|
|
 Expert
Posts: 5293
  
| I need to soak my horses' alfalfa until these last 10 bales or so is gone. Its just to dusty and couple of them are coughing. I am going to try just dunking it real fast before I feed it, not soak over night. My question..... some of my horses don't bolt their hay and eat it all right away. Will the hay be ok for them to snack on during the day off an on??? I don't want it to get nasty... Thanks! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 448
Location: lone star state | It won't go rancid but can mold. Mold grows slow so wouldn't get moldy in a day, but might want to watch feeders for any left over after several days, especially if warm or humid outside. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 5293
| firewaterfuelsme - 2016-11-15 9:13 AM
It won't go rancid but can mold. Mold grows slow so wouldn't get moldy in a day, but might want to watch feeders for any left over after several days, especially if warm or humid outside.
Thanks!!! I feed in big tubs, easy to clean! I just hope they like it!! And YES, its HOT here, even now upper 80s and low 90s.. Welcome to CA. LOL |
|
| |
|
 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
 
Location: Texas | how we do it to soak hay is to soak it for 30 min, dump all the water out, and then feed it either in a hay bag or on the ground in their stall. If it's still there in the afternoon, we exchange it out.
I would think you would be fine so long as you remove the old hay by the next feeding.. like, if they didnt finish their AM hay before you feed in the evening, pull the AM hay and provide the PM hay. Don't let it sit in there and just stack hay on top of it or it can mold. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Right on all the above. The only issue you would have would be not cleaning out the tubs which could leave wet alfalfa to mold around the edges. Leaving it during the day would be no problem, and wetting it to eliminate the excess dust is a good move if you are seeing issues from feeding it dry. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 5293
| winwillows - 2016-11-15 10:07 AM
Right on all the above. The only issue you would have would be not cleaning out the tubs which could leave wet alfalfa to mold around the edges. Leaving it during the day would be no problem, and wetting it to eliminate the excess dust is a good move if you are seeing issues from feeding it dry.
Thanks all!!!! Does it take 30 minutes to really rinse the hay? |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | If you are just getting the dust out, just wetting it down is all you need. Since you are not trying to leach anything out of the hay (like reduce sugars in some grass hays), wetting down the dust or dirt in the hay only takes a minute. |
|
| |
|
You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | we soak it for 30 minutes whether its for an RAO horse with allergies or a laminitic horse trying to pull the sugars out. I'm sure we just do it the same across the board to not confuse anyone, so I would think you are fine to not soak it that long. |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| When we soaked for dust we'd let it soak for 5-10 minutes, especially if they are tight flakes it'll take more than a dunk to get into the middle. If it's stemmier looser hay a dunk would do.
Ditto on the removal, it won't mold so fast that they can't pick on it, but I wouldn't let leftovers at the next feeding sit. |
|
| |
Folks on-line