Seed Heads in Teff hay?

[danacat]

I just sourced some nice Teff for my IR horse – bought one bale to see if he’d eat it – and actually all of my horses like it. But I noticed these whispy, angel hair, seedy tufts in it (not a lot of them but they are in there) and I’m wondering if these are the ‘seeds’ that can get under horse’s gums, cause mouth ulcers, etc?

I can’t see any actual seeds – more like that seed casings if that makes sense – not that I’d even know what a Teff seed looks like.

Anyway, here’s a picture:

[OzarksRider]

@danacat

I’m wondering if these are the ‘seeds’ that can get under horse’s gums, cause mouth ulcers,

I think the seeds that get under horses’ gums are foxtails, and the seeds in your picture are not foxtails. There are several species of foxtails, but in general they look like a small bottle brush.

[danacat]

After much research about Teff I am confident the Teff I can source doesn’t have seeds – the wisps in my picture are ‘pre-seed’ and are safe for horses to eat. Ditto on the foxtails!