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Hay for horses: the effects of three different wetting treatments on dust and nutrient content

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

M. Blackman  and
M. J. S. Moore-Colyer
M. Blackman
Affiliation:
Brackenhurst College, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25 0QF
M. J. S. Moore-Colyer
Affiliation:
Welsh Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 5EE
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Abstract

Five bales were randomly chosen from a stack of 6-month-old barn-stored hay. Four 2·5-kg sections were taken from each bale and subjected to one of four different water wetting treatments, 0-min soak, 10-min soak, 30-min soak and 80-min steaming. Post wetting, the sections were shaken for 9 min under a Negretti LS45F personal dust sampler which sucked-in any particles released into the surrounding air. The sampler contents were then analysed for respirable particle numbers (particles < 5um), and the hay subsampled and analysed for water-soluable carbohydrate, N, Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu. The steaming and soaking treatments all proportionately reduced respirable particle numbers by more than 0·93 of those present in the dry hay. Soaking for 10 min and 30 min significantly reduced levels of P, K, Mg, Na and Cu, whereas the steamed samples showed no loss of nutrients from the levels present in the dry hay. Thus in terms of reducing respirable particle numbers and conserving nutrient levels, steaming for 80 min is the most effective treatment when preparing hay fodder for horses.

Keywords

allergenshayhorsesnutrition

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , June 1998 , pp. 745 - 750
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1998

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