eating straw bedding...

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madabouthehorse

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Fat exmoor pony keeps eating his bedding (straw) and he is getting fatter and fatter by the week!! To the point of us being ashamed to take him to a show today because of the :eek: FAT ROLLS!!!!! (we gave in and took something else in the end as he looked awful!)

We are not in a position to not have him stabled, or bedding changed so wondered if there was some sort of liquid/powder type thing you can put on their bedding to stop them from eating it. (a bit like the nail polish stuff for people who bite their fingernails)

Also he is in heavy daily work, so its not like he is just a stable ornament!!!

Thank-you and lots of virtual cake and biscuits for everyone :D
 
You can spray with Jeyes fluid but a really greedy pony may still eat it and would not be good for it.
If you have to use straw the only other thing to do is to keep the wet straw in the bed and mix it in.It wont be so nice but should stop it eating so much and as it builds up you will not have to add so much clean.
 
be positive said:
You can spray with Jeyes fluid but a really greedy pony may still eat it and would not be good for it.
If you have to use straw the only other thing to do is to keep the wet straw in the bed and mix it in.It wont be so nice but should stop it eating so much and as it builds up you will not have to add so much clean.
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Just what I was going to say.
 
Straw will not be making your pony fat, it has very little nutritional value, if your horse is putting on weight it will not be from eating his bed
 
thanks everyone!

RE: 'straw will not make your pony fat'

He has only put on considerable amount of weight on since he has been eating his straw, so we are going to try this as well as the other steps we have been taking to reduce his weight.
 
There must be something else he is getting his teeth into as straw most definitely will not be making him fat.

What work is he in and what else are you feeding him?
 
It is possible for them to put weight on from eating straw! We have had talks from vets ect saying so and have also seen for ourselfs! Many horses so thats why most people change bedding or try prevent it when horses start to eat it, if its dusty straw it can also cause copd. i would try and prevent it using jyes fluid tho its worth a shot
 
it is good straw, not sure what type of straw though (he's not my pony) and he has about 2 hours of hard work a day, every day without fail!
He gets a small feed of chaff and a small handful of pasture mix a day along with equivalent to 2 small hay nets of hay a day as he doesn't get turned out much. He is quite a greedy pony, so am slightly worried that if we put diluted jeyes fluid on it he will still eat it which cant be good for him!


Have found some stuff called yukka bed (http://www.tacksales.co.uk/thomas-pettifer-yukka-bed.html?MMCF_Google_Base_Feed) has anyone tried this before?
 
I would knock the pasture mix on the head for a start, even a small amount is too much for an exmoor, much better to give him an unmollassed chaff and a vit/min supplement. I would also soak his hay. If he is still putting on weight he could be insulin intolerant.
 
I see its not your pony but try double netting the hay,soaking it well to remove much of the goodness from it.It should last much longer then.
The yukka stuff would be a good idea ,if it works let us know.,
 
You Wont Forget Me said:
It is possible for them to put weight on from eating straw! We have had talks from vets ect saying so and have also seen for ourselfs! Many horses so thats why most people change bedding or try prevent it when horses start to eat it, if its dusty straw it can also cause copd. i would try and prevent it using jyes fluid tho its worth a shot
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Vets are NOT nutritionists
 
Amaranta said:
I would knock the pasture mix on the head for a start, even a small amount is too much for an exmoor, much better to give him an unmollassed chaff and a vit/min supplement. I would also soak his hay. If he is still putting on weight he could be insulin intolerant.
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Agree with all of this.

Jayes Fluid does work but I think it is a blast from the dark ages, before people knew better.

2 hours work, no matter how 'hard' isn't enough for the sort of pony that can live out 24/7 in harsh conditions with poor quality food.

Sounds like he's in a little fattening house at the moment, lol.
 
thanks be positive, you seem to be living up to your name ;) will let you know if it works.
Also have just been told he is not on that feed anymore...was looking at the wrong feed schedule! Atm he has about 3/4 of a bucket of happy hoof and a vitamin supplement. We have already resorted out his diet/exercise etc but was just wondering about the straw eating thanks. Have not had a straw muncher in a long time and the last one we had we just changed bedding :)

eta: he is now having less hay as well!
also, he is always better in the winter as he hunts every weekend, think there was some mess up in his feed this year after the hunting season and has stayed like it since, paired with lots of straw= FAT PONY!!
 
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2 hours work said:
I'm very intrigued to have you opinion on what you think IS enough work for an exmoor on minimal feed???

Tbh, i thought 2 hours of hacking a day without fail, about 45mins of which is cantering and galloping and about 45mins of is trotting (mainly up hills) would be sufficient...do any more and the poor thing would be knackered!!! ;)
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madabouthehorse said:
I'm very intrigued to have you opinion on what you think IS enough work for an exmoor on minimal feed???

Tbh, i thought 2 hours of hacking a day without fail, about 45mins of which is cantering and galloping and about 45mins of is trotting (mainly up hills) would be sufficient...do any more and the poor thing would be knackered!!! ;)
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My view is there are 24 hrs in a day and to be stood in 22 of them for an animal that can travel many, many miles eating all the way, can do a lot more than 2 hrs hacking.

This is why so many horses are in such poor health really, we think we are working them hard, but we're really not.
 
I would stop feeding the hay and just give a balancer. Just make sure he has plenty of water and if the poos get a bit dry a bit of grass or suger beet.
A lady I know who has donkeys gives them only straw and that is soaked

Barley straw has 5.8 MJ/Kg (Megajoules per kilogram) DE (digestable energy), and is 3.4% cp (crude protein).
Oat straw has 6.2 MJ/Kg DE, and is 3.4% c p.
Rye straw has 5.8 MJ/Kg DE, and is3.7% c p.
Wheat straw has5.8 MJ/Kg DE, and is 3.7% cp.

Early cut grass hay is around 8.5 MJ/Kg DE, and 13% cp; while
Late cut grass hay is around 8.0 MJ/Kg DE, and 8.5% cp.

Only other option invest in some rubber mats.
 
Keep with the haynets of hay but halve the hay and add oat straw (no oats in it obviously)

He really does need to come off the straw as a bedding as it is possible for a pony to get impacted colic from eating it.

Mix up some Jeyes Fluid and put it in one of those high pressure spray bottles, pump up well and spray the bed well, turning it to make sure it is well covered.

I'd be inclined to put him on shavings.
 
I would def spray the bed with something, but I wouldn't use jeyes - if you look at the bottle instructions it says to keep animals out of anything for 24hrs that has been cleaned with jeyes. A chubber will still eat some of the straw, and I would hate some of that to be jeyes. Yukka bed is good - we used it for OH mare as she did the same. My mare in the end just ate the bed anyway and I just had to change the bedding. She would clear her stable each night!! She is on shavings now and it much better. She is a mega good doer, but with a good bit of work she can still have a heap of hay overnight and keep a healthy fit weight.

Few questions though:
Why can't the bedding be changed?
Why is he getting 3/4 bucket of food? - as others have mentioned, he needs nothing more than a handful of no oil/no molasses chaff with some vit powder in.
Why does he have to be stabled?
What is his grazing like? Is he muzzled at all to control this too? Could he be turned out 24/7 in a bare patch with soaked hay given instead? If he is getting much in the way of even poorish grass, then you are still going to have a hell of a problem keeping weight of a native designed to get the most nutrition out of poor moorland grass - they are just designed to get every calorie out of anything that passes their lips, including air it seems with some!
 
Easiest way to manage his weight..

Swap to a shavings bed
Cut out the hard feed altogether, or just a tiny handful for his supplement. I'd be tempted to give a mineral lick instead of a supplement so you can remove hard feed altogether
Soak all hay overnight
Add some straw to haynets to bulk them out - you can reduce the amount of hay this way
Muzzle when turned out, and don't turn out on lots of grass
 
Pale Rider said:
My view is there are 24 hrs in a day and to be stood in 22 of them for an animal that can travel many, many miles eating all the way, can do a lot more than 2 hrs hacking.

This is why so many horses are in such poor health really, we think we are working them hard, but we're really not.
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If you ever watch a wild pony eating they meander - barely getting oout of a quiet walk.

2 hours hacking if at a steady trot should keep him well trim and fit.
 
Evelyn said:
If you ever watch a wild pony eating they meander - barely getting oout of a quiet walk.
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Same goes for domestic horses. I muzzle my horse for turnout most of the time - if I watch either him unmuzzled or his field mates (always unmuzzled) they stand in one area and eat everything within reach, then take a step and eat everything there, and so on. When my horse is muzzled, he *has* to walk around the field to find grass he can get to through his muzzle. So, not only does it limit his grass intake but it also forces him to move around more.

I know some people think they are cruel and my horse hates his muzzle with a passion (though he has now learned how to remove it, which is another problem in itself...) but it definitely helps control his grass intake and therefore his weight.
 
For the OP a DE of 10 mj/kg is maintenance, to lose condition you need to feed less than that, to gain condition you need to feed more.

I am not normally one to suggest stopping the hay, but in this case, as he is eating his straw bed, perhaps you could, although I would be wary with wheat straw as it could cause impaction. Oat straw is best but barley straw is ok too.

IF he is doing 2 hours hard work a day and is only getting what you say he is, he should be losing weight. The fact that he is not losing weight suggests that either - he is not working as hard as you think he is, he is being fed more than you think he is or he is insulin resistant.
 
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