Nutrition & Metabolism- Soaking Hay

[Doc-t]

Soaking hay is a diffusion process that has a maximum effect followed by a lesser effect. In other words, there is an amount of time where a large percentage of starch is removed and after which, the effect of soaking diminishes the removal of starch. Think of charging your phone with an almost dead battery. It rapidly fills quickly and then the effect of charging goes down to a trickle over time.

The rule of thumb is 60 minutes in cold water and 30 min in hot water to achieve the “80%” reduction – but I am not sure of this. I was surprised with the trainer soaking the hay for 12 hours. Yet he has no mold problem and better yet, he has no fly issues in the stall where the hay is placed.

The trainer drains the soaking water completely by the drain plug in the tub’s bottom and then he “washes” the hay with fresh water which immediately drains out. No mold, no flies and high acceptance by the horses. And this is done in the heat and humidity of south Florida.

For our northern members where winter temperatures fall below freezing, there are logistical issues. People are trying heated water buckets filled with 2 flakes of hay or a heated tub with a bale. There is also the issue of dumping any unheated water out on the ground forming an ice patch. We all look forward to anyone’s solution for winter soaking of hay (please include pictures).

[Doc-t]

I attended a seminar on molds in pastures and hay a few days ago. At the Q&A I asked about molds in soaked hay. The woman in the UK (Meriel Moore-Colyer) who also is a spokesman for HyGain hay steamers said that reports show that molds are actually reduced after soaking hay BUT they will increase soon afterwards (hours?).

My advice then is to only soak what the horse can consume within a setting. While this leads to more work, it will reduce the mold formation after soaking. But this said, I have not heard of a problem with mold in soaked hay. Rather, the removal of starch in this process is of more value. And with the hay “washed,” the molds are swallowed rather than inhaled as dust. The stomach acids will kill most molds and it is rare to hear of an ingested mold causing an issue.

[Emily]

Thanks for the continued feedback!

We are trying out a new system this week and I’ll report back on if it works. We’re using a programmable garden watering timer to fill our soaking trough at 3:30am for a 5:30am feeding. Also building a contraption that keeps the hay submerged and doubles as a screen for rinsing and draining.

[Emily]

The system seems to be working well so far. We are feeding the soaked, rinsed and drained hay in 3 feedings a day to hopefully cut down on mold growth while the hay is being eaten. My son built a pipe frame to keep the hay well submerged so that it’s possible to use a garden timer to begin the soaking at times when no one is around or we are sleeping.

While it is more labor intensive to do, it is very satisfying to feed the washed hay that is so much cleaner looking and not dusty at all. Our 30-year-old gelding has a renewed interest in eating the hay now that it’s been soaked and is doing very well with chewing it. And our mare who we previously believed to have an allergy of some sort in the form of mildly watery eyes, has completely resolved that. More importantly, I hope we are being successful at eliminating as much sugar as possible. We are two weeks in and have continued fat loss on everyone except the senior, which is perfect.

[Doc-t]

This is FANTASTIC! Thanks for this. If possible, can you take pictures of the frame out of the water (unless it is flat as seen here)? How much does the pipe structure weigh (obviously enough to keep the bale submerged). Also add some info on the timer used and where people could get it.

You are in California but will you get freezing temps where you live? If yes I would like to hear about this system in winter.

Thanks for posting this! Doc T

[Emily]

Here are more hay soaking set-up details for anyone wanting to try something like this. The piping is galvanized steel (from the local home store), which was both heavier and cheaper than the other pipe in the plumbing section. It comes in every type of fitting you could want, so my son just cut and fitted it to the size of our water trough, such that it would catch on to the top rim of the trough and stay there when the water level rose to that point. Well, it ended up working in two different ways for us, so it was a bit of a happy accident. It does catch on the rim and hold its position when the hose is inside to keep it firmly wedged. But it also weighs enough (15 lbs) to keep the hay submerged if you just throw it in there and turn on the water, probably because it fills with water as well. So someone wanting to replicate something like this could probably come up with a better design, depending on how many pounds of hay you’re soaking and the size of your soaking vessel.

I am now soaking no more than 30lbs of hay at a time (for five horses) and letting them finish that before rinsing, draining, and delivering another batch. I’ve been pulling some out of the center to smell, feel, and I’ve even tasted it, to see if I could detect mold while they’re eating on it. I haven’t been able to detect any. The horses are liking the hay better, and they are eating less and acting more satiated than when we started.

We do live in an extremely arid climate, and we rarely get temps below freezing, so I can’t speak to using this process in the winter with ice and frozen hoses. I’ll attach a picture of the digital hose end garden timer, which should be available at any hardware, home, or garden store. A smaller one with fewer settings would work fine too.

[User1632238280]

This may work for some soaking situations. Portion out the hay in the basket. Move the buckets around to dump the water in different places that need water (trees, plants turn out area.) Use a hand cart to bring the soaked hay to the horses. Clean bucket and basket as needed. It the hottest part of the year soaking for to long can cause fermentation. You can smell the chemical reaction.

[Doc-t]

Great idea!

I like the idea of recycling the water – important where restrictions are used (not here in south FL where it rained 2 inches just yesterday). Another reason is that if you drain the water in one spot you will either get mud or a permanent rust spot on the concrete (definitely here in FL).

Scientists have found that washing the hay will reduce the molds in the bale. But if you leave it wet for a while it will cause more mold to grow. Soaking only a feeding’s worth of hay is perfect and this looks like a great solution for doing this. Thanks! Doc T

[Kathy]

I listened to the podcast today on soaking. I’ve had to start soaking for a horse recently diagnosed with asthma, and I’m actually interested in hearing more about steaming. I’m not dealing with metabolic issues with him, just don’t want him inhaling dust and mold.

The Wikipedia link talks about how dirty the water left after soaking hay is, and considers is a hazardous waste. There are several articles sited in the references on that page, I’m not sure if you’ve seen them all @Doc-t . There is info on soaked hay going bad that might answer some of the questions you raised in the podcast but I haven’t read all the sited articles.

I guess my question is: are the benefits of steaming hay for an asthmatic horse and for the general health of normal horses real? A lot of the info I find googling goes back to HayGain. It’s not an inexpensive investment, but treating breathing issues is less appealing than fixing the source so I’m considering a steamer.

[Doc-t]

Here is the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_steaming.

Here is the quote from that post: “Also the post-soak liquid from soaked hay is classed as an environmental pollutant as it has a high biological oxygen demand. A prolonged soak has been shown to produce a post-soak liquid 9 times more polluting than raw sewage[7] and should not be put down storm drains. In the UK DEFRA advises that the run-off from hay soaking should be directed to an impermeable lagoon or a sealed effluent tank. The liquid can then be removed by a licensed contractor for off-site disposal.”

It is interesting to note that 4 of the 10 references have Moore-Colyer as the lead researcher. As I said in the podcast, she was the expert in the seminar and is also the representative for HayGain, the hay steaming company. I agree that steaming is more effective ate removing dust with a lower bacterial count in the drained water because steam is very hot and will kill bacteria. I also agree with this statement: “Soaking hay also has undesirable consequences in terms of bacteria levels; tests show soaking increases bacterial concentrations by 1.5-fold to fivefold.[4][5][6] In addition, the nutritional value of soaked hay is decreased as it leaches out water-soluble carbohydrates, protein and minerals.”

Looking at this last quote, the purpose of soaking has IS TO REMOVE carbohydrates. Adding in soybean meal will replace the protein with better quality in terms of the missing amino acids not found in hay. Plus hay protein is only absorbed at 50% versus 80%+ in SBM. In horses with sugar dependent disease, removing the excess carbohydrates is very beneficial. As for the increased bacterial count, I have always suggested soaking only enough hay to consumed within 12 hours. If any does grow, the stomach acid should kill it. And I have not heard of horses becoming ill after eating soaked hay within a 12 hour window.

Nobody wants to pollute this world. I have no effective response to the runoff of soaked hay. I just have not seen this to be a problem but agree that if this is a valid concern, it needs to be addressed. I assume horse owners don’t want to pollute but probably can’t afford to contain it and have it removed. We need another solution especially for the farm with only 1 or 2 horses. But then, what happens to the rained on pile of manure we have at all of our barns? Most do not have this hauled away and if they do, is that waste correctly treated? Maybe the solution should be to drain the hay runoff into the manure pile and deal with ALL of the created pollution.

I also know that if soaking the hay removes the glucose and this removes the insulin and this causes improved health of the horse then most horse owners will soak and drain in the dark of night if necessary.

Thanks for this insight @Kathy . I love and contribute to Wikipedia but like ALL INFORMATION, I need to weed through it and determine if there is bias. In this article I would assume there is some bias though not intended to hurt anyone. And soaking hay has benefits (decreased sugar, maintaining cellulose that turns into the fuel of fat, decreases dust) outweighing the costs (pollution, decreased palatability, lost nutrients, added work).