ACORN ALERT!!!

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1stclassalan

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You may have noticed that there is a bumper crop of acorns dropping from the trees right now - these are quite POISONOUS to horses - so watch out if you have one in turnout.

There's a lot of old wives tales about acorns and I think some vet's perpetuate them so err on the side of safety - there were two fatalities on my old yard in quick succession - I examined many piles of dung in experiment and found very few remains of acorns - certainly not enough to account for the vet's description of horses "hoovering them up" so again BE AWARE - no acorns - is the safe amount.
 
There certainly is a bumper crop this year. This is the first year that I've had to fence off the one overhanging our field in the last decade.
 
Really pleased I've moved my old mare from her old yard - I used to have to spend hours raking them up as it wasn't feasible to fence off the oak trees and given half a chance she would gorge herself on them. At least that's one less thing to worry about this autumn!
 
Have fenced off the one next door which overhangs, but can't do anything about the other which is dropping thousands plip plop on the trailer and car. Last time we went out, I had to shovel them off to find the bottom of the windscreen!
 
Thanks for that Rosie, I didn't know they weren't good for dogs too! I have just moved my three from the oak-tree-field, but never considered the dogs!!
 
we fenced the oak tree off in red's field quite a few weeks ago now - as soon as they started falling we noticed that there were hardly any poos in his field - it's scary how few they have to have before it has an effect.
 
In rejoinder to the toxic amount - uncertain at best. I checked every pile of poo in the field where the two dead horses had grazed and found no more acorn shells in them than could be found in my old mare's prefectly normal production - yet she showed no sign of problems but of course as it's such a heart rending business to lose a horse - better safe than sorry.
 
I cleaned my mares water trough out tonight and I was horrified to find at least a dozen acorns in there. Puzzlingly she has no hedgerows or trees near her so no idea how they got there; I’m assuming birds somehow?!!
 
Im have this problem :( my mare is addicted to them- and the yard i am at has an open field system where they can wander around all of the fields- nothing i can do about it, nowhere suitable to section off either. i have managed to fence off one oak tree but there is a huge one that is next to a gate and can't fence it off ! the tree is over rocky ground which will hopefully put her off as she is barefoot and gets sore on stones. There is also a bush running along the edge- not sure what it is but ive been told is poisonous, some evergreen thing with round leaves. If she seems to be eating them today then i will have to keep her in i guess, or manege turnout until the acorns have gone :/
 
can i just say you need to watch out for the leaves to ! (there are no acorns on the tree over hanging our field) but caught my chap hovering them up the other day and googled it they cantain the same toxin and can be adictive, for a couple weeks after they have fallen !
we have now fenced the bottom 1/4 of the field off !
 
No worries herabouts, Cobweb ,my ten year old KuneKune is being a good little girl and hoovering up around our fields.Oak trees line one entire side..but Cobweb`s on the case!:D
 
Years ago in UK, my Mare became very ill eating acorns, i kept her at Slade Farm,off of Butterfly Lane,Elstree,Herts. Her throat swelled up alarmingly, and she was choking, i rubbed her throat to clear the blockage, and got the Vet out, a Mr.Chris Harris from Pickup & Stockman in Borehamwood. A wonderful Vetinary practice. Anyway i had to move DIAMOND to Woodcock Hill Farm, Elstree, there Chris came out to her, it was touch and go, but after 4 days of intensive care,and heart stimulants,B12 injections, and much turning of her as she lay down and also lost heaps of weight, she survived, Chris the Vet said it was an absolute miracle, i thanked him for saving her life, but he told me she was a dead horse 4 days ago, and she lived for LOVE Valerie, and she lived because you willed her to live. I now live in Adelaide,South Australia, and have 11 horses, 10 of whom are Thoroughbreds, and the odd one is a 28 year old Egyptian Arabian Stallion named Al Shakara, by Amir El Shaklan, who was b y El Shaklan who was owned by the German Government.
 
From Valerie, the poison in acorns is ACONITE this destroys the liver and shuts the organs down, causing intense colic like symptoms, black coffee in qty they say is a good antidote. But not all horses are affected by eating acorns, as our other horses did not get affected. Pigs can only eat about a peck in the old weights. But even pigs will get bloody urine as their kidneys fail them. Best to move horses out of an oak tree vicinity if possible. As the leaves are also poisonous. Of course Squirrels will drop acorns in water throughs also. Green acorns are just as dangerous as ripened acorns. Privet is another poisonous plant if eaten by stock. As is Ragwort. it kills even before an animals has had time to swallow the plant. Cattle are badly affected, as all herbivours are.
 
galleon said:
As is Ragwort. it kills even before an animals has had time to swallow the plant. Cattle are badly affected, as all herbivours are.
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I think you mean Yew, which is one of the most toxic plants in the UK. Cattle have been found with it still in their mouths. Ragwort has an accumalative effect, damaging the liver with each ingestion, but it is not a fast poison like Yew is.
 
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