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This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Pica: Horses Eating Inappropriate Materials »
  Discussion on Baby Eating the Shavings!
Author Message
Member:
Gldilox

Posted on Friday, Nov 11, 2005 - 7:41 pm:

I need to know if this may cause a problem. I have a five-month old filly (ISH) who has been weaned for about one month. The weather has finally started to cool off so I ordered a load of wood shavings for the stalls - these are finer than the bagged ones I usually buy. I put a load in Fiona's stall (named after a www.horseadvice.com member) and brought her in for the night.

She proceeded to sniff and then eat the shavings! She has both alfalfa and coastal hay in her stall as well as Ommolene 300. I figured that she was just tasting: I came back an hour or so later to feed everyone their dinner and she was laying down in her stall. She got up and started to eat shavings again. She didn't seem interested in hay and only mildly interested in her grain. I took out most of the shavings.

My head tells me that she couldn't possibly eat all the shavings in her stall and that she has likely only ingested a few pieces. They are pine shavings. Some encouragement, please?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 - 11:05 am:

Hello Martha,
We cannot know how many shavings she ate but I think it is unlikely to be a problem unless she did not chew them well in which case an impaction is possible. All things considered I would not be thinking about preventive measures as much as keeping a close eye on the filly. How is she doing? I think I would avoid shavings in the stall until she is a little better centered on her hay.
DrO
Member:
Gldilox

Posted on Monday, Nov 14, 2005 - 8:27 am:

Thanks for responding. She seems fine, certainly chowing down on her Ommolene, although she doesn't seem particularly interested in hay - just nibbling here and there. No shavings for her for a while!
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