Stallion ate my broccoli plants

[Riverrose28]

One of my stallions, "Prince" ate six broccali plants, and ate the tops off of six more. He is acting normal. Should I worry? It was too windy yesterday to plant them and hubby put them on top of my medicine cabinet to be planted this evening. I went out to clean his stall and found the left overs. He just got well from being treated for an ulcer and the vet is not coming back out until the 25 for a recheck. Should I do anything? He must have reached over the top of his stall and got them.

 

[Riverrose28]

Well, I should report that it has been several hours now, and he is still acting normal, so I suppose I paniced for nothing! I seem to learn something everyday, and I guess he just taught me that horses can eat some strange things without ill effects.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Terry, I feed my horses scraps that include things like fresh brocolli. They've never had a problem. Some eat brocolli, some don't. They all will eat carrots and leftover corn on the cob of course, but the celery, brocolli, cauliflower, oranges, etc. some eat, some don't.

I wouldn't worry....although his horsey farts may be a bit worse later today!LOL

 

[Riverrose28]

Parm, thank you, hubby is going to be fired up when he finds out Prince ate some of his plants, but it's his fault he put them there! This is the stallion that is just recovering from an ulcer, so he is still getting vet checked once a month for awhile. He does seem perfectly normal, so thank you for putting my mind at ease.

 

[Lizzie]

I'm quite sure he'll be ok. His mum must have told him to eat his broccoli.

Lizzie

 

[Jill]

I hope he will be perfectly fine, but I would absolutely put a call in to the vet. It's such a gassy vegetable. Maybe you should feed him some Gas-X or have busapan administered, etc., depending on vet advice. Better safe than sorry and I do hope I'm just being a worrier!

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I agree with Jill. I'd forgotten about his ulcers and it is does produce a lot of gas. I think I'd give him some Gas X as she suggested.

ETA: I don't technically know that the "leaves" create a gas problem, so it may not be an issue. The fruit certainly does though.

 

[Riverrose28]

Well, after I calmed down I called my vet and she said to just watch him, and so far he's just fine! Thanks for the concern.

 

[Jill]

I'm glad to hear your update

 

[circlesinthesand]

hmmm, dunno about broccoli and I'm sure it freaked you out but at least it was a plant!! I know horses can eat a few different types of veggies and fruits. Mine pick blackberries off the wild bushes in the pasture every spring, they love 'em. They've been eating them for years with little problem. But, I've seen some big horses eat some very weird things with no ill effects. Trust me I was just as shocked as anyone can be when my gelding stole my BBQ hamburger right out my hands and actually ATE the whole thing! And was looking for more! I was able to save him from swallowing the wrapper but it was a near thing! I make sure I tie him up before I eat now! He also drinks lemonade, he is a bit of a thief, con artist, escapee, general pain in the ....

My childhood pony loved sour pickles and had snipped the tops off of many pine tree saplings once. My old mare's dam would eat whole watermelons, rind, seeds and all, and my uncle had a horse that would eat boiled crawfish, the entire crawfish, shell and all AND spicey hot boiled crawfish!

Glad to know he's not had any ill effects. They must have tasted good to him for him to eat that many!

 

[LittleBittyBritches]

So glad to hear he is ok!

 

[Davie]

I'm glad he is doing OK. I used to have an Arab gelding that loved hotdogs w/mustard (bun and all), peanut butter crackers and would chug coke out of a can. He was my competitive trail riding horse so always had to tie him away from me at lunch breaks or be willing to share lunch--he loved olives also.

 

[Riverrose28]

Such funny stories! We used to have a shetland pony back in the 80's that we sometimes allowing in the back yard, if you had a beer in a bottle he would pick up the bottle and chug the beer. He also liked to eat the kids hot dogs!

 

[Stacy Score]

Glad he is OK - these horses are so funny. My first mare, Mariah, had a "thing" for Orange Crush - if she would see me with a can of it you could hardly keep it away from her - she would grab the can by the rim and drink it till it was gone -- ended up splashing a lot if it out, but she also had orange lips for the rest of the day - also loved red licorice! But didn't like other canned products or black licorice - silly girl - go figure!

 

[susanne]

I, too, am glad to read your update. I wouldn't think it would be a problem, but I'm glad you checked with your vet, especially with the ulcers and excessive gas.

Mingus is a big mooch. In nice weather, we eat our breakfast on the picnic table next to the corral, and he is right there demanding his share. Keith always shares his cereal (no big surprise there), but he really wants the cold dregs of my coffee! He loves drinking from bottles -- root beer is best, but beer or anything else will do. This is rather handy at shows and on the trail, as he'll drink straight from a water bottle.

 

[miniwhinny61]

One of my geldings will eat sweet tart gummy worms, his former owner told me this and showed me, He almost tore the box out of her hands to get his gummy worm