The latest research on wetting dusty hay

[Faster horses]

I asked some professionals about wetting dusty hay, since in the past we
were taught to wet it 24 hours before feeding. Here is the newest research. I hope everyone finds it helpful. Things have changed since we were advised to wet the hay 24 hours prior.

Here is a response from Liz Bulbroock, Director of Nutrition for Bailey's Horse Feeds of the UK. Bailey's is our EU partner--and alot of work has been done in Europe on soaking hay and the like. I hope this answer from Liz helps you out. It was very imformative.

"In the UK, many people choose to soak their hay to try and reduce dust and spore levels, as with the growing and harvesting conditions in this country it is increasingly difficult to find good quality, clean, green leafy forage. In the past the old advice was to soak hay for 12-24 hours, but opinions vary and in more recent years following research at Writtle College, Essex by Dr. Liz Warr and research by Dr. Moore-Colyer at University of Aberystwyth this has been revised to as low as 20-30 minutes. The thinking behind soaking hay (total submersion) is to minimize the risk of fungal spores and dust being inhaled and therefore reducing the exposure and respiratory challenge on the horse’s airway. It must be remembered however that soaking hay does not remove the mould or spores but it dampens them and in theory the swelling and dampening affect causes the spores to adhere to the forage and be ingested rather than inhaled. However if the soaked hay is allowed to dry out again prior to being fed then the risks return. The research showed that 20-30 minutes was adequate to swell the spores and significantly reduce levels for inhalation, also any major dust contamination problems tend to be washed out.


Clarke (1987) showed that the number of respirable particles released from moulded ryegrass hay was reduced from 45000 to 1650/mg fresh material after 5 mins soaking and to 525/mg after 24 hours – hence the early recommendations of 24 hour soaking, however that did not take into account the reduction in feed value of the product.


The concerns regarding soaking hay for considerably longer is that soaking in excess of 12 hours up to 24 hours causes a major leaching out of nutrients particularly in respect to the water soluble carbohydrates, whereby losses of up to 70% WSC were seen and 20% nitrogenous components (protein) were also lost. The resulting water residue after such a long period is also particularly pungent and unpleasant

[katrina]

I use to wet my grain to keep the dust down too.

[Big Muddy rancher]

[RoperAB]

That round bale feeder seems to be working. That mare isnt coughing and im riding her pretty hard.

[Northern Rancher]

I've szeen some heavvvy horses do pretty good on silage-used to feed the old retirees some on a ranch I worked on.

[katrina]

You just wait Big Muddy I will get even....