Straw bedding

Tiffany

Tiffany

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Put my greedy mare on straw just over a week ago because struggling to get shavings at the moment. I'm just concerned because she's clearly eating some of it. I'd tried spraying with diluted jeyes fluid but she still eats it :confused:

A couple of people have said it's got fewer calories than hay/haylage but worried it could make her ill. Anybody elses horse eat their straw bed?
 
Yep my tb has a nibble of his bed brought the night.. When I First got him, a few years ago, he went through a phase of eating the entire bed. They do say to keep an eye on them eating too much as can give them colic.. I've never experienced this and on the other hand they do feed straw in other countries.
 
I give my pony straw with her hay. It is fine to feed. You just need to make sure she doesnt eat huge amounts of it and make sure she has plenty of water.
 
My horse eats a huge amount of his bed, tho I do think its become less as winter go's on. He has stacks of hay and often a little left in the morning so he's not hungry, he's never ill from it so I don't worry. The only change I have made is he no longer has banks as he trashes it all rooting round for a snack!
As mentioned above many people feed straw so can't be all that bad. X
 
We have 15 boxes all on wheat straw. We also have a couple of shavings/paper boxes for hospital cases but much prefer to keep horses on straw whereever possible (it is our own straw which does help!) Some new arrivals will eat their bed for a while but they all have ad lib hay or Haylage so prefer to eat that fairly quickly.
Nothing beats deep straw beds with big banks! The bad news is that there is a shortage of good quality straw due to the weather last summer.
 
Mine will come in and eat his fresh straw bed in preference to fresh hay, he'll also eat straw in the field if the grass is low. He must just like the taste - have never had any problems with it and I'm happy that he'll never run out of forage when he's in.
 
Thanks everyone, went up tonight and she was eating her bed despite having a full net. feel a bit more relaxed about it after your replies :D

Presume I should stop spraying bed with diluted Jeyes fluid otherwise that could make her ill even if straw is ok.
 
All of ours are on straw except one, they all have a little nibble but nothing excessive, it's just if they blitz the bed I'd be concerned. We used to spray with Jayes but the greedy / clever ones just dig a bit deeper for a snack! We did have to take one off straw, she had two mild colics and after the second I changed the bedding to see if that would help as I suspected she had been pigging out on it the second time and touch wood a year later hasn't coliced since. On the continent straw is actively fed commonly so I'd go by the philosophy that its fine for most horses in moderation.
 
As you all bed down on straw, does anyone know of anywhere I can buy some small bales? Have tried to have my mare on shavings for the first time but she is so wet and in so much with the weather it is costing a fortune.
I am currently at a yard in Welshpool, Shropshire/Powys borders.
Thanks in advance
 
Straw is usually ok for the horse without other issues eg colic prone, choke prone etc. barley straw has sharp whiskers which can cause irritation/choke so wheat prob safer. Oat fine for bedding but is very palatable maybe a bit too much!

There is a small risk but it's a balancing act. It could be as bad leaving the horse to wolf a net of hay and then have nothing going through for 9 hours - at least with the straw there isn't that issue if they are eating it. One thing tho, straw is very low in protein and minerals so if taking it into account as part of daily intake of food, balance it with a supplement and other feed that is higher in those things eg alfalfa
 
I switched my gelding back onto straw a couple of weeks ago, which means I can cut back his hay a bit (he's on a permanent diet!) and know he'll have something to munch on. He is another that will leave hay for straw! He has a stomach of iron (once ate 40kg pony nuts overnight with no ill effects :rolleyes:) so no colic worries here.
 
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