mown grass..

[Honey Bee♥]

why cant you feed horses mown grass? the place where i used to work did it all the time. but everyone says its worng. but nothing is added to the grass when its mown so whats the problem? sorry, just genuanly interested for the welfare of my horse.. please excuse the spelling

 

[Carow]

Mown grass clippings can start to ferment rapidly and a horse is quite likely to eat a nice big pile of clippings rather quickly. (The horse doesn't have to select, tear and chew his grass in the normal manner). Excessive intake of clippings can cause a high rate of fermentation in the hind gut. This can dramatically upset the balance of microbes in the hind gut and has the potential to cause colic or laminitis. Some horses will be more susceptible than others.

There is also the danger that clippings may have come from lawns recently treated with chemicals and might contain chopped up poisonous plants as well. Warm/wet clippings encourage the growth of bacteria and mould also.

The possibility of choke should not be overlooked.

Whilst I too have heard of people who feed mower clippings, it's not something I'd choose to do myself.

I do however sometimes give a small amount of long chop grass from around the paddocks which I cut with hand shears and feed straight away.

 

[*hic*]

All said so much better by Carow.

 

[Honey Bee♥]

ahh.. and now i know thank you

 

[Rose Folly]

I didn't know until the other day that in theory you can feed silage - except that in any large quantity it's dangerous. But I've recently met 3 unconnected people who had either fed it in small quantities or knew someone how had. Again, not something I'd try, though my horse thinks differently.