Can Horses Eat Wheat Straw?
Although straw contains a very low amount of NSC, horses can benefit from it. Studies have found that it can help reduce energy intake and lower blood insulin levels, and can be a useful supplement in a balanced ration. However, there are some concerns about its nutritional value. Those concerns may be based on anecdotal information and lack of scientific research. For example, you should never feed straw to your horse for three weeks at a time.
| Can Horses Eat Wheat Straw?
Although straw contains a very low amount of NSC, horses can benefit from it. Studies have found that it can help reduce energy intake and lower blood insulin levels, and can be a useful supplement in a balanced ration. However, there are some concerns about its nutritional value. Those concerns may be based on anecdotal information and lack of scientific research. For example, you should never feed straw to your horse for three weeks at a time.
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It should be noted that a horse should receive plenty of turnout, and should have plenty of roughage and haylage. If you feed your horse shavings, you may need to use muzzles, or switch to a different stall bedding. Because shavings are indigestible, a horse’s gut may get blocked and suffer from impaction colic. Therefore, if you want to feed your horse wheat straw, make sure it is fresh.
It is important to note that horses cannot digest wood shavings, so you should give them plenty of turnout. If your horse is stabled, you may need to use a different type of stall bedding. In addition, because wood shavings are indigestible, your horse may also suffer from impaction colic. In general, though, it is safe to feed your horse wheat straw. The downside to using wheat straw is that your horse may not be able to chew the grain very easily, and the high NDF content could lead to impaction colic.
If you are worried about your horse’s diet, you can try to add some wheat straw to it. However, you should not overfeed your horse with straw. It may be too high in NDF and can lead to impaction colic. To avoid this, mix a small amount of good quality hay in with it. This will allow the horse to digest more of it. In addition, it will improve your horse’s welfare by lowering energy needs.
You can feed your horse wheat straw as part of your daily haylage. During the winter months, you should avoid feeding it with straw. You can add a few grains of straw to a feed forage. It is best to use a stabled wheat straw when you feed your horse in the winter. You can also provide your horse with enough roughage to keep it healthy. This will prevent impaction colic in the long run.
However, you should be careful to choose the right type of straw for your horse. If it is not natural, it will be difficult for your horse to digest it. Then, you should choose straw that contains more than 10% of NDF. If you do not want your horse to develop impaction colic, you should avoid feeding them with hay. If your horses are unable to eat the straw, then you should not feed them with straw.