Nettles

J

Jenz

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I read part of a post on here that said someone feeds nettles (good for laminitis/laminitis prone). The post said they pick them in the morning and put them in the stable and they're wilted enough to eat by the time the horse came in at night.

I cut down a load in the field on Saturday morning and left in the sun (well it was sunny then!) and just went to pass them over the fence tonight to feed to my boy and got a bit of a sting on my hand. It was too late not to feed them as he snatched off the ground (about 6 or 7 30 inch stalks all in one mouth full!) and happily munched away. It was wasn't much of a sting and was on the palm of my hand so maybe tougher skin, but just enough to make me go 'ooh'!

There are nettles growing in the field which he never tries to eat but he was desperate for these! If they did have a bit of a sting left in them will they do him any harm? How long do you leave them to wilt and how much to you feed?

If they were ok, any ideas how he knew they were ok to eat when cut down but not whilst growing??
 
I know the stinging is due to formic acid, which can upset stomachs. Maybe after they have wilted/bled a bit the level goes down and the horses can smell the difference?
 
My Welshie eats growing nettles as well as wilted ones. The horses are less keen. If she gets stung she rubs her nose along the ground like we would rub with a dock leaf. They seem to prefer them in Autumn.
 
My horses will eat dying nettles out of the hedge. Dont worry, horses will eat thistles that we couldnt touch!
 
Hopefully his tummy is ok!
I think I'll keep picking them for him, he really seemed to like them! I'll try and get a pic of him with 2ft nettles out each side of his mouth! Was funny.
 
Someone said it's a good extra feed in winter. They tie them on a fence till they are dry and bit painful to touch. Horseys seem to love them
 
Make nettle tea with scalding hot water, good for the horse good for you too.
Nettles are good for thinning the blood, coats especially ones with dapples and hoof quality and THEY'RE FREE!!!!!!
 
ours love them, they get quite a few in their field so just chop them down and leave them lying so they can help themselves whenever

Frank lurrves cow parsley (prob has something to do with it being about the right height on hacks!)
 
Horses vary on that, but, in general - yes
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Hmmmm, maybe I should be careful cos he's super sensitive with sunburn. Although his mouth is nails, first time we went hunting he came back with a bleeding mouth but no apparent pain. I'm not cruel, was just trying to stop us both dying. Long story!
 
My ClydeX gave herself colic by stuffing as many chopped down nettles as she could into herself in the shortest time possible. Obviously this was on a Sunday afternoon, so vet callout was at the maximum!
My farmer friend later said that the problem was probably because they had been cut down, if they had been pulled they would not have had that effect (something to do with the way they wilt apparently).
But anyway, do be careful, don't let him eat too many!
 
Oooh, thank you for the warning. It was only about 10 (but big) stalkes and he did really shovel them into his mouth so I'm sure he'd eat as many as I would give him cos he's greedy!

I'll stick to just a few at a time as a treat and attempt to pull them not cut them. Long sleeves and rubber gloves are needed I think!
 
My mare is allergic to nettles she swells up round her neck cheeks and jowls...cost me a load of money to find out what her allergy was...there was only a small patch in the field but when I went in to hack them down three guesses at who was first in line to eat the things
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yes nettles are good for lammi they take the toxins away from the body but it is not just picked dried and feed from the field i buy nettle herbed it is soaked in something then heat treated!
 
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