Does soaking hay take the sugars out of it?

In addition to removing sugars, soaking also reduces some minerals. Crude protein, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium concentrations all decrease with soaking. However, certain horses might benefit from the loss of specific nutrients.

How long does it take to soak the sugar out of hay?

Soak hay for 30 to 60 minutes to reduce the sugar it contains. Don't soak the hay longer or you'll risk leaching beneficial nutrients. Soaking hay to remove sugars that can exacerbate metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance takes more time.

What happens when you soak hay?

Soaking hay in water is a common way to care for horses diagnosed with one of the following. Soaking hay for 15 to 60 minutes in water reduces water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), potassium (K) and dust. Each of these elements play a role the diseases mentioned above.

Does soaking hay remove nutrients?

Horse owners usually soak hay for one of two reasons, to reduce allergens for horses with respiratory disease or to draw out sugar to make it suitable for soluble carbohydrate-sensitive horses. Soaking changes the nutritional profile of forages, most notably in carbohydrate and mineral content.

Should you soak hay?

Soaking hay for horses can be invaluable when feeding a hay that is a little dusty as a result of soil contamination or where it was stored in the barn. Horses that have allergies and are sensitive to the natural dust and particles in hay can benefit significantly from wetting or soaking hay.

Soaking hay process to lower sugars in hay

Does soaking hay really work?

Many studies have shown soaking hay can reduce respirable particle concentration by at least 88%. Soaking can also reduce the amount of mold present. Nutrient content Some horse owners soak their hay to reduce the amount of sugars, or nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC), in the forage.

What hay is best for Laminitic horses?

Generally, a mixture of grass hay and alfalfa is the best hay combination for horses prone to laminitis.

Does steaming hay reduce sugar?

Steaming and soaking hay both reduce the number of particulates that your horse can breathe in and can reduce the “sugar” levels in the hay.

Is it OK to soak hay overnight?

The amount of time for soaking doesn't make much difference after 1-2 hours IF YOU USE ENOUGH WATER. In a study using 25 liters of water for one flake of hay, WSC, ESC loss maximized after 1 hour. (1) There is no reason for soaking hay overnight.

Does soaking hay reduce starch?

Water soluble carbohydrates in all hays decreased after soaking in water. The amount of WSC lost was variable depending on hay type, but losses averaged 5%, 9%, 16%, and 27% after 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 3 hours, and 16 hours of soak time, respectively (Figure 1).

Does soaking hay reduce protein?

Highlights. Soaking may induce a reduction of the content of energy, crude protein, amino acids and minerals. Variable wash-out effects complicate proper feeding according to the requirements. Soaking might moreover reduce contents of prececal digestible crude protein and amino acids of the hay.

Does soaking hay help a horse lose weight?

The results of this study found that soaked hays used as the primary forage in obese horses and ponies was associated with an increase of weight loss compared to the predicted loss had the hay been fed fresh. The animals fed the soaked hay for 6 weeks ended up losing 0.98 +/-‐ 0.10% of their body mass weekly.

What should Laminitic horses not eat?

Getting the right feed for a laminitic is important for any owner of a horse or pony with laminitis. A high fibre, low starch and low sugar diet is essential for laminitics, so avoid feeds that contain cereals or molasses.

How long should you soak hay for laminitis?

Soaking hay for 12 – 16 hours in cold weather and no more than 3 – 6 hours in warm weather can help to reduce WSC content by up to 50% in some cases.

Why do horses dip their hay in water?

Dunking hay can soften it and make it easier to chew. If a horse has dental issues that cause pain he may discover that chewing wet hay feels better. Nasal irritation. A horse may dunk his hay to avoid the nasal irritation caused when the dusts in hay are inhaled.

Should horses eat wet hay?

Wet hay typically goes through a fermentative state, of sorts, and it would not be good for the horse to eat it while this was happening,” she continued. Caution should be used in purchasing hay that was wet when baled. Too much moisture affects the quality of baled hay.

Should you rinse hay after soaking?

Some folks choose to soak the hay in scalding hot water for an hour before feeding to cook out the sugars. At night, the hay for the morning can sit in cold water. If you go the hot-water route for your hay soaking, please drain and rinse in cold water before you serve on that silver platter.

How do you test the sugar content of hay?

The two most common methods for measuring the sugar content of hay and pasture are the ethanol soluble carbohydrate (ESC) and the water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) methods. ESC: captures monosaccharaides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and a small fraction of fructans.

What does steaming hay do?

Steaming increased the two-hour DMI of hay with lesser mold contents. Steaming likely softens the hay's texture and makes it more palatable. Mold generally decreases the intake of feed by livestock. While steaming decreased the viable mold, it didn't remove the mold from the forage.

Which is better soaking or steaming hay?

Research has also found soaking hay causes bacteria levels to increase, up to five-times. In comparison, steaming hay offers many benefits for the horse, as studies show that all respirable particles are removed and nutrients aren't leached.

Is steaming hay the same as soaking?

However, steaming is beneficial for the hygienic quality of the hay and whereas soaking increases the bacterial presence in hay, steaming reduced bacteria numbers by 98%. So whilst steaming hay for horses deals with the respiratory challenges, it is still recommended to soak hay to remove WSC.

How long can you soak hay cubes?

To properly soak forage cubes, the cubes should be totally submerged in water for approximately 30-60 minutes prior to feeding. This will soften the cubes until they dissolve into short pieces of forage fiber.

How much hay should a laminitic horse?

Feed: Hay - feed approx. 1.5-2% bodyweight hay (depending on whether weight loss is needed (1.5%) or not (2%), so 7.5-10 kg for a 500 kg horse, 3.75-5 kg for a 250 kg pony), soaked for at least 1 hour then drained to reduce sugars (or analysed to show combined sugar/starch no more than 10%).

Is hay OK for laminitic horses?

Conserved forage, such as hay and haylage , is the cornerstone of the laminitis prone horse's diet; as they typically spend longer periods stabled, or in a no-grass area.

Can too much hay cause laminitis?

It has become evident in recent years that although the over consumption of grass or feed high in starch or sugar is still commonly associated with horses developing laminitis, up to 90% of cases have an underlying hormonal cause.