Posted 2007-10-08 9:20 PM (#69033) Subject: foxtail in hay
Regular
Posts: 85
I just bought some hay that has a lot of foxtail in it and now I am worried about my horses getting sores in their mouth from it. Does this happen easily, how likely is this to occur?
Posted 2007-10-09 8:14 AM (#69044 - in reply to #69033) Subject: RE: foxtail in hay
Elite Veteran
Posts: 824 Location: Kansas
I had that one year and the horses refused to eat it. After a very short time they quit even trying to pick around it. I wasn't in a position to return the hay but I never bought there again either. I tried pulling out what I could but it was not a fun winter.
Posted 2007-10-09 8:10 PM (#69104 - in reply to #69033) Subject: RE: foxtail in hay
Member
Posts: 14
Location: Central Iowa
Fox tail alway's raises it's ugly head around here [IOWA} in the fall. What it does is produce a head with seed stickers in it. In other words the seed head looks like a fox tail. When horses eat the fox tail the little stickers, much like sand burrs, stick into the horses mouth and lips and cause sores. Be careful in choosing the hay you buy. You shouldn't see it only in forth or later cutting hay. Not all Late cut hay has them. Mostley hay fields that are several years old and the Fox Tail will slowly take over the field in time.
Posted 2007-10-09 11:22 PM (#69115 - in reply to #69033) Subject: RE: foxtail in hay
Expert
Posts: 2828 Location: Southern New Mexico
About 10 years ago I got a round bale with that in it and I ended up having to take my husbands mare to the vet and have him pull the stickers out of her toung and cheeks. The poor girls toung was soooo swollen.
foxtail in hay
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