Soaked Hay vs. steamed vs. Nutri-Foin
Even the best quality hay contains dust particles as well as bacteria, molds, yeasts and fungal spores.
Whether it's to treat your horse with respiratory disease or as a preventative, giving dust-free hay is the top priority for your horse's lung health.
To help you make your choice, here is a comparison of existing solutions on the market.
Sources:
Stockdale, C and Moore-Colyer, MJS (2010) Steaming hay for horses: The effect of three different treatments on the respirable particle numbers in hay treated in the Haygain steamer. European Workshop for Equine Nutrition, Cirencester, Sept 2010. The Impact of nutrition on the health and welfare of horses. EAAP publication No. 128. Ed Ellis, A., Longland, AC, Coenen, M and Miraglia, N. p136-1382. Moore-Colyer, MJS and Fillery, BG (2012) The Effect of three different treatments on the respirable particle content, total viable count and mold concentrations in hay for horses. 6th European Workshop for Equine Nutrition, Lisbon, Portugal, June. 101-106.3. Moore-Colyer, MJS Taylor, J. and James, R (2015). The effect of steaming and soaking on the respirable particle, bacteria, mold and nutrient content in hay for horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. Aug 20154. Moore-Colyer, MJS Taylor, J. and James, R (2015). The effect of steaming and soaking on the respirable particle, bacteria, mold and nutrient content in hay for horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. Aug 20155. Wyss, U. and Pradervand, N. (2016) Steaming or Soaking. Agroscope Science. No. 32 p32-336. Moore-Colyer, MJS and Payne, V. (2012) Palatability and ingestion behavior of 6 polo ponies offered a choice of dry, soaked and steamed hay for 1 hour on three separate occasions. Advances in Animal Biosciences. Healthy Food from Healthy Animals. Vol 3 part 1. 1277. Brown, E., Tracey, S and Gowers, I. (2013) An investigation to determine the palatability of steamed hay, dry hay and haylage. Proceedings of British Society of Animal Science Conference, Nottingham April 2013. p 1048. James, R. and Moore-Colyer, MJS (2013) Hay for horses: The nutrient content of hay before and after steam treatment in a commercial hay steamer. Proceedings of British Society of Animal Science Conference, Nottingham April 2013.9. Moore-Colyer, MJS Taylor, J. and James, R (2015). The effect of steaming and soaking on the respirable particle, bacteria, mold and nutrient content in hay for horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. Aug 201510. Warr EM, Petch JL (1992) Effects of soaking hay on its nutritional quality. Eq.Vet.Edu. 5:169–171., Jochmans-Lemoine A, Picotte K, Beauchamps G, Vargas A, Lavoie JP (2019) Effects of a property oiled mixed hay feeding system on lung function, neutrophilic airway inflammation, and oxidative stress in severe asthmatic horses. Equine Vet J Dec 4. doi: 1111/evj.13218; Effect of Hay Steaming on the Estimated Precaecal Digestibility of Crude Protein and Selected Amino Acids in Horses,by Caroline Pisch, Monika Wensch-DorendorfUwe Schwarzenbolz,Thomas Henle ,Jörg Michael Greef andAnnette Zeyne