Vikki89
Well-Known Member
What effects can buttercups have on horses, i know they can cause sores in/around the mouth and colic if excessive amounts are eaten.
Are there any other effects?
Are there any other effects?
Buttercups - the effects?
- Thread starter Vikki89
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Kub
Well-Known Member
I'd be interested in this too... There are loads in my boy's field but they don't seem to really eat them...
Kat
Well-Known Member
Hmm I was wondering about this as I saw a mare and foal out in buttercups this morning on my way to work.
Ashleigh_
Well-Known Member
I have the same, my boy is out with the rest of the herd in a field full of buttercups.
Although it's only his first summer there the rest of the horses have been grazing said field for years and i don't think there has been any problems.
touch wood it stays that way!
x
AmyMay
Situation normal
In large quantities they can cause excess salivation, together with inflammation of the mouth, blisters and abdominal pain.
Horses don't normally eat them. However, if the grazing is over run with buttercups and the horses have no choice but to eat them then problems will occur. Buttercups are also a sign of poor soil quality, and you should always try and get rid of them and improve the soil quality.
You have to take the horses off and spray the fields to get rid of them.
Horses don't normally eat them. However, if the grazing is over run with buttercups and the horses have no choice but to eat them then problems will occur. Buttercups are also a sign of poor soil quality, and you should always try and get rid of them and improve the soil quality.
You have to take the horses off and spray the fields to get rid of them.
pricklyflower
Well-Known Member
I had masses of buttercups in my field last year and got advice from a farmer who went in and sprayed them before they flowered and I walked through the field at the weekend and I have to say I'm impressed, not one buttercup so far. I haven't had my bill yet but I am so pleased I did this as I felt I was getting over-run with them and the longer you leave it the more of a problem you will have. A friend said to me last year that you wouldn't leave your horse in a stable with something potentially harmful to them so why turn out in a paddock with it in and I have to say it completely changed my feelings towards good grass management.
Vikki89
Well-Known Member
The reason i asked about the effects is a horse on the yard started coughing, had been fully vetted a week or so before and after being seen by the vet a few times (i think it was more than once) they suggested it could be the buttercups, he was taken off the buttercups at night and in a part of field with much less buttercups (had been topped) during the day and coughing stopped.