should i swap to haylage?

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louise1989

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Over that last couple of days my TBx has choked twice on his hay which had been soaked he managed to cough it up after about 10mins or so of gagging this was not very nice for him or us!! He has also had a couple more choking episodes a few weeks ago but they were over withing a minute!(even though it felt like a lifetime) A friend has suggested swapping from hay to haylage as its is chopped more finely. Im just wanting to know if this will help my poor boy!?
 
It's worth a try, though as above i would have his teeth checked. i also thought i might have something trapped in his mouth/throat?

Let us know how you get on, hope he's OK.
 

Has your horse had a tieback operation .A side effect of this ,is that the horse is more prone to food going down the wrong way.
 
Don't really see that haylage is chopped more finely, it depends on the length of grass when it was cut. Has she confused haylage with chaff? Possibly the stalks are thicker with soaked hay as they would be more swollen from the water but otherwise not sure it would make a difference.

You could try haylage in a small-holed net so he doesn't eat too much in one go. I would also get his teeth checked, as everyone else has suggested.

Choke is really scarey, so hope you get something sorted. How old is the horse?
 
thanks everyone! he'll be getting his teeth checked next week we had already thought of that! He was fed horsehage yday and so far no choke episodes so we'll see how things go i suppose! He's an old boy 19 and as far as i know he hasn't had a tieback op! Fingers crossed everythings ok!!
 
i would agree with teeth checking out too.
but it may be that the haylage is softer and slightly juicer than his hay was even when soaked?
he could have a slight throat infection or laryngitis type problem?
even if not before the choke but as a result of the 1st choke?
does he have access to water with his hay? is he trying to eat too fast due to another horse being too close?

we had a rescued shet here last winter who had a very slight dust allergy which gave him a sore throat, he would not even try to eat hay until it was dealt with, he needed antibiotics and cough mixture & as a temp measure we fed him eucalyptus sweets to get the saliva going before he ate, he is fine now, lives out.
 
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