Feeding Straw....oat, barley or wheat for fatties

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I have 3 fatties at home and have always fed soaked hay but would quite like to give them a mix of straw and hay for a change of texture and taste.
I have never fed straw before so which is the best straw for fatties (laminitics) and how do you tell the difference pls.
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Oat straw is best, it is thinner and paler than wheat straw. it is usually a fair bit cheaper than hay too. Ask your hay supplier if they have any or know where you can get some.
 
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Personally I would not feed straw as there is the risk of impaction, would stick to soaked hay.

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I always thought you couldn't feed straw for this reason, however after many many discussions with vets, farriers, nutritionist's and friends who have been doing it for years I have come to the conclusion it is ok to do!!

Apparently it is better for them because of the way thier digestive systems work they need a near constant suppy of fibre (which is hard with little lami fatties) so straw and hay combo works well!!

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I used to work on a yard where pretty much everything (Stallions, youngsters, broodmares etc..) was fed a mixture of oat straw and hay..

They'd been doing it years and never had any problems.
 
Cheers everyone...

They have been nibbling their straw bed anyway so think I will just mix a bit in with thier nets for now and build up to maybe 50/50.

A couple of questions?

Can you soak it? Would that be better for them. They have access to plenty of water 24/7 and are obviously on saoked hay so that should help right?

What does wheat straw usually look like compared to barley and oat?
 
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Personally I would not feed straw as there is the risk of impaction, would stick to soaked hay.

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Must admit I've heard this alot and it does worry me
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I feed mine barley straw and they get a haynet of haylage mixed in at night and they have access to a mineral lick as straw as very little nutritional value. I thought you couldnt feed wheat straw bcause of the risk of impactions, its a lot more corse and rigid comapred to wheat and oat straw. But I think its down to what the horse is used to I am on barley straw because the hay has gone up stupidly in price and I would prefer to feed barley straw than c**p hay.
 
have a look at the difference between each crop, I think of it as wheat(harder little bobbles), barley (has lots of little ears/hairs) and oat (has like hairy seeds on it). I suggest you google each crop and then see whats in the straw
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