Poppies poisonous?

[Hasthelene]

Hi,
Like to know if poppies in the hay is poisonous for horses?
Where I agist the hay some of the bales given to the horses contains quite large quantities of dried poppies, with the dried flower head.
Unfortunately the owner does not allow you buy hay from elsewhere.
Like to know if it is dangerous for my horse.

 

[Shay]

Some types and in high enough levels yes. Even small amounts will give a positive dope test as well so you should not feed it if you are competing. All poppies contain opiates which act on the horse in a similar way to morphine and codeine. Its relatively rare for horses to consume enough poppy to cause a problem because it is very bitter and they normally avoid it. But dried in hay - and particularly if it is the only forage source - they will.

I would return the hay to the yard owner. If they cannot supply you with forage suitable for feeding they they cannot prevent you buying your own.

 

[Hasthelene]

Thank you so much for the reply! Much appreciated. I think the yard owner going to be quite offended...
It is a really tricky situation...
I been picking out the dried flower heads and there are so many it is impossible to pick out all of them.
It is terrible time consuming.
And after your reply I'm really worried...

Many Thanks,

x

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Not a horse but there was a case in England, where a middle-aged engineer who worked on various sites belonging to different companies, on behalf of his employer, lost his job because one site required every-one who entered to work on the site to take routine drug tests, because of safety concerns. This man failed the test but couldn't understand why. He wasn't able to explain to his employer why he had failed the test, so lost his job. Eventually research showed that he had eaten toasted bread with poppy seeds on the crust every day for breakfast. The poppy seeds had built up in his system to the point where he failed the drug test, although he was unaware of feeling any effects.

 

[Shay]

I sometimes work with staff in a safety critical environment who are subject to random drug tests. The fact that poppy seeds will cause a positive test is fairly well known in the industry. I grant you OP is probably not competing at a level were dope testing would occur (or I presume they would know about how careful you have to be of NOPS in feed). But that absolutely does not equate to it being OK to feed a poisonous plant to horses.

Good luck OP - you need a new hay supply.

 

[Goldenstar]

Poppy seeds are the biggest cause of horses failing dope tests because of food containmation one seed will cause a fail in a human athlete and they will fail for a week .
However I think your horse would have to eat a lot of the seeds before there would be a effect on it .
However that hays a no no for anyone doing serious competitions

 

[Hasthelene]

Hi,
Like to know if poppies in the hay is poisonous for horses?
Where I agist the hay some of the bales given to the horses contains quite large quantities of dried poppies, with the dried flower head.
Unfortunately the owner does not allow you buy hay from elsewhere.
Like to know if it is dangerous for my horse.

 

[Hasthelene]

I have now changed yard and keep my horse where the hay is beautiful. I'm amazed that none of the other horse owners, at the previous yard, did not complain about the poppies. I did and the owner of the yard bacame very angry. She should have let people source their own hay, when her hay was full of poppies and all sort of other rubbish from their waste tip. x

 

[windand rain]

Glad you are sorted now but if the hay was from scrubland I would have been more worried about ragwort, buttercups and red clover all known toxins that cn do damage. Poppy seeds are edible in quite large numbers so not poisonous as such

 

[Hasthelene]

Thank you so much for your reply! I was really worried about the hay. Not only did it contain an extreme amount of poppies, but all sort of rubbish from the waste management they are running, that they put on as 'fertilizer' on the hay they grow...containing plasic, fiberwool, metal wires and all sorts of dangerous items. My horse is extremely picky, so I know she would not eat anything harmful for her. I stayed far too long, being so worried how my mare was going to take the move. I actually kissed the hay when I saw it at the new place!!! (lol) and even so they would be OK with me sourcing my own hay!
Thank you again for all your replies x