Chewing wood

[exracerfan]

Am wondering if anyone can tell me what my horse may be deficient in as he often chews wooden fence rails. Have heard its potassium, but what would you feed to counteract this behaviour?

 

[cokelly]

You sure he isn't crib biting?

Just a thought

 

[MerryMaker]

This is often due to a lack of fibre - grass at this moment is often high in sugars and water but has a low fibre content. When your horse is in, make sure he has ad lib forage at all times (this will also naturally provide potassium which is often lost through exercise), and it may be worth putting some hay out in the field as well. Try to ensure that if he has a hard feed it is fibre based rather than cereal based, as cereals can increase acidity in the gut, causing him to chew wood more in an effort to neutralise this if fibre is not readily available.

 

[exracerfan]

Thanks for that Merrymaker. He lives out all the time and has been having hay in the field as the grazing isnt brilliant. He gets pasture mix which I suppose may be classed as cereal based, so am thinking I could add some chop to it. As I have just aquired some more grazing, I may reduce or cut out the hard feed and see if he stops chewing.