board eaters

fivenranch · Postby **fivenranch** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:01 pm

We have 7 new mares that have arrived at the farm,all in great health,up on vaccines, and pregnant. They are from two different farms, one in OH. and the other in KY. The problem is they ALL eat my boards, not just chewing but eating. They eat the feeders, the stalls, the fence, these horses are 1200 lb. beavers. What are these horses lacking in their system? there is 8 other horses that are here and none of them eat wood.
These mares did this from day one. Would appreciate any help

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:04 pm

Usually it is a sign the horse is mineral deficient. You can get high concentration blocks, but also do some injections - kayco copper for one.

They probably should also have free choice hay 24x7.

ratherrapid · Postby **ratherrapid** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 12:17 pm

i'd add--once the habit starts--hard/impossible to stop.
would agree-- possible nutritional deficiency. Another overlooked nutrient is insuring the horses get enough iodized salt--thyroid!
I have been feeding 5 generic human vitamin tablets/day (they eat them right along with feed) + sprinkling a little iodized salt. working well, zero vices, and cheaper and presumably more correct dosing and quality than horse vitamins. Careful dosing excess Vit. A though, selenium etc. need understand nutrients and nutrient synergy before making decisions. copper e.g. be careful!

LKR · Postby **LKR** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:13 pm

All of a sudden, the weanlings are eating the fence posts. Have a big bale so can eat hay 24/7. It must be a mineral deficiency. Will put out iodized salt and mineral block. Glad someone brought this up.

fivenranch · Postby **fivenranch** » Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:07 pm

What is it that they are lacking? only the pregnant tb mares are eating the wood. mares not in foal and the geldings are not.They have all the hay they want we still even have some grass here, they still eat the boards.

griff · Postby **griff** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:36 pm

put a hot wire where you can.

griff

ratherrapid · Postby **ratherrapid** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:58 am

Have u talked to owners. interesting what they'd say. if these horses chewed wood before, seems it's a habit for whatever reason. if new, then nutrition or roughage deficiency possibly. isolate 'em or fence 'em out, per griff.

xfactor fan · Postby **xfactor fan** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:31 pm

Don't know if this will help, but there is a long article in the CTBA, Online, November 2004 issue, about cribbing and gastric ulcers.

Apparently horses with gastric ulcers crib to increase the saliva flow, which eases the ulcers. Horses put on a low acid diet stopped cribbing. The study also looked at the gut conditions before and after the diet change, and confirmed that cribbers at the start of the study had lesions, and after the diet change the lesions were gone.

The focus was cribbing, but fence chewing/or wood eating was also mentioned.

Lisann · Postby **Lisann** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:17 am

They advertise this stuff on RFD TV quite a bit:

http://www.jbnochew.com/

IMO, chewing isn't always due to nutritional deficiency - it can also be attributed to boredom.

foothillsequine · Postby **foothillsequine** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:55 pm

xfactor fan wrote:Don't know if this will help, but there is a long article in the CTBA, Online, November 2004 issue, about cribbing and gastric ulcers.

Apparently horses with gastric ulcers crib to increase the saliva flow, which eases the ulcers. Horses put on a low acid diet stopped cribbing. The study also looked at the gut conditions before and after the diet change, and confirmed that cribbers at the start of the study had lesions, and after the diet change the lesions were gone.

The focus was cribbing, but fence chewing/or wood eating was also mentioned.

I have a cribber that I started giving oil to in her grain, it worked for awhile, but it's back. Seems to be worse when she is pregnant. Did the article happen to mention what type of low acid feed was used?

Brogan · Postby **Brogan** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:36 pm

The article said they fed the same diet as the control group...but added Neigh-Lox

xfactor fan · Postby **xfactor fan** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:12 pm

http://archive.ctba.com/04magazine/nov/ ... HEFARM.pdf

Link to the article on cribbing. Hope it helps. Sure would be nice to have a behavioral issue resolve by fixing the underlying physical problem.

foothillsequine · Postby **foothillsequine** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:42 am

Excellent article xfactor, thanks very much! It sure would have been nice if the seller had disclosed her problem when I purchased her. However, I think I will get her on an ulcer med asap. She is a typical (I call them) windsucker. Does not eat wood at all, just places her front teeth on whatever she can, and sucks away. I've heard that this also releases endorphins, and that it is providing a "high". Anyone know anything about that?

Also, does anyone knows if an ulcer med is safe to give to pregnant mares?

xfactor fan · Postby **xfactor fan** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:39 am

Makes sense from a medical point of view. The cribbing behavior increases saliva--which eases the ulcers, and releases endorphins that ease the imediate pain.

Good luck with the mare.

fivenranch · Postby **fivenranch** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:37 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions, but these horses are not cribbing, they are eating. They are eating just the treated boards, not the oak. I have over a mile of 4 board so wire and sprays are not going to work. Anyone ever used the product Quitt from Farnum? I am going to try that next