Acorns

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renjames

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Can any body clear up the dispute as to if acorns are poisonous to horses or not!?
I thought they were but have been told otherwise since moving my newforest pony and TB to a new field at new yard. I am concerned for their health
 
i know of a little arab who died having eaten lots of them....a post mortem showed it was due to eating acorns.

in small quantities they can be tolerated .....but they are toxic and can kill if eaten in larger quantities.
 
Following along here as similiarly unsure - always thought they could be fatally toxic and was all prepared to fence off 4 heeuuwwwge oaks in corner of new field-share til it was pointed out that the resident sec b has lived there for a couple of years and come to no harm..no idea if she actually eats them tho as it is a big field...don't necessarily trust 2 yr old neddy not to though..
have picked up all i can see today and am looking for cheap fencing solution as would rather be on the safe side tbh
 
Mine all eat acorns. They search them out and hoover them up. I try to limit how many they eat by spreading fresh poo under the trees. The problem is our fields are surrounded by oak trees. I've fenced off about 300yrs, but there's still loads more. They have plenty of grass, so hopefully they mix their diet enough not to do damage.
 
I think acorns are something that horses generally avoid acorns but accidental grazing of them can lead to addiction to them which could be fatal.

Having watched my friend loose her beloved anglo arab this way a few years ago i would say try to pick as many up/fence off the area as best you can.

Friend only realised that her horse had developed the taste for acorns after he developed digestive problems and she actually caught him picking the acorns off the lower branches of the tree.
 
Don't risk it. We had one die on our yard from it. It was her first year there. You're right - some don't eat them, but once they do (and given enough time, they all will eventually), they find them to be addictive. And once they've eaten enough, they're toxic & fatal. The green acorns are the most dangerous (and tasty!) :-(
 
Right, that's it, after this thread and a friend on the school run earlier saying 'fence them, I had one with an impacted gut from acorns' they're getting taped off tomorrow! I I picked all up that I could see today and it hasn't been windy so fingers crossed there won't many down and neddyboy won't develop a sudden acorn craving overnight!!!!
 
Would recommend you electric fence them off and keep it that way until about next April/May.

If they have developed a taste for them, then it has the potential to be fatal. This is precisely why pigs are turned out on the Forest every Autumn, so they can hoover up the acorns instead of the ponies! Even so, there are always a few ponies that die each year at this time (and many more who make themselves ill but recover) from acorn poisoning.

And if you have some clever dick saying NF ponies are immune to acorns, you should ask them why several forest run ponies die each year from acorn poisoning then...
 
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A couple of experiences with acorns:

Last week after the gale blew a lot of acorns off a nearby tree into the field, one of the ponies at our yard had colic. Once acorns were mentioned, the vet decided to flush the digestive system through with charcoal, as acorns ARE poisonous.

Also some years ago, a friend's cob started scouring and losing weight - it was diagnosed as acorn poisoning. He recovered, but from then on, merely eating a few oak leaves would cause him to scoure.

Horses do actually acquire a taste for acorns, and although they may not be immediately affected, the toxin (tannin) builds up and causes cumulative damage to the liver and kidneys. If you google 'Acorns horses' you'll find several useful articles on the subject.
 
The horse behind where I used to keep mine died a couple of weeks ago with blood stained diarrhoea and urine and extreme colic symptoms. It was, by all accounts a horrendous death. She was on a field with little grass but lots of acorns and was underweight anyway:( I would not take the risk and always kept ours off the acorns and tried to avoid the fallen leaves.
 
A travellers horse illegally tethered to a tree near our old place had to be PTS recently. Once he had eaten the ragwort, the acorns were all that was left to eat. Incurable kidney damage. Nice people. (It was reported to RSPCA 6 weeks earlier and ....you guessed how much use they were...)
 
I think, like a lot of bad things they are particularly bad if eaten in large quanities.

If you look at the trees this year it is a bumper year for acorns (and any other seeds, nuts and berries and fruit for that matter) so I personally wouldn't risk it. I have 4 trees boardering my boy's field and I fenced them off two weeks ago. Once they have dropped all the acorns I will rake them up and remove the fence.

I have knon horses to graze in fields with acorns with now problems... a bit like ragwort but it isn't worth the risk really is it?!
 
I asked my vet about this a few weeks ago....fence them off. He said he was currently treating a horse that kept colicking after eating acorns, they clog up the gut. Its also the tannins in them apparently, very toxic. They get a taste for them and search them out. I've used electric fence to keep my boy away from the trees.
 
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