Eating Wood

[Litorio]

Hi all, my donkey has just started eating all of our fencing and is munching his way out of the paddocks lol.

Any ideas as to why he would be doing this?

 

[Nailed]

is there lots of grass?
He could bee feeling some lac of nutrients.. or hes just being a donkey and beinghard work.
Lou x

 

[Litorio]

They are on a bald paddock until spring, they are given plenty of hay and 2 feeds a day though and he hasn't done it this badly before.

 

[rcm_73]

Maybe you could try putting a vit / mineral supplement in the field like Horslyx original. I've always been led to believe chewing wood is a lack of something in their diet.

 

[Litorio]

Will try that, thanks

 

[Happytohack]

Ditton the vit & min supplement. Wood chewing is usually a sign that they need a supplement. You could put it in the field in the form of a block which I find works well.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Friends horse started chewing wood, which we put down to some vit/min deficiency as he stopped when see added a seaweed supplement to his feed.

 

[evsj]

My mare is geting hard feed and benevit as well as ad lib hay. She still embarrases me by chewing the wood on my friend's new stables when I go round to visit her though!!

 

[SusieJane]

(hrumph, clears throat!!)

It's her calling card!!

 

[kildalton]

Wild horses make up quite a proportion of their diet from chewing wood. Some people put logs in the stable/field for their horses. Just make sure it's not poisonus like yew.