Foal wants to eat wheat straw

[lovinglife]

Hello I got one of my foals today. I brought him home and put him in the stall right away to get adjusted. The stall had fresh wheat straw down. He started to eat it so I quickly gave feed and hay. He ate alittle feed but still turns back and eats the staw. I don't think he know what to do because breeder had him out on pasture 24/7. Should I rake it out or will it hurt him. Sorry new to minis just didn't know.

 

[muffntuf]

You don't state age of the colt, but I will guess he must be at least 90 days old. IMHO straw is fine, he may just be enamored with it because it is new and different from pasture. I would however, keep an eye on his poopies, make sure he is drinking enough water so he doesn't get constipated.

Good Luck!

 

[lovinglife]

Sorry his is little over 4 months. He continued to eat it so I took it out for now. Tried wood chips he was eating them. Now just put down some hay. He wants to eat things on the ground.

 

[Matt73]

Wheat straw is fine. Mine are all on straw and chew on it from time to time (Royal, especially). I like it as it alleviates boredom to have something to chew on while having little nutritional value. It's not harmful at all.

 

[bevann]

You don't state age of the colt, but I will guess he must be at least 90 days old. IMHO straw is fine, he may just be enamored with it because it is new and different from pasture. I would however, keep an eye on his poopies, make sure he is drinking enough water so he doesn't get constipated.
Good Luck!

IMO you made a good choice by removing the straw.Some pooped on wasted hay is MUCH cheaper than a vet bill from a colic call not to mention the major stress of having a sick baby.Some foals just eat anything they can find.I had one that ate road trash before I could get it out of his mouth.The next day he was laying flat out and didn't come as usual when I went out to get him in from the pasture.He poppe dup and looked at me like"What's wrong Mom?"I had anotjhe foal that ate a part of a black plastic garbage bag and was on his back with all 4 legs up in the air.I was ready to call the vet and he pooped and I fished out the black bag.Keep a close eye on your baby.He sounds like one of those ground cleaner types.

 

[lovinglife]

Thanks guys! I will try straw again in a few days and keep a close eye of him. Little booger its only day one and got me worried to death!

He was actually enjoying the straw and turning his nose up to the feed and hay before I removed it. Now he is eating fine. Thanks again!

 

[mizbeth]

Hi

I agree, I would not leave wheat straw in there for him to eat. They cannot digest the rough stuff and barely can digest hay/grass at that age. It could cause colic, I would keep an eye on him to make sure he does not colic. If you have some sand clear give him some of that, to help push it out.

Good luck, wonder if he has been on wheat straw before? What kind of pasture did they have, normally a horse eating pasture (as I know it) would not want to eat straw.

Lots of good coastal will work just fine and small amounts of alfalfa if you have it and whatever else you give him. If he just came off of pasture only though I would limit his grain/pelleted feed and build him up to eating that. Any radical change in a horses diet, big or small horses can cause problems with their digestive system.

B

 

[lovinglife]

He was in large pasture that had mostly bermuda grass never stalled. From what I was told he was on Omelene 300 , little hay , and grazing of course. Here I plan on stalling him at night and during the heat of the day.