Excessive straw eating..

[niagaraduval]

I just do not know what to do for my horse. He eats ALL of his bed, and I come in to find him lying on the floor and covered in ***** in the morning. Shavings are not an option, and He has enough hay to keep him going, infact, he is on the rather plump side..
Is there any way I can stop him doing this ? He eats the whole bed and there is nothing but poo in the morning. It may not harm him THAT much (Although he does eat a whole stable full..), but I hate seeing him covered in wee and poo in the morning and of course knowing he's lying down in it. It is also a very dirty and long task do get him clean enough to be tacked up.

Is there anything out there that I can spray on his straw maybe to stop him eating it? I don't mind him eating a little, but compared to our other horses it's incredible, it's not 2 or 3 bites here and there like the others but the whole lot.

Thanks for any replies..

 

[Mike007]

Change to wheat straw.

 

[Mrs_Wishkabibble]

I have heard diluted Jeyes fluid sprayed finely works well.

Beware horses eating too much straw - mine ended up with a very expensive vets bill with impacted colic.

 

[flyingfeet]

If they are eating all of their bed it sounds like you aren't putting much in?

Depending on what you floor is you need to put in at least 3 bales for a 12x12 and form a proper base which they will not eat once its a few days old (doesn't have that "new straw" appeal)

Plus are they eating the straw as not fond of the other fodder offered?

 

[niagaraduval]

All the horses have the same amount of straw in the stable and none are bare in the morning, The horse in question also has the most amount of hay and feed (french trotter..) and is usually a poor doer in the winter but as of last year he has been keeping weight/condition on really well.

 

[SavingGrace]

Very odd... Is he still eating his hay aswell? How much hay are you giving him? Why are you not able to use another type of bedding?

 

[niagaraduval]

Giving him 2 haynets at night (same in the morning), at 13€ a bale for shavings I can't afford it and I am on a farm so get all straw free.

 

[SavingGrace]

Can you try upping the amount of hay you are giving him see if that helps?

I think its diluted jeyes fluid that my friend uses on her straw munchers bed and it seems to work for her

 

[sue12345]

Weird! I put the exact same post on yesterday and have mostly the same replies. Am trying at the moment to mix the fresh staw with same old to see if that stops him. I'll be interested to see how you get on.

 

[AmyMay]

and is usually a poor doer in the winter but as of last year he has been keeping weight/condition on really well.

Perhaps as a result of eating his bed?

Why not try feeding him straw with his hay - he clearly likes the taste of it??

And if you put an adequate bed down he will always have enough to lie on and keep clean - even if he does eat some of it......

 

[niagaraduval]

I will give him more hay to see if he is hungry but he does have almost double what the others have, he has the same amount of straw also. I will also add more straw for a bigger bed - although none of the others has problems with their beds. I don't really want to feed him straw on purpose. I was hoping for some kind of product to spray on his bed, I'm not sure about jeyes fluid, I've heard some nasty things about that !

 

[ROANYGIRL]

i used jeyes fluid and it works, all the time with my new forest pony,she's like a little dustbin, she does not eat her bed now. give it a try.

 

[AmyMay]

I will give him more hay to see if he is hungry but he does have almost double

Does he have hay left in the morning?

 

[FairyLights]

sounds hungry to me. how much straw are you putting down? you need 3 or 4 small bale size for a 12ft x 12ft box. he cant possibly eat all that in one night. Is it oat straw? hes bound to eat that. or is it barley or wheat straw? is he getting adequate good quality hay?