Itchy mare and alpha a oil

Angua2

Angua2

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My poor little mare is a bit of a mess.... not only are we having to deal with her hormones but I have noticed that after about a week on Alpha a oil that she is terribly itchy. well itchier than before anyway.

I am really stuggling to find a diet that suits her, that is affordable as she is not the only horse and that puts the weight on and keeps it on.

Previously she has been on alpha a- oil and baileys no 4 and that made her come out in lumps so swopped her to hifi to see if that made a difference as I thought it was the levels of protein. Now she is on Alpha a oil and economy cubes because of this theroy and seems to be really really itchy
I am totally stumped....

Has anyone else had this reaction to alpha and what did you end up feeding?
 
It's the alfalfa itself that's VERY high in protien. It can be a serious problem in places like the US where horses are feed alfalfa hay, and it causes liver and kidney problems.

She maybe intolerant of alfala, either the high protien content or the alfalfa itself.

Other feeds you could try are sugarbeet (lots and lots!) as it's high fibre and great for weight gain, or some kind of barley. Barley is usually quite unheating (although some horses do go mad on it) as it's fairly cheap too.

As for chaffs - all the dengie range have alfalfa in them, inc the HIFI's.

The chopped straw ones (like Mollichop) are totally soaked in mollasses to make them eat the horrible stuff. I wouldn't feed them to my horses.

Have a look at the grass chaffs - Readigrass, Just Grass, GrazeOn - they're all simply dried chopped grass, with no alfalfa (think they're timothy grass mostly) and no mollasses. They are very high in energy (like good spring grass) and therefore good fot weight gain. My friend uses them as a partial hay replacer over winter for her very poor-doing TB and it works brilliantly.
 
My horse became terribly itchy when I fed him alpha-a oil. I couldn't groom him cos he kept trying to bite his sides and he wrecked 2 fences trying to rub himself on them.
 
Thanks all

It is interesting to see that other horses have had a reaction to it too... I suppose it is the same as humans where some can eat peanuts but others cant.

I am going to have an investigate now of alternatives. I spoke to Baileys and they suggest their endurance mix.
 
oooh, Poor Wee Ru...!

Had all these kind of issues with The Darcy Devil Pony over the last couple of years. Does anyone near you sell the Badminton feed range? They do a fibre nugget and a chaff called Ultra grass which is just dried timothy grass, ponies love the stuff and its quite colorific without being too starchy. You could ad the Equus health linseed and fernugreek to it to improve her skin condition and keep weight on?

I opted for Winergy in the end - its pricey per bag but I dont need to feed anywhere near as much as the recommended amount and both ponies ended up almost obese on it...! lol!

Did try the Baileys Edurance mix but it has molasses in it which didnt agree with Darcy at all...

Good luck!
 
I have had exactly the same problem!!! Although itching turned into large bald patches. By process of ellimination we have found Alfalfa was the problem!!

I feed readigrass or ultragrass or chose a chaff without alfalfa in the ingredients. Ultra grass has lmost the same energy values as the alfa a oil without the dreaded alfalfa!! All Dengie feeds have alfalfa in - even the HiFi!!

Dodson & Horrell do a feed for sensitive horses which is a healthy 11.5mj/kg too!! I feed basic pony nuts, readigrass and speedibeet now. I manage to maintain my horses weight without the itchiness!!
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oooh, Poor Wee Ru...!




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Mmm, She does seem to be going through the mill a little bit at the moment, the poor old sausage.

Sid the eldest is able to eat just about anything and still has plenty of energy. So now it is a voyage of discovery as to what is the best for this little lady and I can't seem to get it right
 
Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I have found this post!
My pony itches and itches and itches. All day everyday.
He is on Dodson and horrell Equine Sensitive, Alpha A Oils and Baileys No.4
I have had 2 vets call outs and he is absolutely stumped.
I will definitely change my feed now.
Does Hi-Fi lite have Alpha A in it?
Could it be the Baileys?
Thank you so much for posting this. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, I was at my wits end
 
my mare seems to tolerate the baileys no problem it seems to be the alpha that is the problem. she was on hifi, for a while over summer and I can't remember if she was itchy on that as Hifi does have some alpha in it . I know that she didn't have the bumps that sometimes come up.

Feeds it is a minefield isn't it.
 
Quick update...

I have just spoken to dengie, as I thought as the manufacturer they should know of something and they have had reports of horses being intolerant to the soya- oil rather than the alfalfa.

Interesting.... more food for thought ( pardon the pun) now.
 
Hmmm I'm not sure about the Soya as I used Micronised Flaked Soya on my boy last winter and he didn't itch at all.
Do you know of a chaff without Alfa or Molasses? I can't really go for the Ready/ultra grassy feeds as mine is a Sec D so am cautious of laminintis

I was told to speak to someone from Global Herbs, so I wrote a lovely long detailed email describing my boy's problems and I got back one liner saying he, try this, this and this.
No descriptions, what effect they should have nothing.

You're right, feeding is a nightmare. I would definitely give the Dodson and Horrell ES a shot though as my boy doesn't seem to be itching so agressively that he is bleeding any more.
 
STOP the alfalfa!!! and reduce the protein. My horse was itchy and under the weather and a couple of blood tests and a urine test later, it was found to be due to excessive protein in his diet from the alfalfa and now he has mild kidney damage.

He scratched so much that his ears bled.

I have stopped the alfalfa, reduced his protein and he is so much less itchy. They are a bit itchy at this time of year as they are getting their winter coat, but the alfalfa was the main cause.

My horse is sensitive to sugar, alfalfa and high protein.

Have a look at this link for further information.

http://www.womenandhorses.com/protein20050517.html

Have now changed diet to allan and page fast fibre and slim and healthy - what a difference.

Feed balancers also contain a lot of protein so beware of them too.

H&D Senisitive was also recommended to me. Baileys do a chaff which is alfalfa free - golden chaff.

I have done a lot of research on this and hope you find a solution soon.
 
I still feed my horse soya oil after stopping the alph-a oil. His itching stopped so it certainly wasn't the soya oil, was almost definitely the alfafa.
That said I have read some research somewhere that does say that a fair few horses are intolerant to soya oil.
 
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Oh my goodness, I'm so glad I have found this post!
My pony itches and itches and itches. All day everyday.
He is on Dodson and horrell Equine Sensitive, Alpha A Oils and Baileys No.4
I have had 2 vets call outs and he is absolutely stumped.
I will definitely change my feed now.
Does Hi-Fi lite have Alpha A in it?
Could it be the Baileys?
Thank you so much for posting this. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, I was at my wits end

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Hi Fi lite will contain alfalfa which causes high protein levels and itching and put strain on the kidneys.

I also spent lots of money trying to find the cause for J's itchy ears and skin. He was so bad that he made his ears bleed.

Try Golden Chaff from Baileys instead of Alfalfa chaff and always read the list of ingredients in feed from now on as well as making sure you use a low protein product, under 12%.
 
I know what you mean, my boy has also rubbed so much that his ears bleed.
I emailed Dengie to see if they could help and the lady all but laughed at me when I said that i was worried that the Alfa Was making him itch. She told me to put a fly rug on him - as if i hadn't thought of that, he's so kitted up he looks like a ghost buster!
I am now on Day 4 of no Alfa A and the raw patches in his ears are drying out and his tail no longer resembles a bog brush. I'm certain it was the Alfa A that was the problem and would never have thought it if i hadn't found this post.
I'm really grateful for your help on this. As you obviously no, it's heartbreaking to watch them rub until they bleed.
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Interestingly, I ran out of brewers yeast this week so my boy didn’t have any since about Saturday and last night he was itching like mad and was scurfy which is how he was before I started using brewers yeast. He’s back on it as of last night so I’m hoping he’s more comfortable tonight. He is also fed alfa a so I’m taking him off it slowly as have read lots of stuff about it causing itching after seeing this post. Once he’s been off it for some time I will try taking him off the brewers yeast also and monitor him and see how he does. I def think brewers yeast helps but I prefer not to treat the symptoms and instead stop the cause if I can, fingers crossed it's the alfa!
 
This is all interesting reading, especially about the protein levels... I didn't know that.

I have changed onto alpha a as I want to truly eleminate one thing at a time. 5 days on and she isn't as itchy as she was and people have commented on how good she is looking, but I think you may be right and it is still the alpha as she is still itchy to some degree.... although that could be the coat change. I also have her on economy cubes and in so have inadvertantly been inline with the article.

I am so glad that in starting this thread as it would seem that I have answered not only mine but someothers questions too.
 
*sigh*.... you were all right..... it is the alpha, without a shadow of a doubt.

Was watching her Thursday trying to take the stable wall down and almost falling over trying to scratch areas that she couldn't reach

I wish they could talk as the elimination method is so long winded!!
 
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