Teff Hay-Impaction Risk

[UlysMom]

I haven’t logged on in a pretty long time but wanted to jump on and share my unfortunate recent experience because I just haven’t seen much online and really wanted some frame of reference for others in case they find themselves in the same spot.

My 8 year old Morgan gelding is currently at Alamo Pintado recovering from a small colon impaction which presented last Saturday. Because of the diarrhea he was also experiencing, my boy was rushed into an isolation stall until they could rule out salmonella, et all (which fortunately days later, all tests were negative). Vet felt small colon impaction upon rectal and laid out the situation so I would be prepared. Fortunately, he passed much of the impaction within that first 36 hours on IV and q8 NG fluids. He’s still recovering, with fever fluctuations, which are now being attributed to jugular thrombosis he developed at his catheter site. But he’s at the right place for the supportive care he needs during this time. Ice boots and treatments to mitigate all potential concerns. We are so fortunate to be 40 minutes from Alamo. I’m hoping things continue to move in the right direction but I am still so very worried for my boy.

Though we haven’t been able to yet pinpoint what was the catalyst for this, one of the possible causes to the original impaction that his treating veterinarian brought up was the teff hay diet he was on. Morgan=Air Fern, and I had transitioned my boy to a mostly teff diet over that last year and a half, with hay bags in front of them 24/7 both in stall and at turn out. I started off feeding a mix of teff and grass hay and then within the last couple months, he was almost 100% teff (outside of Timothy pellet mash at night with his salt, flax, and ration balancer). My older guy gets alfalfa and orchard at meals with teff as a constant option, so my Morgan sometimes cleans up what my older guy spills and doesn’t finish. Mine are out in individual dry lot paddocks during the day (swapped EOD) and come into their own stalls at night. He’s a really good drinker, teeth done every spring, quality hay, UTD on everything, and moving during the day. All the things I had read that put them at risk for small colon impaction, he didn’t fit those categories (though I know sometimes things just happen and no one knows why…because horses).

Since she mentioned an all teff diet can be associated with small colon impaction, I just wanted to throw it out there so others may be aware. I wasn’t and I feel like I am pretty on top of things when it comes to my horses. I am feeling like I failed here and maybe put my guy at risk. I had even consulted with a vet nutritionist when I moved my boys home just to have some peace of mind about my plans moving forward. I had always heard about coastal potentially being tied to impaction, but in my research since, I am only finding a very small handful of mentions of a similar association with teff. The treating veterinarian mentioned it is something they see at their hospital, so not sure if it is regional or if teff just isn’t fed enough compared to the other hay types to elicit stronger associations. She did mention that if feeding the teff, it is safer to feed it at less than 50% of the overall forage diet (which is comparable to what I have heard about coastal).

I don’t want to fear monger anyone at all, but I since I wasn’t seeing anything online discussing this issue, I just thought I would throw a post up so anyone else researching in the future may stumble across it and it may help them. He was eating the teff for a year and a half before we had an issue, but he also was not on 100% until probably the last 2-3 months. I am sure plenty of people feed it at 100% and never have a problem. It’s a really great hay option and readily available where I am in CA. Now I am so gun shy about it, I am burning the bales I have left in small feedings (not to him) and replacing with Timothy moving forward. None of mine are IR, so I do have options to switch things up. And I also know that we still don’t know for sure if the teff was the actual catalyst for this event. Like I said, not trying to fear monger, just bring awareness.

Thanks for reading if you got this far. If you are reading this in the future, I hope you find positive outcomes for your current situation.

[LilRanger]

Are you not going to just continue feeding the teff but mixed with Timothy at a safe ratio?

[trubandloki]

Jingles for you quick recovery for your boy.

[UlysMom]

Honestly, this is all still pretty raw and I am sure I am overreacting, but probably not once I have burned through my last 8 bales. That’s what I am doing now with my older gelding and my 3 year old, mixing it at a smaller ratio. Like I said, it’s a great hay, and I was feeding it for the same reason many others do. But unless I need to feed teff for a specific reason, I am most likely going to be switching to timothy. I don’t have a discharge plan yet for my gelding but we had already talked about potentially moving him off of teff completely when he even is able to eat hay again. He’s still on soaked feed and his appetite isn’t normal yet.

And my intent is to get my track system up here in the near future and then everyone will be on the same forage during the day and will pull them in at night if they need something different (like alf for my old man, soaked feed, etc). So finding a balance that works for everyone is what I am striving for. And if I can’t, then I will just accommodate to support the individuals and change up my plans.

[FjordBCRF]

Thank you for sharing, I was unaware that teff carried that risk.

I have had my gelding on teff for almost a year now and haven’t noticed any issues. Like yours, it’s fed in hay bags, my guy is a big drinker, teeth done 2x/year etc. The biggest difference is that his is weighed/rationed vs free choice; he gets 15 lbs total, a little more in his morning bag than his evening bag so he may be consuming considerably less.

BIG jingles for you and your guy getting through his recovery.

[UlysMom]

Thank you

[UlysMom]

Sorry, let me clarify. I had been weighing his bags at first too, monitoring his intake because he’s prone to chonk. Also to get an idea of his consumption and to calculate my hay burn rate for ordering purposes. Once I had an idea of what was normal for him, I loosened it up a bit to stretch hay time in front of him, but it was still within reason and not a seat at the buffet. Before moving them home, they were boarded and fed twice a day, so transitioning to the goal of access to hay all day was a slower process. Coming from a twice a day feeding arrangement, access to hay bags that stretch their forage is what I meant by “hay all day”. So yes, within reason and not a free for all. Apologies for the confusion.

Thanks for the jingles. It’s been rough but I am hoping he continues to improve and can be home soon. But I’d rather he stay where he is then risk relapse bringing him home too soon. He’s my Labrador and I miss him terribly.

[clanter]

@FjordBCRF

The biggest difference is that his is weighed/rationed vs free choice;

same for our four Morgans, their Teff have is weighed before putting into hay pillows or nets. they are not fed free choice.

We have been feeding Teff for five years

[UlysMom]

Thanks. I agree with you and clarified my comment above.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m so sorry… thank you for sharing this. Mine was in the hospital for a strangulating lipoma last year. It’s indescribably difficult. I very much appreciate this as mine is IR and I was thinking of sourcing teff. Not now.
My very best wishes he is home soon.

[UlysMom]

I would definitely talk to your vet before ruling anything out completely. My previous horse survived lipoma surgery back in the day, he was IR and I ended up soaking his hay because there were few options back then. I do think teff is a good option for IR horses, especially when it’s tested to confirm content. My intent wasn’t to discourage use of it at all, just to bring awareness to what the treating vet shared with me, so others could make informed decisions (if their vets agreed). Just like everything in the horse world, everyone is going to have their own opinion on this and that’s expected. As I mentioned, I hadn’t seen any discussions about this topic specifically, which is why I created the post in the first place.

There are many who feed it with no issues (as @clanter mentioned above). Just as many feed coastal with no issues.

Thank you for the best wishes.

[NaturallyHappy]

@UlysMom

My intent wasn’t to discourage use of it at all, just to bring awareness to what the treating vet shared with me, so others could make informed decisions (if their vets agreed).

I know… and I thank you for it.

[LilRanger]

I dint blame you for switching! I just realized when you said

@UlysMom

I am burning the bales I have left

I thought you literally meant you were lighting these remaining bales on fire! My bad!

I super your decision and dint blame you for being worried

[JB]

@UlysMom

Since she mentioned an all teff diet can be associated with small colon impaction,

@UlysMom

The treating veterinarian mentioned it is something they see at their hospital, so not sure if it is regional or if teff just isn’t fed enough compared to the other hay types to elicit stronger associations.

this is the issue. If you have a high % of horses eating Teff, then by default a high % of horses coming in with impactions will have been on Teff, but correlation != causation

@UlysMom

in my research since, I am only finding a very small handful of mentions of a similar association with teff.

can you post what you’ve found? IIRC the Coastal situation was reached based on quite a lot of retrospective looks at impaction colics and how much Coastal the horses were eating, with there being a direct relationship between all/mostly Coastal and impactions. But most importantly was the fact that the risk is with an ileal impaction, rather than impaction in general.

That said, Teff IS a finer hay, like Coastal, BUT, it doesn’t have the high indigestible fiber that’s the real problem with Coastal but more specifically, Coastal that’s a bit too mature. A bit too mature in other hays just doesn’t have that issue.

I AM so very sorry you had to go through this, and I know the urge is there to never feed Teff again. I’m going to look more into this to see if there’s been any look into any possibility of it causing issues, as I want to know what’s there.

[Pepsy]

Hi there,
If it is not too much of a pain, could you post a picture of the teff you have been feeding. I have fed teff for several years from different sources and there has been a bit of variety to the appearance, some finer, some coarser . I try now to purchase not too fine and as close to 100% teff as possible, being that it is usually grown in a recently harvested other crop field.

[FjordBCRF]

@JB

I’m going to look more into this to see if there’s been any look into any possibility of it causing issues, as I want to know what’s there.

Please share anything you find out!

This is what my teff looks like. It was locally grown. I had seen teff once before and it was not half as nice and was extremely dusty.

And analysis for anyone interested:

[stargzng386]

The Teff I tried for my IR pony was very fine stemmed and almost chopped up. My pony also has a history of impaction colic and the vet specifically said thick stem hay for a horse who impact colics so she is on pure Timothy. They need the thick stems yo rough up the stomach to encourage stomach acid production. Her bad colics have been on orchardgrass in the past, any recent colic was medically induced not related to hay.

[SusanO]

I have bought the Standlee teff pellets for a pony with bad dentition but he did not particularly like them. The equine garbage can thought they were fine. And I have some bare spots in one paddock so I got the bright idea that I would get some teff seed to plant there since we usually are in drought conditions in summer. Well it has rained constantly, almost daily, all summer but the teff came up and is growing well. It is a very fine grass and I thought the pony might eat it before it got established. Nope. he is not wild about teff grass either.

That hay was baled at a very low moisture level. I did not know you could get moisture that low. Maybe that might have contributed. It does not look like it was cut at a really early stage either. Maybe too fibrous although i have seen worse.

[Obsidian_Fire]

This is a really interesting thread. And @FjordBCRF, I’ve never seen Teff that “stemmy”. I guess regional differences? Timing of cutting, etc.?
I know a number of people with air ferns who feed all Teff.

[JB]

@FjordBCRF

This is what my teff looks like. It was locally grown. I had seen teff once before and it was not half as nice and was extremely dusty.

it’s a nice hay for IR horses, low ESC, WSC, and starch, The protein is borderline, just 7%, depending on how much the horse is able to eat, and the lower-ish calories means they can usually eat more than “normal” for an easy keeper. But it does point to being overly mature, which is what it looks like as well. Not everyone who grows Teff, does it right, and sometimes weather conditions just screw it up

@stargzng386

They need the thick stems yo rough up the stomach to encourage stomach acid production.

Presence of food is what increases acid production. It’s produced all the time, but we don’t want anything to “rough up” the stomach.