Horse not eating hay - thoughts?

Bertolie

Bertolie

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My 22 year old gelding is stabled at night and gets turned out for 8-12 hours a day. He and his paddock mate get a haynet each out in the field as there is absolutely no grass (how much my gelding eats is difficult to judge). He gets a smallish feed when brought in of one cup Spillers lite balancer with a double handful of Dengie good doer chaff and his supplements. He gets two haynets a night weighing approx 3kg each. Whilst he eats his feed without any problems he is hardly touching his hay, maybe eating 2kg a night? The last lot of hay I had was slightly musty smelling so got it changed to some really nice smelling, dust free hay but he still won't eat much. Tonight he was even mooching through his straw bed looking for bits to eat! I wasn't too concerned to start with as he could do with dropping a bit of weight but I'm now concerned he's not eating enough to keep his guts ticking over especially has he is only producing 2 or 3 droppings a night.

Could he just be sick to death of hay?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Have given him hay on floor tonight but he still didn't seem interested. Vet did a full health check last Thursday and did his teeth. I did give him a small bucket of chaff tonight and he was wolfing that down when I left. I think he is just fed up of hay but don't know what to do to get him to eat!
 
Sometimes they turn their noses up at hay that looks perfectly fine to us. Have you tried mixing with some haylage?
 
Unfortunately haylege sends him loopy! The hay I have at the moment is the same hay from same cut as he has previously had and loved. It's only been the last two weeks that he's not been eating much hay and even the vet commented that 2-3kg a night wasn't much. I wasn't too worried when he was still nibbling on grass but there is absolutely none in paddock now.
 
Bertolie said:
Teeth done last week. Only a little bit of rasping needed doing otherwise fine.
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Mm. It may be worth substituting the hay with chaff in that case and seeing whether that makes a difference.

ETA just noticed that chaff is going down a treat. Personally I would def just give the chaff and perhaps leave hay in there just incase.
 
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Bertolie said:
Probably a thick question :) but would I just give him a big trug tub of chaff? I just assume he will wolf it down and then be left with nothing all night!
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I've never done it personally but have seen it done before, and they haven't wolfed it down. I am not entirely sure whether you would have to build it up gradually, though I suppose not so long as it was unmolassed basic plain chaff. Hopefully someone else on here will come along and enlighten us lol.

ETA - the ones I saw just gave an entire big trug full of chaff.
 
I would say try a different source as our Connie went off his hay for a few days. Luckily we were coming to the end of that actual bale got some new and he wolfed it down so could be that particular batch! They can be fussy creatures !

Eta I sometimes chop up a couple of pieces of carrot to add into it try that. Mine eats off the ground as he is out 24/7.
 
I feel your pain OP. My girl is terribly fussy with hay so I give hay and haylage so she can pick and choose. Sometimes I soak the hay to make it different for her. I have on occasion used the hay blocks that feed companies seem to be pushing now although they're usually reserved for the field if it's a windy day!

The problem with giving a trug full of chop is the cost - my friend used to give her oldie a trug full of Graze-On but I think the dried grass is cheaper than chop and the grass wouldn't be suitable for a laminitis prone horse.
 
Bit the bullet and turned them out in their other paddock today. It's not been grazed since November and whilst there's not loads of grass there is a covering for them to nibble on. This will only be a short term solution over the weekend as they can't stay in there especially with the rain as I don't want it trashed, but thought that at least he will have grass to nibble. Just been to check them and whilst he is nibbling the grass it is without any enthusiasm and as though he really couldn't care less :( He also had dried blood in one nostril but wouldn't let me look to see where it had come from. He did eat his bucket of feed and a carrot though! I'm starting to get a bit concerned now and if there is no improvement over the weekend, or if he worsens, then I'll be talking to my vet.

I might try him on haylege and see if that interests him but it usually makes him bolshy. I am right in thinking that you can get low sugar haylege or did I dream that?
 
Possibly needs his teeth checked.Similar thing happened with my oldie and the vet found a small ulcer on the back of his mouth.I had been soaking hay etc. but he still wasnt eating very much of it.I found him one day in the stable next to his blissfully munching on sheeps hay which I had got the year before as it was very soft.It is perfect for him until the ulcer heals up.
 
Teeth were done last week with very little work needed. The hay he has got at the moment is a coarse first cut rye hay (according to YO who produces it). He had some from the same batch a couple of months ago and loved it! Had a bale of second cut rye in between which he wasn't so keen on so got it changed a couple of days ago. Only thing I could try is meadow hay which he did have a while ago but stopped feeding it as my other horse gets a cough with it.
 
Bertolie said:
I am right in thinking that you can get low sugar haylege or did I dream that?
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Yes, you can get both high fibre and Timothy (even lower sugar) Horsehage small baled haylage now. This is fine for my cob who can't eat normal haylage (gets the runs and hives). I used to also be able to get a small baled Timothy Devon haylage in Somerset which was cheaper than the Horsehage. Even so, it is expensive compared to hay (though maybe not compared to chop).
 
With my hay replacer I mix speedibeet, fibre nuts and happy hoof(which can be used as a replacer) and they treat it as hay i.e. they keep coming back to it and don't eat it in one go. It works well and has done for at least three years. My 37 year old arab is still going anyway!
 
Bertolie said:
My 22 year old gelding is stabled at night and gets turned out for 8-12 hours a day. He and his paddock mate get a haynet each out in the field as there is absolutely no grass (how much my gelding eats is difficult to judge). He gets a smallish feed when brought in of one cup Spillers lite balancer with a double handful of Dengie good doer chaff and his supplements. He gets two haynets a night weighing approx 3kg each. Whilst he eats his feed without any problems he is hardly touching his hay, maybe eating 2kg a night? The last lot of hay I had was slightly musty smelling so got it changed to some really nice smelling, dust free hay but he still won't eat much. Tonight he was even mooching through his straw bed looking for bits to eat! I wasn't too concerned to start with as he could do with dropping a bit of weight but I'm now concerned he's not eating enough to keep his guts ticking over especially has he is only producing 2 or 3 droppings a night.

Could he just be sick to death of hay?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
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Hi, I see you mentioned he had his teeth done. Was this before or after he stopped eating? I ask because I had the vet to do my boy and then he are for a few days and then stopped I left him a few days/week because he was eating his hard feed and then I got the vet out. It turned out that my bet had rasped his gums! Clearly didn't look properly and he was in a lot of pain! He's now on a sachet of bute a day and I had to move him to haylage because hay is too corse for him, I'd say at 22 that could be the sort of problem. I really think you're likely to have a tooth issue and you should speak to your vet again! My boy used to be starving he would behave like a jerk on the way to the field cause he was desperate for grass and he could chew that. For me it became a case of finding what he can eat and letting him have it? As advised by my vet

Let me know what happens
 
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Okay, if he had dried blood then I would suggest your vet/dentist missed something it sounds a lot like he has a tooth issue and my vet told me that there's a tooth that connects to the sinus and that can cause bleeds and snot :(

Hope you get him sorted
 
Thanks Podgelover. He hadn't been eating loads before his teeth were done but after a few days this dwindled to him eating virtually nothing hay wise. He will still wolf down his bucket feed, carrots etc. I'm not really sure where the dried blood had come from as he wouldn't let me look properly so wasn't sure if it was a nose bleed or he had cut/scratched himself. Hoping for a better look today.
 
Just been up to check on him and think it's time for the vet :( He is stood in the paddock not eating or moving around, looking totally disinterested and unenthusiastic. Fingers crossed it's teeth or maybe just a virus.
 
Vet came, checked everything! Heart, lungs, gut, teeth were all fine but he had a high temperature. Totally not interested in food except chaff and his balancer with a few carrots thrown in. Hes had antibiotic and anti inflammatory injections and a five day course of each. Vet thinks it's a virus but if no improvement or he worsens bloods will be taken. He's going to stay in for a few days with lots of TLC as prescribed by vet and a big trug tub of chaff soup (he seems to like it sloppy and it means he's getting fluids) :)
 
Had to have vet back out again today as he was bleeding from his urethra. Vet sedated and his breathing became rapid but we calmed him down enough for her to continue having a look. Hoping it's just an infection but bloods taken as she wants to see what's going on with liver and kidneys. He then had a massive anaphylactic shock and we nearly lost him but he pulled through and is now ok. Fingers crossed we are just dealing with an infection and nothing more serious :(
 
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