I'VE HAD IT!!!!

[KanoasDestiny]

My 15 month old colt has had diarrhea for the past 2 days and today, although it is more firm, there is quite a bit of liquid following the manure out. I fear he is going to get a blockage of wood in his tummy and that it will lead to colic.

I have tried Listerine and dish soap, but nothing repels them. I am going to be adding metal fencing to cover the wooded areas, but I fear they will find a way to do it. I called the local feed store and they have a bitter apple that is supposed to help, and my vet said to add barely oat hay to their diet once a day.

I am to the point where I want to muzzle them whenever they aren't eating. But I want to try adding more fiber to their diet first, to see if they have a defiecency in it. As of now, they have both a salt and mineral block, eat 2 1/4 pounds of Purina Jr daily, and get Alfalfa hay in the mornings and Orchard in the afternoon and evenings. How do I go about adding fiber to their diet without using beet pulp and increasing their hay intake? Please help!!! I'm scared, irritated and confused.

 

[HGFarm]

What are they getting as a regular diet? Sounds like they are lacking in fiber, or bored or both.

We used to paint our wood fencing with used car oil and it worked like a charm. Soaks into the wood- the horses hated it and would NEVER chew.

 

[chandab]

The only way to add more fiber would be to add either beet pulp or more hay. Can you feed more times per day? If you can, you could break up their total daily feeds into more meals; it might help. Toys might also help, if they are chewing out of boredom; mine like to play with their feed pans.

I have a couple of beavers and so far a product called Halt Cribbing (or Crib Halt - can't ever remember, I have another can on order) seems to be working. I haven't used it on the mini barn yet, but have on the full-size horse corral and wind break, where there is a confirmed wood chewer and it's working for me. It comes in brown or clear, here's a link to the clear.

http://www.westernranchsupply.com/catalog.html

If that doesn't take you to the actual page, it's item # CRBC4C (you can type the number into the search to get the right page).

 

[KanoasDestiny]

At this point, I'll try anything!!! They have sunk so low that they actually go up to the wood and chew it right in front of me. :no:

I discussed their diet with the vet and he said that it was perfect. But apparently not for these two. I also decided that I am going to give them EquiAid for the next week, because my colt needs his system cleaned out. So I guess that I will be able to see if that form of fiber helps any.

I really don't want to use something that will pose as a threat or is hazardous to ingest, because my luck, it won't deter them either and then they would get a really big helping of it. But I am definately interested in that crib halt stuff to go with the metal fencing.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

Do you wet the soap or just rub it on? And by rubbing it on, can you actually see it on the wood? I tried blue dish soap, but I swear they thought it was a new yummy flavor because it didn't stop them for a minute.

:

 

[eagles ring farm]

i got a spotted saddle horse some years ago and owner said didn't chew when i got him he started chewing his stall like crazy.We had salt block outside and in the stall.

previous owner said give him loose mineral salt not block but loose garnular in a separate feeder thats what someone told him for cribbing years ago and he always used said some horses don't like the block

i was skeptical but put another feeder up and bought a 50# bag (of Morton's)thats the smallest i could get

Believe it or not the horse instantly stopped cribbing and for the few years i had him he never cribbed again might be worth a try although can't be in the rain like blocks

Lori

 

[Charlotte]

Well, I can tell you, pocket gophers sure don't like Irish Spring bath soap! They about destroyed our pasture one year and we tried EVERYTHING! Nothing worked very well till Frank put Irish Spring in the runs...no more gophers. So give that a try. Rub the dry soap bar wherever there is chewing.

Free choice grass hay might help too. Horse instinct is to be chewing most of the time and if there isn't food to chew they'll look for something else.

Let us know what works please

Charlotte

 

[KanoasDestiny]

As luck has it, I think I have Irish Spring in my bathroom right now (hubby's favorite soap

: ). So I will go out and rub it EVERYWHERE!!! I'll also try the EquiAid. If it doesn't work, I'll be sure to order the Crib Halt and put up the metal fencing tomorrow. And if that doesn't help, I'll go to minitack.com and buy a couple of really nice muzzles.

: Thank you guys for all the advice. Oh by the way, has anyone tried a loose mineral product called "QUIT!!!"? I found it online while researching chewing remedies. It sounded ok, but you know how they always build something up to make it sound good. I was just curious if anyone has tried it?

 

[shminifancier]

I "paint" the wood with used car oil "drain oil" I have been doing this now for 30 years horses don't like the motor oil and don't like the smell and or taste. Stops then right away. I used this for the 10 year while at a larger boarding stable in AZ. we had plenty of wood chewers in the barn and such because of being in stalls. I just saved the oil every time I changed it in my car and painted it all over boards. Heck not only stops the horses from chewing but preserves the wood at the same time cool.

 

[JanBKS]

I used the QUIT and it did work but for 6 big horses it is a bit pricy, I am going to try the oil trick and see if that will work, if not I will get the Irish Spring, it's amazing how fast those bevers can eat up a barn.

Thanks for all the tips, I hope you find a solution soon.

Jan

 

[Tony The Pony]

two words....tobassco sause!

 

[Sue_C.]

Try feeding kelp.

I started my horses on it a couple of years ago, with thier morning feed, (about 1 Tbsp) because they were chewing wood, and someone told me to try it. They stopped chewing wood, shortly after. For some dumb reason, about a month ago, I thought perhaps I was feeding too much, so I changed to once every third day...well...they are again, chewing wood. I am now back to every morning.

 

[horsesmakeubroke]

10 of our stables are made entirely of timber. We have a constant turn round of horses in and out for training and many of them chew wood. The stables are all coated in waste oil and provided we keep refreshing it, it's a good deterrent. I've used commerical products in the past, like Cribbox, but it's very expensive and the time it takes to keep putting it on is prohibitive in our circumstances. We've had one or two horses that will chew the wood no matter what we use and they have to go into the concrete block stables. All the doors incidentially, have metal strips on the tops.

My vet however, reckons horses eat wood in the wild and it's completely normal. That doesn't help much when my stables are getting smaller and smaller tho! I've also found that providing salt/mineral blocks helps cut down on the chewing.

k

 

[Sonya]

Hi -

I had a couple places in the barn that the horses liked to chew and a tree. I tried everything...tobasco, irish spring, motor oil. None of that worked for me. The "no chew" from the tack store did work, but I had to replace it every once in a while and the tree was too big for this, plus it was expensive. We ended up putting metal flashing on the wood in the barn that they were munching on and I covered the tree with welded wire fencing.

My vet however, reckons horses eat wood in the wild and it's completely normal

I've read this before and one book even suggested putting safe wood in the pasture for them to chew on. I didn't like this idea though.

 

[wantminimore]

Like Mary Lou, I use Irish Spring soap too, it keeps my donkey from chewing, thankfully he's the only one that chews.

I just go over the places that I see he's been chewing. On places I can see pieces of the soap but not on all of it, seems to work for me.

Leslie

 

[spazkat]

two words....tobassco sause!

This wont work for all horses by any means... I had one mare that LOVED the stuff. She was licking it off faster than I could paint it on, and then came to try to lick the bowl clean when I was done >.<

I did always have good luck with bar soap. I used Ivory rather than Irish Spring.. but I dont really think brand matters.

 

[horsesmakeubroke]

I agree Fordney, I don't like them eating wood either. I always feel it shows they're "lacking" in something, hence the salt licks.

 

[bevann]

I have had great success with hot sauce.I buy the cheap kind and put it in squirt or squeeze bottle&cover everything.I had 1 young horse who even chewed a hole in a fiberglass door leading into the barn.IT STOPPED HER &several others. good luck. some of them just LOVE chewing.

 

[Miniv]

In addition to trying the preventative measures ( a lot of good ones listed so far) it's important to find out WHY your horse is chewing.

The two main reasons horses chew wood is either boredom or something lacking in their diet.

If they have enough hay to chew on that it keeps them occupied for several hours, but they still chew, then you need to look at their overall diet......vitamins and minerals, etc.

Good luck,

MA

 

[Sue_C.]

If they have enough hay to chew on that it keeps them occupied for several hours, but they still chew, then you need to look at their overall diet......vitamins and minerals, etc.

Yup, that's it exactly...that's why I feed kelp, it works...really, something so cheap, and simple.

Like I said before...try it, trust me. :lol: :lol:

Try feeding kelp.