Straw

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Dumbo

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Will it really kill my horse if he ate too much?
He's on box rest and the cost of shavings as bedding is really getting me down. He's so messy, I pay £9 per bale that lasts 2 days then it's chucked on the muck heap.
I've asked the groom if I could change to straw (YO likes everyone on shavings but groom gets straw:confused:!) and she said that my horse will eat it and get fatal colic. Yes he is a greedy pig but was always on straw at his previous home.
 
Dumbo said:
Will it really kill my horse if he ate too much?
He's on box rest and the cost of shavings as bedding is really getting me down. He's so messy, I pay £9 per bale that lasts 2 days then it's chucked on the muck heap.
I've asked the groom if I could change to straw (YO likes everyone on shavings but groom gets straw:confused:!) and she said that my horse will eat it and get fatal colic. Yes he is a greedy pig but was always on straw at his previous home.
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Some people feed oat straw to their horses! I believe it is harder for them to digest but my mare was always on straw and when I stabled her years ago! she will be again this year. and they had it in their shelter last year, they ate a bit of of when it first arrived but they soon got bored with it and went back to eating their hay!

is he being starved on box rest? I cant see why he'd eat straw if he has the hay to eat?
 
I fee mine straw deliberately. If you horse gorges himself on straw yes there is a chance it will get colic as with any change of food, if he's leaving his hay the chances are he will nibble the best bits out of the straw and leave the rest. If I have to use straw for a bed, they get fresh straw as part as their forage allowance then what's left is put into their bedding.
Instead of doing a complete swop just bed do part of the stable with about three slices over the top so even if he eats the lots its not going to cause much harm. Straw has a DE of about 8, so if he eats a kg or so its not going to make much difference or you can deduct from the hay allowance.
 
I was thinking a of asking something similar. I deep litter on flaxcore but it still works out at £6.50 a week whereas if I used the yard straw it would cost £10 per month.
When I bought my pony I was warned that she tends to eat straw but I think I tend to give more hay than her old owner did so I hope she wouldn't be as tempted. Also other people have said its good for them to have something to nibble on.
So should I trial straw for a month or is it just too risky?
 
You can always sprinkle diluted jeyes fdluid onto the straw to discourage eating. I've bedded on straw for years with no colic so far. they do have plenty of hay to eat however.
 
Kali is stabled on straw over the winter and I know he eats it if it's soft enough . . . never had a problem, even when he was on a very carefully controlled diet when we thought he might have a mild case of lami (he didn't). He has never gorged on it, and has never colicked (touches wood frantically).

P
 
There are different types of straw out there; Oat, wheat and barley. Wheat straw has little husks in it and is usually coarse/breaks easily, barley straw sometimes has the spikey husk bits in whilst oat straw is soft and tends not to have anything spikey, chokey or otherwise problematic within.

I wouldn't use barley straw for my pony who'll gorge on anything and everything going but I did mix her forage 50/50 hay/wheat straw last winter with no problems whatsoever.
 
With modern combine harvesters there should be very little or no husks left in the straw. Wheat straw was traditionally used for horse bedding as it is unpalatable and in olden days had no husks. Wheat straw is however fairly undigestible. Barley straw used to have husks but is more digestible than wheat straw. Oat straw is both palatable and digestible and is often used as feed.

I bedded on wheat straw for many years. I now use Barley straw as if they do eat it it can be digested. Due to price and the fact my neighbours are arable farmers I rarely use shavings - there has to be a specific reason for a shavings bed. I would be wary of swapping a horse on box rest who is on shavings to straw in case it did eat a whole lot at one go. As suggested above if you do do it add it little by little over a week or more and perhaps disinfect as well.
 
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