rid of. The hay steamers are 2k. So I bought two electric kettles. I fill a hay net and put two boiling kettles over it, shut the lid on the rubbermaid deck box and let it steep. He hasn’t coughed in months. I don’t 100% know if it was an environmental allergen that is now gone or if it’s the homemade steamer, but the change is marked enough that I’m considering the real deal in the future.
It’s a big investment, but the hay steamer made a huge difference for my horse.
Since you already have the tub, you might want to make up a redneck version instead of buying a commercially made steamer. A friend of ours used her insulated deck box as the hay holder. She fed a PVC pipe, maybe a 1 inch, thru the end wall and the length of the box. PVC pipe has holes drilled in the sides and top to let steam escape. She laid some wire refrigerator shelves over the pipe to hold the bale up off the bottom of box. She used a small wallpaper steamer to provide the heat and water, with a connecting tube to the box. She puts the entire bale in the box, cuts the strings to open the flakes for steaming.
Time for steaming was a bit of “learn as you go” so it doesn’t cook the hay to mush, or not long enough to get all the hay dampened. Worked well as a steamer for a greatly reduced cost.
Yes, I’ve thought of this! And might make it my winter project. The box I’m using isn’t insulated so it’s not even the greatest - was just what I had on hand for my “test”.
