feeding beet pulp and enteroliths

[luvsminis]

I have been feeding beet pulp to my miniatures for about 3 yrs now, and I haven't had a problem. However, I was reading the article on www.southernstates.com that said "don't feed beet pulp to miniature horses due to the high risk of enteroliths". They claim it is because of the high amount of calcium in the beet pulp that would cause a calcium build up i.e. causing enteroliths. I give my little guys 1-2 cups in the morning and 1-2 cups at night with their low starch/low sugar pellets (50% pellets and 50% beet pulp). They also get orchard grass hay on the side. My question is "has anybody had problems with enteroliths in their minis?" I am thinking of changing their diets to hay, beet pulp and Enrich 32. Appreciate any input you all have on this and/or suggestions.

 

[wildoak]

I've been feeding beet pulp for closer to 10 years without a problem, but high calcium can contribute. Alfalfa gets blamed for enteroliths for the same reason, and I did lose a geriatric big mare who was on lots of straight alfalfa, and proved to be full of enteroliths. Have not had a problem I can blame on beet pulp though, to date.

Jan

 

[disneyhorse]

I think the AMOUNT of calcium overall in your feed might have something to do with entroliths. You can't just blame beet pulp. Perhaps a large amount of beet pulp, paired with a large amount of alfalfa... could contribute to them... but beet pulp is not necessarily something to avoid. That's just silly and illogical.

Andrea

 

[minimomNC]

I can remember when people fed a lot of bran and have stopped because it was blamed for entheroliths. I have been feeding beet pulp to all of my horses since about 1990 when a vet I worked for informed me about it. They fed it to their Clydsdales. I have never had any issue with a horse that was getting it.

 

[Genie]

We also use beet pulp and have not had any problems. It is part of a hot mash of oat pellets, sweet feed,Krunch and oil.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Enterolithiasis is a common cause of colic in certain areas such as California. A study was done at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M to determine the incidence of colic due to enteroliths in horses presented to the college and risk factors that affected the presence of enteroliths. Only 1.7% of the horses presented for colic were due to enteroliths. In regard to breed susceptibility, horses with enteroliths were more likely to be Arabians or miniature horses. Arabian horses were also shown to be more susceptible to enteroliths in California, but miniature horses were not. The feeding of alfalfa also increased the risk of developing enteroliths, especially if grass hay was not fed concurrently. It was postulated that the alfalfa predisposed the horses to the calculi formation due to the high concentration of magnesium in alfalfa and the ability of alfalfa to alkalinize the colon. Horses kept outside had a lower incidence of enteroliths than those kept in a stall. It was suggested that since outside horses have a greater opportunity to graze, the alfalfa in the intestine may have been diluted. Also, horses that exercise more have greater digestibility then those kept in a stall. Horses with colic due to an enterolith were determined to have longer duration of clinical signs, a higher rectal temperature, higher heart and respiratory rates, and were more dehydrated than horses that had colic for other reasons. The diagnosis of enterolithiasis was made by rectal palpation, radiographs, and in some cases surgery.

The difficulty with finding out what 'causes' enteroliths is that at just 1.7% of colics it is not common enough to research well. Although some feeds and strict confinement can be more associated with enteroliths, saying A causes B is simply not known. In all likelihood, GI stones are probably similar in cause to Urinary stones, which lies only some in outside influences and is far more an individual problem.

Dr Taylor

 

[luvsminis]

Thanks to everyone who read this and wrote in, I really appreciate it. And thank you Dr. Taylor for all of your input, very interesting indeed. I was getting concerned over the beet pulp after reading the article on it especially since we just got done dealing with ulcers and a bacterial virus. They look so healthy, even the vet had said they looked healthy.......couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I feel a lot better now, and will continue the beet pulp. One thing I did notice though is the Well Solve LS, the first ingredient is dehydrated alfalfa meal, so I don't know if that makes to much calcium or not. Any ideas on it? I like the low starch, since we have them on orchard grass hay, and they get plenty with the seed heads. I had the hay tested and they said we need to give a supplement. Maybe I will go with Enrich 32. Have a great day everyone!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The two main breeds I have bred in the last fifty years have been Arabians and Miniatures.

They have always been out, most of or all of the time.

I have been feeding Beet Pulp since long before it was accepted as a horse feed, since it came in 1 cwt hessian sacks of shreds that we believed we had to soak for at least twelve hours (doesn't do any harm, just is not necessary)

I fed beef stock cubes and beet pulp as main feed as there really was not anything else affordable on the market (I was always careful the beef nuts had no urea in them, though)

I have never had any trouble, at all, with enteroliths, in fact when they came up in conversation a while back I had to google them to make sure I was on the right track!

I soak my BP and pour the water away, possibly this makes a difference, I do not know.

It is also possible that the stress caused by constant stalling, added to overfeeding of BP leads to a situation where enteroliths form more easily, I do not know.

What I do know is that Rabbit is now just past 32 and has so far shown no ill effects from having been fed on a quite large amount of BP, all his life

 

[disneyhorse]

I also want to point out that (because I live in California, and have seen many cases of entroliths in horses that I've known.. .and had a Quarter Pony who would regularly pass grape-sized white entroliths in her manure piles) here in California we grow a lot of alfalfa, and it's thus cheaper. MOST horses here get fed straight alfalfa, as the grass hay is more expensive (and you have to feed more of it to get a similar amount of calories).

We also have hard water, which I think contributes MIGHTILY to the entroliths. Dr. Taylor have you heard of that factor? In our houses, there is tons of white mineral deposits on all of the pipes and fixtures... so I'd imagine it would have the same effect on the equine gastrointestinal tract to some degree?

I think entroliths also start with ingesting something... the last one that a friend's horse had... they sawed it in half and found a one-inch-long piece of baling wire in the middle. The entrolith was somewhat like a pearl in an oyster.

I think they are weird and interesting!

Andrea

 

[luvsminis]

Just a further thought, as you're talking about adding a supplement. I don't know of the Selenium availability for your horses in your area, but I added Purina Natures Essentials 12:12 Supplement to my feeding program, because there is NO (or negligible) natural selenium in our ground. The Enrich 32 only has 1.5 PPM, while the 12:12 has 35 PPM, which I contribute to having had some bad years (when I didn't seek increased selenium in their diets) to more successful years when I did seek to add Selenium in greater quantities.

Just a thought!

I'm not sure what our selenium is here, but that is a good thought, something to check into, thanks.

 

[luvsminis]

The two main breeds I have bred in the last fifty years have been Arabians and Miniatures.

They have always been out, most of or all of the time.

I have been feeding Beet Pulp since long before it was accepted as a horse feed, since it came in 1 cwt hessian sacks of shreds that we believed we had to soak for at least twelve hours (doesn't do any harm, just is not necessary)

I fed beef stock cubes and beet pulp as main feed as there really was not anything else affordable on the market (I was always careful the beef nuts had no urea in them, though)

I have never had any trouble, at all, with enteroliths, in fact when they came up in conversation a while back I had to google them to make sure I was on the right track!

I soak my BP and pour the water away, possibly this makes a difference, I do not know.

It is also possible that the stress caused by constant stalling, added to overfeeding of BP leads to a situation where enteroliths form more easily, I do not know.

What I do know is that Rabbit is now just past 32 and has so far shown no ill effects from having been fed on a quite large amount of BP, all his life

Wow, 32 is quite good, especially to have had no problems. I agree that being able to leave them out is best for them since they are natural grazing animals. My little guys would like to be out most of the time too; however, our grass is so rich that the vet had told us to let them out only for 1-2 hours at time. If I leave them out longer, they look like helium balloons (LOL), and then they get the runs. I have been feeding about 1 1/2 lbs of beet pulp to each horse every day, one horse gets 2 1/2 lbs, do you think that might be to much? They also get hay, pasture and a cup of Well Solve LS.

 

[luvsminis]

While we're on the subject, does anyone know where you can find a chart on how much nutrients and vitamins a miniature should get i.e. how much calcium, selenium, etc.?