Thistles in hay: thoughts?

[Scribbler]

I scored most of a bale of mixed Timothy from a friend who panicked at the intermittent thistle content. My mare eats fresh thistle and loves Himalayan blackberries. She is capable of eating around unpalatable weeds in hay. I see nothing online to suggest thistles will be a problem. The other person who took. Some of this hay reports her horse is eating thistles in perefence to alfalfa. I can pick some of them out too.

This is not the year to waste hay or spurn anything edible.

Anything I should be worrying about?

[alicen]

This guy seems ok with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaP3dMMuG98

[lenapesadie]

Oi! If someone could give my horses the memo about not wasting or spurning hay, that’d be great.

[Calvincrowe]

I’ve had them in mine from time to time-mine just pick around them. Much better than cheat grass, which can literally cause harm to a horse. Right now, if hay is cleanish and relatively palatable, I’ll feed it! So hard to find and afford and it’s only February! I am actually loathe to tell anyone about my new hay guy…keeping him and his still affordable orchard grass my little secret.

[Texarkana]

So long as there aren’t that many in the hay, I kind of let the horses dictate how much of a problem it is, keeping an eye on them for any changes in their behavior or well-being.

Most horses just eat around them. Some horses eat them and get barbs stuck in their gums or even mouth ulcerations. But it’s definitely a case by case kind of thing and not a guarantee of a problem, even if they are eating them.

The bigger problem is the darn barbs get stuck in my hands when I’m handling the hay!

My horses waste enough hay on their own. If I threw away or replaced bales for every weed I saw, I’d go berserk. So if they can solve the problem on their own (provided it isn’t something that will make them ill like mold or poisonous weeds), I let them do that first.

[theresak]

We’ve had a lot of thistle in the pasture and hay the last 2 years and the vet has had to spend some time sedating horses and scraping gums to pick out thistle barbs.

The worst cases seem to be in horses that have small hole hay nets or nylon web-type hay nets where they are pushing their teeth and gums against the net and hay a lot to eat. My horse with a 4 inch hole hay net only had minor thistle irritation from the hay but he did cough for a few weeks when the thistles were bad, so he had some issues.

If you can feed the hay loose on the ground, they will probably eat around it fairly well.

[Scribbler]

Ah very good point. Yes, I’m feeding it loose. My friend who gave the hay away feeds in small hole nets and thought that wouldn’t let him eat around them. I fed some yesterday and was able to pick out visible leaves before I tossed it down from the loft.

[candyappy]

My horses eat most anything in their hay, so I would let them eat around it.

[secuono]

Mine eat thistle flowers.
I’d be more annoyed with it for me having to handle a stabby plant and possibly having seeds in it.

[cnd8]

Mine will not eat any hay that has pokers in it. Likewise, I can’t stand to touch the hay and get the little barbs in my hands. My horse is super picky about hay and will go weeks without eating much hay at all if I try to get some of questionable quality past him, so I just give in and know what I can and can’t feed him anymore. Thankfully, our Standlee hub is great about subbing out bales if I find any issues.

[Scribbler]

Well, I’ve started feeding a flake a day and wearing gloves to take out as much as possible. The thistles are tending to be in wads. I wouldn’t love to have paid 2022 prices for this but happy to get some free hay. Maresy is a very good eater and it’s otherwise nice hay.

How will I know if she gets stickers in her mouth and needs an expensive vet visit that will cost far more than the hay?

[theresak]

@Scribbler

How will I know if she gets stickers in her mouth and needs an expensive vet visit that will cost far more than the hay?

Just lift her lips every day or so and check the gums around the teeth. They will be red and raw if irritated by thistles, and sometimes the insides of the lips and cheeks can get raw spots or ulcers. If it’s just a little bit of irritation, they usually can clear it just fine.

[Kyrabee]

I have had 2 different horses get small lip abscesses from thistles in hay. Not earth shattering but they did require a vet visit. Giant zits is what they looked like. I guess one of them wasn’t so small. When the vet popped it, the instrument went in the back of his upper lip and out the front. That is kind of disturbing to see.

Susan