BONES in my straw!

New mini · Feb 7, 2015

The worst I have found in my hay is a skunk. Wondered why the hay had a funny smell to it. Once I opened the bale I found out.

chandab · Feb 7, 2015

Try the pellets, they seem to be easiest for minis to eat, some need them soaked, but many do fine with them dry. I feed hay pellets to all of mine dry, and all are fine with it.

Good quality, straight alfalfa hay will have a similar affect on me as it did you, but I have little to no reaction with pellets or cubes (pellets I have the least reaction to). [Depends on the cubes as too whether or not I react, but since soaking and such takes more handling, that probably causes more issues. With pellets, I just scoop them into their feed dish and I'm done, little to no handling required.]

Kim P · Feb 7, 2015

I am going to go with pellets then. I have never used them. Can I mix it with their feed or give it to them seperate like I would throwing them some alfalfa? I know they miss it. They loved it when I gave it to them. They would sort through their hay looking for the good stuff. Chanda I am glad to hear that you are affected in the same way. I have been trying to sort out and make sure that is what it was. I had also had some awesome homemade wine at the same time. I have not drank anymore since this happened. I may just have a glass tonight. It was so good.

chandab · Feb 7, 2015

In the summer, I have other allergies that I take Claritin for and that does help with the alfalfa too. I just don't take the Claritin this time of year, so try to avoid the other triggers.

I mix the pellets in with their grain meal, but you can do it any way you like. If adding the pellets to their grain meal makes for too big of a meal, if you have time, you can always add an alfalfa meal to their daily routine. Like any change start off small and work up. Pellets replace hay pound for pound, although you may find you can feed a bit less as there is no waste to sorting leaves from stems or throwing it around their stall or paddock.

chandab · Feb 7, 2015

If your minis are especially piggy, you might want to consider wetting the pellets to slow them down, so they don't choke. I've not had this problem, so I've pretty much always fed them dry, unless I need a wet feed for other reasons.

Kim P · Feb 7, 2015

Mine aren't really too piggy. Just in the morning when waiting for their first feed. They don't even eat it all now. They come back and forth and nibble at it now that they get get to roam free. Before we fenced the yard in, I would stake them out like dogs in the yard. They did not get to run free every day.

Erickson Miniature Horses · Feb 15, 2015

I once found a baby cow in my hay bale! Apparently the calf had been killed by coyotes and drug out into the hay field where it was baled up. It was awful! Only a few weeks before one of our neighbors had a dead possum in her hay and 9 of her horses died of Botulism. We had to dispose of all the contaminated hay.