Allergic reaction to feed

S

Slightlyconfused

Go away, I'm reading
Joined
18 December 2010
Messages
11,365
Visit site
So the manky tb has had three call outs in the last three/four weeks showing allergic reaction symptoms. Itchy skin, twitching, swollen face etc.

Things that have changed in the last two months are

Field------ been ruled out as.he has been moved back to his old field last week and another reaction tonight.

Alpha a oil----started about six weeks ago..has been on it before but not for three years.

Micronised Linseed--------started a week before alpha oil. Never been on.it before.

Alpha beet------been having it for the last three years no.problem..make.up three days worth at a time.

Now he is only reacting in the evening and it's the only time.he has the alpha beet.

So.we are going to strip back his feed to.just the.fibre nuggets he has been.having all.summer and his supplements which he has.been on.for three is years.

So my questions are

Can a horse that's been on alfalfa type feed for years suddenly not be able.to.cope anymore?

Could.it be the micronised linseed?
 
My pony has been fed alfalfa feeds the last three winters, this year he cannot tolerate it so yes it can happen, He also reacts to micronised linseed, wheat, molasses and soya so he is not the most low maintenance pony

Thank goodness for Copra, it gets condition on him without his skin going beserk
 
TBH, it could be anything, even the fibre nuggets that he has had all summer. Sometimes there is a gradual build up of sensitivity over months, years even, until the symptms become so bad that they are easily noticeable. IIWY, I would cut out evrything except hay/grass and give him 3 weeks, to get everything out of his system. Then start building the individual ingredients back up, one per week until you find the culprit.
Good luck! I know from experience how difficult this can be.
We have had horses sensitive to;
sugar
all cereals
alfalfa
wheatfeed
seaweed
carrots
haylage
NAF PinkPowder
glucosamine
Brewers' Yeast
bran

Fortunately, not all the same horse!
seaweed
 
It's hard as he has to have a supplement for his ulcers or he gets grouchy with his tummy.

He has grass buckets from.halleys feeds that he is one each winter but has only been having them on and off for the last two weeks so might just give him a handful of that and his supplements.

Before I put.him on the alpha a oil and micronised linseed he was on healthy hooves molasses free....only changed because he needed weight gain.
 
Keep an open mind too. After a long time with food exclusion and a trip to the RVC my ones allergies turned out not to be food related at all. He had lumps all over him.
I did total food exclusion, just hay and then haylage with no improvement. It was when he went up to the horsepital for tests the lumps disappeared overnight (they had him on mats and no bedding) If it had been food it wouldn't have disappeared that quickly as what he had been eating would still have been in the gut so they concluded in was environmental.

The other thing is if it is happening in the evening, is this when you bring him in? In our case the key trigger and the only thing he reacts to still was wood based bedding such as shavings or wood pellets, he has to have straw. The other thing that caused a problem was ryegrass hay, not eating it but it getting on his skin. He could have haylage. So coming in to his stable with the hay and bedding would be a trigger.

As a general point, yes horses can develop an allergy at any time to something they have been fine with previously although according to my vet it tends to first occur when they are mature i.e. not youngsters but not older either. Mine was 6/7 which is apparently very typical.

ETA Healthy hooves has alfalfa in too both in the form of pellets and alfalfa.
 
Last edited:
Yes it happens in the evening. Mostly after he has been fed but I think last week he started twitching when I had just got.him.in and tied him.up outside the.stable block. Put him.in to see if it would settle. It's didn't.

He is on straw, can't have hayledge as he reacts the same way.
 
criso said:
Can you try a different bedding just as an experiment. A reaction to straw would be much more common than my weirdo who can't cope with Hunters.
Click to expand...

I'm trying my hardest to remember three years ago....or it could have been four when.he did this then. We changed him from shavings to straw but he still.carried on reacting. I think it was a couple months before he came down with ulcers so.I.had striped back.his feed from calm and condition and alpha a oil to nothing for a bit.

Can't fully remember that far back though....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top