Oat straw

[fallenangel123]

I have finally found a farmer that can supply me with oat straw. It generally seems quite hard to come by or at least in areas I have been in.
I was discussing with my OH how back in the day ponies mostly just ate oat straw with a bit of hay mixed in for skinnies, whereas now most things eat hay or Haylage in varying volumes. Just made me wonder if feeding oat straw going out of fashion has added to the instances of laminitis?
Just a thought?

 

[LD&S]

I had a job finding oat straw too, mine are out 24/7 but I like them to have something to nibble, they used to have wheat straw though not vast quantities but I was really pleased to find the oat straw.........they don't like it, they prefer their nibble to be wheat it's a lot cheaper too

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I wish I had found oat straw before my pony's first (and only) bout of lami.
It has helped a lot to drop some weight off her but give her something to chew overnight.

NB she is a very good doer and has teeth checked every 6 monthd and also has soaked hay mixed in; straw by itself can be low in minerals etc so should me max 50% of ration.

Oat straw is a bit higher energy than wheat or barley straw but can be more digestible than barley straw and more palatable than wheat for many but not all horses. It is higher energy than soaked hay but less than unsoaked. But it has the further advantage of making pony feel full and taking longer to chew, so that 'ups' its benefits further.

Chaffs often mix oat straw (chopped) with alfalfa as that has some of the nutrients the oat straw lacks. However some believe it (alfalfa) isnt a good thing for laminitics, so I tend to not feed a great deal of it.

Also I got the oat straw (a lot cleaner and nicer than the hay) for £1.75 a bale, whereas the hay was £3.50 (last year) just hope I can get more this year, it is a key part of my girls regime now.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My farrier is convinced that the feeding of haylage is the cause of many cases of laminitis.

 

[JFTDWS]

I feed straw all winter to mine. Add only for the cob and if anything needs more weight on.

 

[JFTDWS]

Add haylage* stupid phone

 

[Ladyinred]

Last year, after the previous winter of my girls eating grotty wheat straw beds, and due to the hay shortage I decided to be clever. Bought 150 bales of beautiful clean, fresh oat straw for them.. filled a net each and they loved it. I was soooo chuffed.

Come winter they refused to even look at it, preferring some VERY grotty September made hay that got rained on!! All the beautiful golden oat straw got used as bedding!!

Never again!

 

[Waltzing Matilda]

Where have u got oat straw from? I'm on the look out!!

 

[Dry Rot]

I tried big bales of oat straw in a self feeder for my lot (Highlands) but they spent most of their time burrowing into it looking for grain and wasting a lot of the straw.

I now offer barley straw ad lib as a filler and some hay or haylage which works better! I cut the big haylage bale with a hay knife as it's sat in the quad trailer and can fork off the layers as required.

 

[fallenangel123]

WM I found mine by being a bit cheeky and asked a farmer loading straw from a local field if I could buy some off the field. They are huge round bales which I got for £12, normally I can get two rounds on our trailer but one of these nearly covered it. Then he pointed out there were two broken bales he couldn't cart so if I could move them I could have them.
Definitely a good summer holiday activity for kids loading loose straw into a trailer then into the barn!
Pays to be cheeky especially as he can supply me with hay too of the same size for £25

 

[Waltzing Matilda]

Oooh That sounds like a plan I'm not sure if any oas r grown round here will have to keep my eyes open!! I did mention it to my current farmer/suppliers as they have a lot of lami liveries on his yard so he was interested and mine off the grass at mo. Hoping he might source some for them that's can buy a bit of!! x