Feeding Straw?

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FPQC

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I was talking to someone recently and they said they put their horses onto feeding straw as bedding so that once they have finished their hay/haylage they can eat that, to stop them getting vices etc.

what straw can you use for this? I know straw can cause colic (as it already has in my mare) so want to be sure I use the right stuff
 
My shetties eat barley straw and oat straw... And the big neds were stabled on barley straw (I think!) and I dare say ate a fair amount of that last winter despite always having hay left over in the mornings. No colic.
My (equine) vet pointed out that alot of horses on the continent are fed exclusively on straw because the hay simply isn't available, and do fine on it. Introduce gradually, no sudden changes, plenty of fresh water etc etc..
 
The feeding straws are spring barley straw and Oat straw. (winter barley straw tends to be less palatable). These straws are far too valuable to use as bedding. Any bright clean straw will encourage horses to browse.Clean wheat straw is in my opinion the best bedding. If your horse is finnishing his hay and seeking more fibre rather than a casual snuffle through the bed., then you need to consider the posibility that you arnt feeding enough hay.
 
Recently I have been feeding a chop which is simply chopped oat straw , I put it in a big bowl and when the fatty has finished his haylage it's there for him to browse.
I also give some to the others one TB loves to eat a bit daily despite the fact I keep him with haylage all the time I will continue using it in winter and see how it goes.
 
I feed oat straw. Both to my lami prone haflinger and also my oldie (but see below for caveats)

There are several dos and donts tho

Dont feed it to anything with compromised chew/swallow/digestion- risk of impaction. My old chap gets teeth done every six months and also although he's had colic he gets it once he stops eating, rather than because of what he eats, so the important thing with him is to give him food he will eat, and he loves the oat straw!

Dont feed it as more than 50% of forage - same risk but also it is low in protein and minerals esp the latter so you do need to balance it with hay. Chaffs are often straw mixed with alfalfa as alfa is nutritionally a good balance making up some of the straw deficiencies, tho some people arent keen on alfa for lami prone horses.

Feed a vit/min supplement with it.

NB one thing to look out for is that my old chaps behaviour is a bit fruity when he eats the oat straw - he is retired but even handling on the ground he is more fizzy - so I suspect there are some go faster stripes actual oat grains in our bales!! :-))

I havent fed any other kinds of straw and I would probably want to chop them if I did - oat straw is quite soft and very palatable, it is also slightly higher energy than the other straws - more than 12 hour soaked hay altho less than unsoaked hay

I find it very useful as we are in the Cairngorms and the temps we get in the winter mean soaking hay is not an option for months on end, also it means lami girl has a lot longer chew time which in itself is a help against colic, balancing the theoretical risks.

hope this helps
 
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