Eating bedding issue

smolmaus

smolmaus

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Hoping someone has a clever-er solution than I can find for this one.

Pony has started eating bedding. It is chopped straw and the same brand as last year, when she did NOT eat her bedding. Other horses on the yard are also doing this so possibly the manufacturers have accidentally made a batch delicious (the first day I noticed her eating the bed she chose clean bedding over haylage????) but of course my pony has given herself a truly disgusting cough and the rest are all fine. So currently I am leaving the bed as manky as I can make myself leave it, I've upped the overnight haylage ration and she now has a big bucket of plain chaff as an alternative dry, dusty snack. That was working last week and the cough had stopped. She is eating the chaff but not finishing it so I don't think she's starving.

I put a very scant 1/3 of a bale in her bed on Saturday, mixed it in with the old bed until my arms were falling off and on Sunday she was coughing again. Now I can go and buy normal shavings but that is going to be a problem as the YO vastly prefers we use chopped straw. A bale or two on the muck heap for people incoming who bring shavings is fine but long term might be an issue. So to try and avoid having to cause that problem;

Friend suggested spraying crib-stop on the bed? Is that safe or sensible? Will she still want to lie down in it if it smells nasty? Does anyone know a cheap one that would be suitable for spraying a whole bed?

Just leave it manky? We have rubber floors so she doesn't need a huge bed to be comfortable. But she also doesn't have great frogs, (which might be the subject of another thread tbh) and the thrush risk is giving me conniptions with the hardstanding paddocks also being waterlogged atm with all the rain recently.

I can keep upping the night net but it is haylage and there is no hay available atm due to supplier issues. She is an okay-ish weight atm but not slim so I don't want to risk her ballooning on ad lib haylage either. Also as I said, the clean bed is sometimes tastier than haylage apparently.

The yard is swapping chopped straw brands this month, which might help, might not. YO horses are already on the new stuff to trial it and they are eating that too, albeit with no coughing or problems. Someone else suggested flax bedding? There is a local supplier so I could ask about having a pallet delivered if YO would allow me to store it with theirs. I think it breaks down similarly to straw? Do weirdo ponies also eat flax? Will they die from that?

Anybody got any solutions I haven't thought of? 🙃 I'm paralysed and can't make any decisions!
 
Oh Sadie!!

Could you buy some lavender or citronella essential oil, dilute and spray the bed? Both are scents she is probably used to from fly spray and horses don't tend to like the taste. A miscanthus brand is lavender scented for the same reason - though I can't remember which.

I wouldn't spray with cribstop personally as I would have the same concern about lying down.
 
Only thing to ensure it's not eaten is to change bedding. Having had a horse with a cough I wouldn't risk keeping on with it. Thick rubber mats and shavings or similar or keep out if possible...
 
Surbie said:
Oh Sadie!!

Could you buy some lavender or citronella essential oil, dilute and spray the bed? Both are scents she is probably used to from fly spray and horses don't tend to like the taste. A miscanthus brand is lavender scented for the same reason - though I can't remember which.

I wouldn't spray with cribstop personally as I would have the same concern about lying down.
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Is that why brands scent bedding? I did wonder why that was a thing 😂 I would definitely feel better about lavender or citronella spray than cribstop.

meesha said:
Only thing to ensure it's not eaten is to change bedding. Having had a horse with a cough I wouldn't risk keeping on with it. Thick rubber mats and shavings or similar or keep out if possible...
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Could possibly ask about keeping her out on the hardstanding once one horse moves in a week or so and one frees up for 24/7 use. The shelters also have the chopped straw in them currently but she would probably be less likely to eat it with hedges to nibble on instead? Fields are closed for winter so that's not an option unfortunately.

I am still hopeful that as this is a new habit it can be broken. Going back to shavings would be a HUGE pain in the bum but I suppose that is what would definitely work 😭
 
Is there the possibility of using straw pellets or some other type of bedding? The straw pellets break down just as well as actual straw so wouldn't make a massive difference to the muck heap size.

If you are wanting to stay on straw, I've used stable fresh from Gold Label with quite good success - horse took one huge mouthful, looked at me in disgust and then promptly spat it out and never tried again x
 
AppyLover1996 said:
Is there the possibility of using straw pellets or some other type of bedding? The straw pellets break down just as well as actual straw so wouldn't make a massive difference to the muck heap size.
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As fair warning, my horse and a friend's mare have both eaten straw pellets. We're now back on wood pellets which don't seem to be enticing.
 
Chopped rape straw breaks down as quickly as chopped wheat straw, but is more ‘woody’ and not very palatable…at least I’ve not heard of any horses eating it, but someone is bound to come along now to say their horse did <g>
 
Surbie said:
As fair warning, my horse and a friend's mare have both eaten straw pellets. We're now back on wood pellets which don't seem to be enticing.
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Mine too. He had loads of hay and the straw pellets were the bottom layer under a shavings bed. He dug up the bed to get at the pellets. They are very dry and potentially a colic as well as a choke risk.
 
nutjob said:
Mine too. He had loads of hay and the straw pellets were the bottom layer under a shavings bed. He dug up the bed to get at the pellets. They are very dry and potentially a colic as well as a choke risk.
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Yes - colic-watch was a fun use of a day off for me. My horse's timing is impeccable.
 
Spray with diluted vinegar (malt or white). Put it in a plant spray bottle and spray in lines over the bed once you have mucked out. It does smell like a chippy but it will stop them eating the bedding, is not toxic and in the summer also deters flies.
 
Surbie said:
As fair warning, my horse and a friend's mare have both eaten straw pellets. We're now back on wood pellets which don't seem to be enticing.
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Friends horse eats his straw pellets and he is less food orientated than Sadie! Also goes rooting around like they're treats in a little puzzle for him
Gloi said:
If you leave it manky you could pack the hooves with Artimud or something similar to protect the frogs.
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Already on that one!

I've ordered a citronella spray. I did something probably dodgy with a bottle of power phaser that I forgot I had 😬😬😬 honestly the bed was foul today, I presume it was windy last night and they were all unsettled and I lost the plot, put a half bale in, panicked and sprayed it with power phaser before I mixed it. Its not enough that the stable stinks of it (I do) but if that doesn't work, nothing will. It seemed to as she hadn't gone snacking by the time I was leaving. I hate power phaser so I absolutely won't be doing that long term but I'd just asked our behaviourist about it who was out for a lesson, got a big shrug (from the woman with the bloody PhD in equine behaviour) and I snapped.
 
Clodagh said:
Lavender oil is toxic to dogs and cats… is it safe for horses?
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My understanding is that it is safe - which is why it's in shampoos, used for scenting bedding etc - but am waiting to be corrected. I've used it diluted on my horse as part of a fly spray. If you search on here there are also a fair few threads about using lavender oil as something to calm a stressed horse - which I've not come across before.
 
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