Feeding nettles?

Montyforever

Montyforever

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I've been reading back through posts about safe treats for laminitis prone ponies and keep coming across people saying wilted nettles.
Can they literally just be pulled up/cut and fed in a bucket or do they need to be left for a while?
We've got more than enough stinging nettles around the yard so would be nice to make use of them :)

.. Ps, Any reccomendations of gloves so I don't get stung? :p
 
I have gardening gloves that are cotton but it looks like the palmw and fingers have been dipped in rubber. They are good for picking nettles. I bunch them and hang them upside-down for a day or two but my boy does like them fresh (as i found out when he made a beeline for me when carrying a bucket of fresh nettles across his paddock!
 
I have 2 big tub buckets full on the go at any one time. Fill one bucket up a day and then feed the next day when wilted. So one bucket is freshly picked ready to wilt and one bucket a day old and ready to feed. Use thick rubber gloves!!!!
i dont mind nettles growing around the farm as they have a use!!
 
My laminitic pony loves them, I just pull them up, roots as well, he is happy to eat them fresh and will pick through a tub each day, more if I have time.
New shoots of hawthorn and cleavers are also popular the odd thistle as well but they are not so nice to pick they seem to go through most gloves :)
 
Thanks :) Honey eats nettles in the field but I haven't seen mysti touch them so will try leaving them for a bit first. We've got so many nettles we are struggling to get through gates and into the toilet so may as well use them :)
 
i was told to feed one of mine nettles when he was a bit footie, apparantly they act as a bit of a natural pain killer, not sure if this is right, but he loved them and he made a quick recovery.
We also used to boil them up and feed them to the greyhounds years ago as well, full of iron so im told. :-)
 
I used to fill my haynets with them and hang them up for a couple of days, but now I just pull em up and leave em. The horses start eating them right away. I use thick black rubber gloves bought from local supermarket. They are better than marigolds.
 
I have picked nettles and thistles to feed pony whilst on box rest and they are much apreciated, she now is helping herself to the patches in the field. According to my alternative remedy guide they help stimulate circulation, have a high Vit C content and act as a blood cleanser. Not bad for a freebee eh?
 
I fed nettles and sticky weed (no idea what the plant is really called) whilst my lami boy was on box rest- thoroughly enjoyed them.

Also fed nettle tea - nettles soaked in hot water with a spoon of local honey with his feed for his headshaking.


:)
 
On the clevers subject, how much is too much and does it need to wilt? Do you need the root? Would like to cheer up the soaked hay during the daytime while on dry lot. Just found a nice bunch last night. Didn't realise it was clevers!

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
On the clevers subject, how much is too much and does it need to wilt? Do you need the root? Would like to cheer up the soaked hay during the daytime while on dry lot. Just found a nice bunch last night. Didn't realise it was clevers!

Terri
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Don't know about quantities, but no you don't need to let it wilt . . . Kali would cheerfully sell his soul for cleavers/goose grass/sticky weed and I've been doing just what you are proposing - mixing it in with his hay . . . or just picking armfuls of the stuff and leaving it on his stable floor. It has a lovely, astringent-y sort of smell and it must be a pleasant change for them to have something green and juicy in amongst all the hay.

P
 
montyforever said:
I've been reading back through posts about safe treats for laminitis prone ponies and keep coming across people saying wilted nettles.
Can they literally just be pulled up/cut and fed in a bucket or do they need to be left for a while?
We've got more than enough stinging nettles around the yard so would be nice to make use of them :)

.. Ps, Any reccomendations of gloves so I don't get stung? :p
Click to expand...

I started out cutting/pulling them and leaving for a while to wilt, but soon discovered that the GreyDonk would eat them fresh too. To make myself feel better about him potentially getting stung, I used them fresh but added them to his speedibeet - which I soak with hot water - hence making a sort of nettle tea and rendering them stingless. He loves them.

Gloves - I'm a bit of a daredevil and didn't bother - if you are careful with the scissors/shears you can cut them without getting stung and then I just picked them up by the very tips of the leaves. I'm guessing good old marigolds would work though.

P
 
Thanks PS. Am just after giving everyone a little bit on their first lot of soaked hay. Aka breakfast! Am planning on getting at the nettle today. Its just nice to give them something.

Can I dry them for future use? Would be nice to have a year round supply!

Should add this is not my thing. I'm pretty useless if it's not packaged!
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Thanks PS. Am just after giving everyone a little bit on their first lot of soaked hay. Aka breakfast! Am planning on getting at the nettle today. Its just nice to give them something.

Can I dry them for future use? Would be nice to have a year round supply!

Should add this is not my thing. I'm pretty useless if it's not packaged!
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know whether or not you can dry them . . . not sure whether they lose whatever properties they have once dried. Also don't know whether you can buy them in supplement form . . . I used to give Kal a supplement of seaweed and rosehips from Hilton Herbs b/c the rosehips weren't available year round - not cheap though.

P
 
You can buy nettles in dry form , if you can pick them and tie in bundles so they can hang up to dry in the air rather than in a heap when then will rot, they should last a fair while as long as they stay dry.
 
Hi

Mine eats them when he has eaten everything else. I think they have an aspirin type effect ie antiinflammatory(despite the stings we may suffer)!!

I dont cut them down as they are not a problem only to us! Good for butterflies etc too!

Docks/Buttercups now thats a different story!!
 
MoodyMare11 said:
I fed nettles and sticky weed (no idea what the plant is really called) whilst my lami boy was on box rest- thoroughly enjoyed them.

Also fed nettle tea - nettles soaked in hot water with a spoon of local honey with his feed for his headshaking.


:)
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I feed my horse who has laminitis and is on week 9 boxrest :( a bucket full of nettles/cleavers/dandelion with the root and hawthorn tips daily as a detox/cleanser - she so looks forward to them. I understand you should feed them as fresh as you can and your horse will wait for the nettles to wilt before they eat those. Mine does, but wolfs down the rest and dried rosehips too.

I always feed these 5 hours after and before meds - so midday so they do not interfere with her Danilon.
 
Yeah, I know me again! Sending some over to a friend who has taken in a laminitic who is on box rest. Her horse is on bute. And Yas mentioned bute.

Do the nettles and clevers interfere? I don't want to kill her horse!

Sorry for being a numpty! Also if I pick a big bucket is it still safe for use during the week? Maybe line bucket with paper or cloth so it doesn't get mildewy?

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Yeah, I know me again! Sending some over to a friend who has taken in a laminitic who is on box rest. Her horse is on bute. And Yas mentioned bute.

Do the nettles and clevers interfere? I don't want to kill her horse!

Sorry for being a numpty! Also if I pick a big bucket is it still safe for use during the week? Maybe line bucket with paper or cloth so it doesn't get mildewy?

Terri
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I asked a herbalist/kinesiologist for help. She advised that I ensure I give all these cleansing herbs 5 hours after pain meds and 5 hours before the next lot just to ensure none of the meds are de-toxed from my horse's system. My vet was of the opinion I could feed my inert charcoal alongside pain meds, but I am not sure that I agree with this and I would rather be safe and know there is no interference.
 
Just don't feed too many. One of my livery ponies got seriously ill with iodine poisoning. She and another pony were 'invited' over the road to help eat down a scraggy paddock belonging to the neighbours. Meaning to be helpful, and unknown to us,two days before they went in the housholder strimmed two huge beds of nettles. Three-four days later we had one very sick little pony. Small amounts only!!
 
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