Old tires used for feeders might not be a good ideal?

[Reble]

I wondered what on earth, and how could they eat wires?

Referring to tires with wires, not rubber water pails, feed tubs, water troughs etc.

Although previous research has shown that horses are far more selective in their grazing than ruminants, they do occasionally pick up wires accidentally. Two primary sources of these wires have been found: poor hay baling techniques and recycled tires used for feed bins. "And never feed from old tractor tires or anything that might include small ingestible objects."

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13899

Also this article was interesting, if you wish to read:

What makes your horse different from the horse in the next stall? Why doesn't a Kentucky Derby contender walk like a Budweiser Clydesdale? Why don't either of them look like Thumbelina, the Guinness Book of World Records' smallest living horse?

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13892

 

[Katiean]

You need to be careful about the tires you use for feeders. Never use a steel belt radial. only the nylon ply (no wires).

 

[susanne]

ALL TIRES are toxic, whether they have wires, steel belts or otherwise. Do you really want your horses eating from and possibly chewing on something like that? I don't.

 

[ruffian]

Where does the toxicity come from in solid rubber tires? I've used them for years and never had a problem

 

[Katiean]

I have the rubber feed tubs (bought at wal-mart) to feed grain in. Are they too toxic since they are rubber?

 

[MiLo Minis]

I have rubber water pails, feed tubs, water troughs and have never had a problem. Also use tires to insulate the water pails until it gets cold enough to need the heaters. Not one horse has died yet but then I have never seen them chewing on them just rubbing their behinds! I wouldn't think they would taste all that good???

 

[maplegum]

Rubber tyre feeders have been around for years. I still use them for Bailey and Willow. There are so many hidden hazzards around aren't there!

 

[SilverDollar]

I have firsthand experience with the wires in the large tires. Rhett, my Appendix QH that I rescued almost five years ago, had this oozing sore on the bottom of his lower jaw. I was able to talk to the previous owner who said that he "had that for over six months" (long sordid story on the whole rescue

). She never had the vet out to look at it. My vet had probed it but couldn't find anything so we treated it as a wound, however, it just wouldn't heal. Another opening appeared about two inches from the first so we decided to do an x-ray and ultrasound. Sure enough a wire showed up on both tests. (It was parallel with the jaw bone.) My vet was able to extract the wire and the sores finally healed. We don't use the feeders here but the ranch he came from used them all over.

Shortly after my experience I read in Equus magazine about the wires from the tires and how they were seeing a lot of tongue piercings. Ouch! They said that if you do use the tires be sure to monitor their wear and try not to use the ones with steel belts inside. (I'd worry about the horses rubbing their rumps on them. That would be an awful place to get "pierced"!

)

 

[Reble]

I have firsthand experience with the wires in the large tires. Rhett, my Appendix QH that I rescued almost five years ago, had this oozing sore on the bottom of his lower jaw. I was able to talk to the previous owner who said that he "had that for over six months" (long sordid story on the whole rescue

). She never had the vet out to look at it. My vet had probed it but couldn't find anything so we treated it as a wound, however, it just wouldn't heal. Another opening appeared about two inches from the first so we decided to do an x-ray and ultrasound. Sure enough a wire showed up on both tests. (It was parallel with the jaw bone.) My vet was able to extract the wire and the sores finally healed. We don't use the feeders here but the ranch he came from used them all over.
Shortly after my experience I read in Equus magazine about the wires from the tires and how they were seeing a lot of tongue piercings. Ouch! They said that if you do use the tires be sure to monitor their wear and try not to use the ones with steel belts inside. (I'd worry about the horses rubbing their rumps on them. That would be an awful place to get "pierced"!

)

Thanks for sharing your experience, these little guys can get into enough

without helping them

 

[Jill]

I think general good advice is to not improvise when it comes to what you use to care for your horses especially when it comes to items that will be left in their living areas. Buy stuff that is specifically designed to be used with horses or livestock.