eating straw bed

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mlm

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decided to put my mare on to straw as she is in foal and wanted to see if she would eat it. she has been on it just over a week i have been spraying it with jeyes, BUT each night she seems to eat more and more. in the morning it looks nearly empty. i have been putting a slice of straw a night in. she is a very greedy horse and will eat anything. i have had to put her back onto shavings tonight anyone got any ideas.
 
I wouldn't go the Jeyes route personally, she is obviously eating that too and that can't be good. I always try to put the clean stuff underneath and leave some damp straw on top to discourage eating (well I did when I used straw..I use chopped rape straw now which is quite similar to shavings in use)
 
I mix in a little dirty straw with new, adding layer of the older bedding to the top. Ensure she has ad lib hay, on the floor (as eating from the floor might be easier for her than eating from a haynet).
 
she was slightly overweight when she went into foal. my vet told me to take her of the haylage and put her on 8lbs of hay. she lives for her feed and was not that happy. she also has two feeds of happy hoof per day that he recommended. she is out on good grass for 12hours per day. she is now looking a lot better shape so perhaps i could up her hay again it did not seem that much to me. vet is back out next week so will get him to look at her
 
If you're worried about her weight why not try soaking some of her hay, then you can feed more. Mine gets soaked hay and I feed it pretty much adlib, whereas "full fat" hay would be rationed as it makes him fat. All this really does is give him something to munch on and keep his gut moving, without filling him full of sugar.
 
Sorry if you have said before, but, can you bed her on something else?
 
There is a product called stable fresh which is a deodoriser (sp) for stables which can also be sprayed on the bedding (safely) which will discourage eating. It has worked on a couple of friends very determined munchers!!
 
thanks i had been wetting hay but last night i soaked it and gave her 10lbs. she is a big girl 16.3 anyway and loves to eat.
i have moved her back to hemp bedding and will try again with the straw once the vet has been on thursday and looked at her weight
 
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