Soaking hay

[mswillie]

I’m trying to reduce sugars in my horse’s diet. I board and the hay comes from different sources and different batches so testing isn’t going to be useful.

I think soaking might be a good option but since the horses are out at night and brought in very early I would have to soak it and set it up, up to 12 hours prior to him eating it.

My worry is spoilage. Has anyone ever fed hay soaked that far in advance?

[Lisa_Preston]

Long soaks will increase microbial growth, especially in warm temps–so it matters if you’re in a Phoenix-like climate or not…

Here are a couple of good studies on that included very long soaks:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652661

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0114079

[Wayside]

My pony regularly eats hay that gets soaked for 12 hours, but he eats most of his hay in the winter, I’m in Wisconsin so it doesn’t get very hot most of the time, and since he’s only 11hh, it’s a little bit of hay in a lot of water when I am soaking in the summer. I also generally rinse his soaked hay before feeding it in the summer, so hopefully some of the microbes are traveling with the water instead of the hay.

[trubandloki]

In the hot summer months it can be more difficult. If you clean the bucket and use clean water every time you have a good chance of being OK.

Are you thinking over night because you will have to set it up soaking for the barn staff?
Is there any way they can set their morning up so your hay gets set soaking when they start their morning chores and by the time they are done with all their chores it has soaked long enough?

[StormyDay]

I soak my hay for that long sometimes. You know it is soaking for too long when it gets this sickly sweet fermented smell… much like chaff hay. According to some people, you can feed it like this with no side effects. I haven’t tried.

[invinoveritas]

Soaking hay while you clean stalls or work around the barn is the way to do it. I soak for at least 20 minutes, up to an hour. I’d not soak for 12 hours even in winter. Horses do not do well on silage.

[Angela_Freda]

We have a horse who gets soaked hay, and at this time of year I try to put the muck tub it soaks in inside the barn where it’s cooler, or do it right before feeding… but his is really rinsed just for dust and not to reduce sugars.
I find that not letting the remaining water sit in the tub means it won’t get smelly… so it gets dumped and I try to let the tub actually air dry as well.

[mswillie]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8698167]
In the hot summer months it can be more difficult. If you clean the bucket and use clean water every time you have a good chance of being OK.

Are you thinking over night because you will have to set it up soaking for the barn staff?
Is there any way they can set their morning up so your hay gets set soaking when they start their morning chores and by the time they are done with all their chores it has soaked long enough?[/QUOTE]

I need to get it soaked and put it in the stall the night before so it’s ready when the horses get brought in. Morning feeding is just one person who is doing all the feeding, turn-in and out, hay, and water for close to 40 horses and it really is too much to add one more chore, and a heavy one at that.

I think for the time being I can soak and set it up the night before. I did it last night and when I got to the barn this morning at 11:00 he only had a little bit left and it smelled fine. I’ll have to keep an eye on it when it gets hotter. The barn is 45 minutes drive one way. I am getting ready to go out again now but I can’t do that much travel each day. Normally I head out in the afternoon but I had a lesson this morning and I was afraid to let the hay sit around damp for that many extra hours.

I’m also thinking about having them not give him hay first thing, then I can go out later and soak and give him his ration. He manages to finish it in a couple hours (in a small hole net) and winds up in his stall for several hours without hay anyway. He’s not a candidate for free choice hay. This may actually be the best option.

[horsepoor]

You might find it easier to just try to find some tested low NSC hay and provide that for him. If you can! I’d be worried about it sitting that long, especially as the weather heats up. I’ve only had to soak hay when here with my horses at home - I can’t imagine dealing with it in a boarding barn situation, so you definitely have my sympathy.