Pine Trees

[dreamlandnh]

Does anyone know if they are harmful to mini's? This morning I looked out and they were eating the needles/branches off the tree.

I went out and put out a little more hay.

Thanks.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Horses are browsers and like to eat lots of different things. I had to put protectors around all my trees as the horses are so distructive. If you value your trees, you might want to protect them from the horses. The horses will strip the bark and if the bark is stripped all the way around, the tree will probably die. No, the trees won't hurt your horses.

 

[dreamlandnh]

Thank you Marsha Cassada, I don't value the tree at all. In all my years I have never seen one eat the pine tree. My daughter found a tree down in the pasture that she thought a beaver had done...I'm sure that the beaver is a bit larger and there were two of them.

 

[bfogg]

Hello Karen,

I had 2 minis colic after eating pine needles! Vet bill could have put you on a 7 day cruise!!! It was my first year with minis.

Larry cut all the lower branches so they couldn't get to them and I learned the hard way to make sure they had enough hay to eat. Increasing the hay stopped it.

Bonnie

 

[Loess Hills]

Ours will trim the lower branches of pines, if they can reach them. And they'll completely graw the trees, stripping the bark. In the winter, particularly, they're looking for anything green or living. We've got wire fences about six feet tall around all the trees in the pasture.

Just be aware of the trees and shrubs that can be poisonous if ingested.

 

[dreamlandnh]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to put out more hay in the day and get the tree's trimmed up so that they can't reach the branches.

 

[susanne]

We haven't problems with them eating (in our case, fir) trees, but at the two places we've lived with minis, we've had a baby fir tree that became a great scratcher for their -- uh -- nether regions...

 

[minis4me]

Hi,

I know that eating pine needles will cause cows to abort. Our place is covered in pine trees & I constantly rake up needles but I'm sure they must eat lots of them as I ca't keep up. My minis don't seem to have a problem as far as I can see, though.

 

[Beccy]

We have loads of pine trees, several different varieties. We have had horses here for 12 years, and have never had a problem yet. (which is not to say it couldn't happen...)

They don't strip the bark (the cows used to chew certain ones bare) but we did trim all the lower branches, more because I worry about eye injuries from twigs than chewing. We don't normally put hay down where there are needles on the ground, with the exception of winter when there is snow on the ground and we want the trees to provide a bit of cover.

 

[chandab]

Hi,

I know that eating pine needles will cause cows to abort. Our place is covered in pine trees & I constantly rake up needles but I'm sure they must eat lots of them as I ca't keep up. My minis don't seem to have a problem as far as I can see, though.

I've heard the same for deer. Deer often eat pine needles during harsh winters; it causes an abortion and thus the doe can survive to try again.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I wonder if it is the needles' texture that cause the colic, or is there a toxin in the needles or bark? My horses have 70 acres of native pasture/woodland to browse, and they are constantly sampling just about everything. Maybe "sampling" is the key word--they don't eat enough of any one thing to harm them. And I guess because I have geldings, the danger of abortion was not something I had to learn the hard way. This information goes in my mini vet book for future reference.

Lots of interesting information about pine trees here. The experience and knowledge of forum members is greatly appreciated.

Marsha

 

[dreamlandnh]

They were not seen snacking on the tree this morning, I did put out extra hay again. I can't thank everyone here enough for the help.