The effect of soaking or steaming timothy hay on voluntary intake and digestibility by Thoroughbreds

Three mature Thoroughbred geldings were used in a 3x3 Latin square trial to compare the intake and digestibility of dry timothy hay (DRY) to the same hay that was either soaked (SOAKED) or steamed (STEAMED) in a hay steamer (HAYGAIN North America, Union City, TN). Each period lasted four weeks. The voluntary intake (kg/day), rate of intake (grams consumed/minute), chewing rate (number of chews/100 g) and apparent digestibility of dry, soaked and steamed mature timothy hay were investigated. The STEAMED hay was placed in a HAYGAIN HG-600 half-bale hay steamer and allowed to reach a temperature of 170◦C. SOAKED hay was submerged for 1 hour in 18 gallons (∼68L) of ambient temperature water and allowed to drain for 30 minutes in hay nets before feeding. During week 1, voluntary daily hay intake (air-dry hay equivalent) averaged 13.8 ± .3, 12.5 ± .5 and 14.2 ± .2 kg (mean ± SEM) for the DRY, SOAKED and STEAMED hay, respectively. These intakes equaled 2.1%, 1.9% and 2.2% of BW/day. STEAMED intake was significantly higher than SOAKED (p
Source: Journal of Equine Veterinary Science - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Tags: Abstracts Source Type: research