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| Author |
Message |
    
Karen Vazquez (Mollyo)
| | Posted on Sunday, Apr 8, 2001 - 11:29 pm: |   |
Dr. O
I hope this doesn't seem like a stupid question, but I recently bought a ton of timothy that seems to be last cut. Part of it is extremely dusty and very very fine. Poofy dust when breaking off a flake. Could this be a concern for sand colic? I took a handful of the hay and put in a clear bowl of water to see if any sand fell thru but it is more like a super powdery dust that floats but the dust smells like dirt. I am feeding it to a young yearling filly and do not want her to colic over it. Please advise.
Thank you |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 9, 2001 - 10:35 am: | |
Sand colic no, COPD yes. This hay should NOT be used, the dust you see is mold spores. See, Care for Horses: Nutrition: Moldy Hay and Heaves this will lead you to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
DrO |
ANN COLLIER
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 152
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Monday, Feb 17, 2003 - 8:39 pm: | |
may i add a question to this old post regarding dusty hay..?
in my case the hay IS dust... it became that way late last summer while i rode the dust flew into the hay barn and settled on the hay.... i watched the clouds of dust go in there..
is there a way to throw the hay/kick the hay apart to help get rid of the dust first.. feed it spread apart on the floor of the stall..?
or is it still not advisable to feed.. ?
thanks in advance , Ann |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 7803
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003 - 3:45 am: | |
It is advisable not to feed.
DrO |
Sherri L. Hueser
Member
Username: Tangoh
Post Number: 316
Registered: 3-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003 - 10:57 am: | |
Dust, mold....I wouldn't care which it was, if either is present, it's not good horse hay and it gets thrown to the cows. A cloud or haze of anything that rises out of otherwise clean-looking hay is still not 'horse-friendly' hay. If you pull apart a flake, you shouldn't see or smell anything but hay. I always use the rule of thumb that if I wouldn't eat it, neither will my horse. |
Angela Graveline
Member
Username: Whs1
Post Number: 33
Registered: 7-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003 - 6:58 am: | |
What about washing the hay off first if it is just dirt? Allot of grasses in pastures get dirt on them when it is dry and windy and the horses eat that. When I was in Germany, a friend would put the hay in a tub with drain holes in the bottom and rinse that hay off before feeding it to the horses to eleminate as much dust as possible. It was something here trainer had taught her. If Ann saw that it was a little dust storm that got on her hay, couldn't she do the same to be able to feed tha hay to her horses? I am eager to here more on this, it sounds like a common problem for allot of us.
Thanks, Angela |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 7819
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, Feb 20, 2003 - 6:42 am: | |
If it is there, dirt from the ground is not a problem for the horses, only the dust created by mold spores causes problems. I have not seen a lot of ground-dirt like you describe on hay, yet weekly see hay which is dusty from mold spores. How to tell the difference between dirt and mold spores see and our comments on wetting it down see:
1) » Care for Horses » Nutrition » Moldy Hay, Heaves, and Horses
2) be sure to follow the link in that article to the one on Heaves.
DrO |
