Eating Bark

[KathyB]

I posted recently with a question about fat mini's and founder. My mini's are now eating the bark off the trees. I have whole trees that are stripped as far as they can reach. This is new. They are all doing it. Is this going to hurt them? Are they doing it because something is missing in their diet?

I have 5 mini's. I have had them 2-3 yrs. I stopped giving them grain about 2 months ago, because they were getting too heavy. They are on pasture 24/7 (all except one, and she is in a dry lot with hay for about 10 hrs/day). The pasture is in ok shape, but not overly lush. We are in GA and have just started getting enough rain, so it is growing. They are not losing weight. Over the winter we added 3 mini goats to their pasture. I am sure the goats are guilty of teachiing the mini's how to eat bark

: .

 

[Marty]

Hi Kathy! I think your minis are sending you a message.

No, bark eating is definately not good. It's an accident looking for a place to colic or choke or get poisoned, depending on the type of trees too. They may be sappy which is drawing them to the trees but with the drought, I doubt that is it.

I'd say they are really missing something in their diets.

Do you have a salt block out for them?

Do you have free choice minerals out for them?

Do you have ample hay out for them if your grass is dead or not good?

My grass to is on the rebound trying to grow now but I still am giving hay twice a day plus their feed.

I use Born to Win ration balancer

How big is your pasture and how many minis? Possibly, if you have insufficient room or are over crowding, the goats may be hogging all the good grass leaving the minis with little to none.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Minis are beavers! It may be dietary or boredom. Our weanlings one year took the legs off a bench we had in their feeding pen - thank goodness it wasn't pressure treated wood.

Goats are the worst at eating bark, but minis are good at it too. Our minis are out on 65 acres of open hilly land and they eat lots of stuff we don't think about - leaves, flowers, milk thistle, as well as grass. I have a friend that is a chemist and she put out flats of different herbs to see which ones her big horses ate, and depending at certain times they ate different ones.

My old farrier's arab use to gnaw on trees in his paddock - bored if he wasn't out working.

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

I agree with Marty, and espeicially with the goats, as they are picky & don't eat 'just anything'. I remember from when I had them. We had barn chewers for a while, & I'm pretty sure it was from boredom here, not a nutrient deficiencey (sp?) we put this stuff, Halt Cribbing paint on the barn, and the trees in our pasture (just to be safe) and it work perfectly

: . I agree eating bark is an accident waiting to happen with colic & etc. Maybe you could add a balanced grain such as Platform Miniature Horse & Pony Feed or another like it to their diet, if fed the correct amounts it shouldn't make them gain weight, and could help them loose some, and they will have a lot of vitamins/minerals that they should have.

Good Luck,

Ash :saludando:

Edited to add: I think the Halt cribbing paint would keep the goats from eating the bark too.

:

 

[KathyB]

Thanks for the quick reply. They have salt/mineral blocks. Grass is green. I have had to mow the pasture. They (5 mini's and 3 pigmy goats) are on 3-4 acres, some wooded but mostly cleared. I think it is because I cut out the grain. Do you think 1 cup/day grain will add to their weight problems?

 

[Floridachick]

Grain is not always the answer, BUT I would def add beet pulp and a Free Balance 12:12 like supplement. If they are eating bark they are missing something. Also be careful we are in N FL and the pastures are "stressed" from the drought this year and produce very high sugars. I feed a complete feed with Beet pulp soaked and on Pasture a few hrs a day, if they are out there too long they become rolly polly. Goodluck. Do you have pics?

 

[HGFarm]

Stripping the bark is not good for them, nor your trees. The trees may all die from the damage. You may want to check with a nursery to see if they have some stuff to cover the damaged areas with in hopes that your trees may survive. I would fence the trees off. You can run a small fence around each one, so they cannot reach the tree trunks, but may still benefit from the shade. This is the only way your trees will be really protected - and yes, goats are notorious for eating everything you DONT want them to!!

Just edited to note that I agree, the horses are missing something in their diets. We have never had pasture horses eat trees (when we were lucky enough to live in a place years ago where we had pasture).

 

[Bess Kelly]

Born to Win (Purina) adds vit/min/protein and not the huge amount of calories grains have....consider that or another brand ration balancer. Definately fence off the trees AND you had better spray the trees with a product to seal them or they can actually die. I mean, their "skin" is gone! Some pruning spray. Bugs get into the wood, they dry out, etc.

I'm thinking you need to add the BTW, you can serve it in moist beet pulp and pull them off of the 24/7 pasture. You will probably see a difference then. Free choice salt and minerals will be good, too. Be careful of the copper content because of the goats.

 

[KathyB]

. Do you have pics?

Sorry, I don't know how to make the pics smaller. These were taken yesterday. That pasture is where I am keeping my mare at night, so it is almost a dry lot.

Good belly (or bellies) shot

He still fits.

All done!

 

[Marty]

Thanks for the visual. I think your horses are really fat! And a ration balancer vs grain may be in order

And please don't nobody shoot me for this one but I think that your goats are stripping the place of the good stuff that your horses need from the land. They tend to do that too. I think 8 animals on that 3-4 acres is just way too much. I'd separate the goats.

We have the same kiddie pool YIP YIP YIP :aktion033:

 

[KathyB]

I think your horses are really fat!

Oh Marty, I KNOW my horses are really fat. I am honestly not getting though. I am suprised you think they are not getting enough pasture, because they sure look like they are

. If they are not getting any grain and they are not getting enough good grass, why are they soooo fat? Before anyone asks, they are wormed every two months and I rotate.

The goats are pigmys, very small. I have a 2 acre field that I am having to mow weekly (don't go by the pics, as that is what is growing in front of their barn. That is where I am putting the mare at night. That is where they hung out all winter. The rest does not look like that). I thought the "rule of thumb" was 3 mini's per acre. A pigmy does not equal a mini. I can easily separate the goats if need be. Does it really sound like too many animals????? Doesn't appear that way to me, but I am definitely still learning. I can take the horses off pasture but the hay I am getting is not very good at all right now. I have tried putting hay out there, but they don't eat it.

Previously I fed a sweet grain so maybe a ration balancer is the answer. What brand do you feed? Someone suggested beet pulp, but I am thinking that will make the weight problem worse. Open to all suggestions.

Thanks

 

[ThreeCFarm]

I personally wouldn't use beet pulp. They certainly don't look as if they need it. I use a ration balancer made by Progressive Nutrition and I LOVE it. It sounds pricey when you just look at how much one bag costs, but you don't feed a mini much. Contact whoever you buy a ration balancer from and ask how much they recommend feeding minis. Progressive gave me a nice chart that shows how much to feed minis at any stage of life and activity.

 

[Marty]

If they are not getting any grain and they are not getting enough good grass, why are they soooo fat?

hehe.........I have no clue! I have honestly no idea how you are making them so fat if not the grass. Thyroid? I use that excuse for me all the time :risa8:

When I saw that little horse to the left, the black one, he/she reminds me of one of mine......I swear to you she gets fat on air! I keep thinking that Timmy did her through the fence! :new_shocked:

The ONLY thing that helped her even resemble a miniature horse was to remove the grain and put her on the Born to Win and some dry lot time daily and limited daily pasture. If I skip a few days of dry lotting her, she's back to the watermelon look.

Frustrating isn't it? Boggles the mind.

Do you suppose that Timmy got out again on a hot Saturday night last year and got them all pregnant?

:cheeky-smiley-006: :cheeky-smiley-006: :cheeky-smiley-006: :xbud: :xbud:

: :488: :new_rofl:

 

[KathyB]

[

Do you suppose that Timmy got out again on a hot Saturday night last year and got them all pregnant?

Very funny. Timmy must be extra talented since two of the three are geldings

: . We may be on to something here

[

 

[Margaret]

I have 9 citrus trees in our pasture,. and at least once a year the mini's get in the mood to chew the bark on these trees... And my horses have access to purina 12-12 minerals (24-7) so I personally think that they are bored.

It usually happens when the grass dies back and winter is approching..

I have discovered that if I secure a fence around the trunk of the trees, up to the area where they cant reach, it pretty much stops the chewing..

But they still like to push against the fenced protected trees now to scratch them selves.

As for their weight, if you are concerned, I would cut out all the extras, except the 12-12 minerals, and some grass hay, -as it looks like they get some pasture also, til you get them back to their ideal weight.

Be sure and check their fat zones.. Shoulders, Crest, to monitor their weight as you do this. jmo