My horses got out yesterday and seemed to spend the time they were out eating soybean leaves from a nearby field.
Might this cause problems? They seemed okay when I put them back.
I found an article that says soybean leaves are good forage for deer, cattle, goats and sheep, but not a word about equines.
From a simple change in diet point of view, possibly, depending on how much they ate. I didn’t google to see if they are poisonous etc.
We have deer out in our soybean field nightly:mad:
I think your problem might be what your neighbor says when he sees the damage. As with any food they are unaccustomed to consuming it depends on how long they were out and how much they ate. I would watch them.
How are the horses by now?
my worry would be the fact they ate GREEN soy leaves. I couldn’t find anything on the Net, one way or the other.
i would watch all of them closely for any sort of odd behavior, change in temperature, etc. It might even be worth a call to the vet:)
I hope all is well and the worst that happens is an irate call from the soy farmer:)
So far they seem just as usual. They are chowing down on their pelleted food and playing with their hay.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/harvesting_drought-stressed_soybeans_for_forage
" [h=3]Feeding soybean hay[/h]
Soybean hay has a tendency to cause bloat in cattle, so it should be fed carefully. Mix the soybean hay with grass hay or fill the cattle up on grass hay prior to feeding soybean hay. Horses can safely consume soybean hay if it is baled and stored properly."
I would think any cautions about green leaves would be given, but who knows. My guess is there’s nothing inherently wrong with them.
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