# Soaking hay in the winter?



## Lotty (7 October 2010)

My mare was diagnosed with laminitis earlier this year so I have to soak her hay for as long as possible. I have got a good routine going at the moment but I'm thinking ahead to winter 

Is there any way to soak hay this winter without it freezing? Does anyone have any good ideas?

Thanks


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## thatsmygirl (7 October 2010)

I will be interested in this one as well. I soaked hay all last winter for the same reasons. 
Firstly getting water was a nightmare to start with as taps were frozen solid so at the end off each day any dustbins etc were filled to the brim with water to help.
I put my dustbin in a spare stable with rugs round/ between hay bales etc but always froze.
In the morning the haynet was so frozen I stuggled to pull it out the bin as it was frozen to the sides and was a solid ice cube so had to boil the kettle a few times to defrost it.
Bloody nightmare
so any tips to make things easier bring them on


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## nikk62 (8 October 2010)

Hi,

I have the same problem but thought I would add that I used to soak my hay for 12 hours.
Recently I had a "scare" with my little pony escaping from her paddock.
I rang the Laminitis clinic who were really helpful and said that the hay only needs to be soaked for 1 hour. 
So now that's all I soak it for.

Not always easy when you live a few miles away from the yard though


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## 0ldmare (8 October 2010)

This is worrying me too! My mare has laminitis/recently diagnosed cushings and I'm going to have to soak  too. I think what I'm going to do is switch her to blue horsehage for the worst 3 months to be honest. Its an expensive solution when I've got a barn full of hay though. Just can't think what else to do. I don't even have any proper drains so even getting rid of the water is going to be difficult let alone frozen taps etc. Someone needs to invent something!!!


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## Tezzy (9 October 2010)

I have been soaking hay for a while now. We had a problem at the yard where the water stopped running. It was a nightmare. I had to take a bale of hay home in the back of my car (Back seats dropped). It was a right mess. I then used one of the recycling bustins at home & put it in the garage to soak the hay & then hang it up in there to dry. I will be do the same thing this winter. I then put the haynet in a gaint black bag & took it up in the morning.
It takes me ages to hoover the boot out after taking the bale of hay out


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## SVMel (9 October 2010)

Have you got electric at the yard??

The only thing I can think of is to soak, as you can't do much else, then to use a steamer to thaw it out when you need it? Just a bog standard household steamer should do it, mine has a nozzle attachment which makes it easy to direct the steam to where you want it. Would also help thaw taps etc, you could bring the water for the steamer from home each day.

Or am I just being really daft????????


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## thatsmygirl (9 October 2010)

I find I can't use the blue horsehage on my little man. It makes him fat so quickly and he had colic while on it as hay was short for a few weeks. He had to have such a small amount so not to put any more weight on that he had eatten it in a matter off mins and when u can't turn out on frozen grass you want them to be able to stay happy and nibble away. Soaked hay my boy can more or less eat at lib so will stick to hay but just gona be hard again me thinks.


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## Shay (9 October 2010)

Steaming is the obvious solution assuming you have electricty.  You don't have to buy a purpose built steamer - you can make one with a DIY wallpaper stripper, and old dustbin and some black plastic.  If you search the forum you should find instructions.

Alterntaively I suppose you could try to soak it at home.  Or possibly soak it in hot water?  Advice on how long to soak for varies.  Some vets say you must soak for 12 hours if you are trying to reduce calorie content.  But then that soaking in cold water isn't effective anyway.  Some say one hour is ample.  As long as your vet is happy with the 1 hour option it might be worth getting those 10l water containers and bringing up hot water from home to soak in.  It'll go cold in an hour - but might not freeze!


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## Humble (9 October 2010)

I don't think steaming hay will reduce the sugar content.  It may be worth getting your hay analyzed (Dodson & Horrell do this for about a fiver) and I think if it is less than 10% sugars it should be OK (laminitus trust will confirm) to feed dry to horses/ponies not having an acute episode of laminitus.  It is also correct that the 1st few hours get rid of most of the soluble sugars with the rate of sugar dissolving in the water, reducing with time. Another option would be if the hay is greater than 10% sugar,  to feed half hay and half straw (preferably oat and again if possible analysed for sugar content) well mixed e.g. if the hay was 12% sugar and the Straw 6% sugar a half and half mixture would 9% sugar (I think my maths is right!!), but I suppose this would only be OK if they ate all of the mixed ration.


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## suejs001 (30 November 2010)

I'm having a nightmare at the moment with this... Sam got accute laminitis which went chronic as his pedal bone rotated and also sank last January from frozen snow in his feet  hard ground  and was on 5 1/2 months total box rest plastic imprint shoes for 5 months etc etc etc ... I nearly lost him :'(  so... I soak his hay.  However he can no longer go out in this weather but I can't soak his hay I still have a haynet stuck in the tub trug as it is so frozen -8 yesterday morning.  So I don't have much option but to feed it dry as frozen hay can cause colic!!! :/ what are we to do about this ... Also there is research that says that winter water does not leech the sugars from the hay no matter how long you soak it for ??? Anyone got any suggestions?? 
Thanks


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## Lotty (30 November 2010)

suejs001 - The water at the yard is frozen and doesn't thaw until around 4.00pm, so I've started taking my haynets home to soak. I soak them at home, drain them and put them in the garage until I have to take them to the yard. 

When I take the haynets out after soaking the water is very brown so it must be taking some of the sugar out. I'm not sure, I just can't risk giving her un-soaked hay. I've even been thinking about a hay replacer but my mare would probably eat it in one go.....I hate this weather.


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## Bryndu (30 November 2010)

I soak my 3 ponies hay...yes, I DO have the muscles of the diet coke guy!... I am lucky in that I can leave my tap dripping so it don't freeze and I use a trug tub thing from the farmers co op so it takes less filling. I drain 'em then I put them on a wire rack off the ground - strong mesh will do as long as it don't bend - and then place a tub trug over each haynet so it is covered. The only thing that tends to freeze is the string if I forget to tuck it in!
I also use tiny holed haynets and wierdly they don't tend to freeze like the bigger hole ones!
Bryndu


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## ldlp111 (30 November 2010)

Having this problem too  haven't worked out a better solution yet......
Didn't realise frozen hay can cause colic?


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## monkeymad (30 November 2010)

I have been managing to soak my hay thro'out this awful weather.  I defost the tap in the morning and fill up 2 dustbins with a big haynet in each.  I then tip them over the drain at about 4pm and keep the dustbins on top and leave them for 45 mins, in the meantime I pour 2 or 3 kettles of boiling water over each net to stop them becoming too crunchy.  I have a few bales of horsehage and add in some of this but I can't afford to switch them over to this fully.  (Mine need soaked hay cos they cough on dry, so not sure how I'd manage if I had to soak for 12 hours to get rid of sugars).  In the mornings I put a couple of hay nets in big plastic bags and pour a kettle of boiling water in to steam the hay (but wouldn't feel happy giving them big quantities this way as one does tend to cough after his morning hay).


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## frankie8 (30 November 2010)

I have to soak my mares hay as she is on box rest at the mo and would be the size of a house if it wasn't soaked! I soak my hay loose in dustbins, weighed down with a full up jerry can and they haven't frozen as yet. All those on the yard who soak their hay in haynets have frozen, so I don't know if it is because my hay is loose? Worth a try!


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## sueeltringham (30 November 2010)

I was really worried about how I was going to manage soaking hay in winter weather.  Well, the winter has most definitely arrived in the North East.  I bought a water butt from B&Q.  It holds two decent sized hay nets and I run the hose pipe in through the top, leave to soak a while, then open tap at the bottom and let water drain.  Hay has not been frozen so far as it's inside the lidded water butt.  I'm really pleased with the set-up and it's much easier than soaking in a tub trug/bin which is what I was doing previously.
Hope that helps.

Sue


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## suejs001 (1 December 2010)

Thank you for the suggestions  
I don't have a garage so I have no where to do it at home i live in a mid terrace with no access from the back etc as it backs onto another house... AAnd, I have just moved yards been there 3 weeks - no actual drains to tip out the hay water but there is a hedge!  but I don't know how I would let it drain in this freezing weather   I am getting water from home as the water is still frozen... I guess that is the advantage of a livery yard v small private yard.  I am finding it really difficult.  I rang the vets about the frozen hay and it was them that told me about frozen hay giving colic  I do like the water butt idea and will have to speak with the yard owner - there is no hosepipe!!! 

I don't know what is better for them dried hay or horsehage that is allegedly ok for laminitics???  Sam isn't in an acute or chronic state at the moment, but I don't want him putting loads of weight on because he is in and I cannot excersise him  

Haynet is still frozen solid to the tub trug again this morning!!  I need a blow torch to melt the ice! It will have to wait until the weekend or when the thaw comes!!!!  

The best thing about soaked hay is that they get full with no energy! my pony is boinging


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## byggiz (1 December 2010)

We have a simple solution for soaking hay for the Lami ponies at our yard - we half bury the hay soaking bins in the muck heap and they never freeze, in fact if we fully bury them the water gets to hot !!!


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