Eating trees - Is something missing - minerals?

[okggo]

My horses are on a "balanced" diet and get a vitamin/mineral supplement where the feeding directions indicate to provide free choice access to the white salt, NOT mineral blocks.

I've noticed lately our cedar trees have the bark shredded off the base where the horses are peeling it off and eating/licking at the bark/tree. Thinking maybe their minerals were off I put mineral blocks out in both fields and this morning both of them are 1/2 gone!! They went through 1/2 a block in one night. I'm not exactly cool with that either, last thing I want is a selenium overdose or something.

So...do I take the blocks out, since they are scarfing them down like they are starving to death? Or is that what they need so I could add a mineral supplement (controlled) to their diets?

I've done the diet analysis and they *shouldn't* be missing anything, but the numbers on the books vs their behavior are telling me 2 different things.

Thoughts?

[JB]

IME, horses just love some trees. Cedars seem to be at the top of the list, especially this time of year :mad:

Which mineral blocks did you put out? if they have molasses or any other flavorings, don't use those - they eat them like candy.

But if they are just nasty ol' mineral blocks, then yes, that is a sign they are missing something, because minerals don't taste good.

You're right, you can analyze the diet from here to infinity, and the numbers can all add up, but that doesn't take into account individual horses, the actual bioavailability of the minerals, and the nutritional efficiency of the horse.

[rcloisonne]

A LOT of horses like to eat trees, even if there’s good pasture and/or hay available. Apparently, the sap many trees produce is very tasty to them which is why all trees in a horse pasture need to be protected or they’ll die.

My bet is on the mineral blocks containing molasses or some other sweetener to encourage horses and other animals to eat them (so you’ll buy more). Salt is typically the only mineral horses seek out, even if they have other deficiencies.

[okggo]

Interesting on the trees. It's ONLY the cedars. They have literally shredded all the bark from my waist level down to the ground. Our gelding actually has one he prefers and he guards that tree with his life. The mares aren't allowed near it, he even goes so far as to sleep next to it so they can't sneak a lick.

I'll have to check the block ingredients re the molasses. I know it had alfalfa meal as one of the ingredients and I wondered if it would be too tasty for them. Any recommendations on the kind that they don't treat like candy?

[JB]

If they have already eaten even 1/4" of width all the way around the tree (girdled it), it's just a matter of time before it dies now. But if they haven't, if you don't want it to die, you need to get some chicken wire or hardware cloth wrapped around it now, well-secured.

I use Dynamite loose minerals - taste icky, but they eat them when they want.

I also force-feed the Izmine product to my mare who seems more prone to tree-eating than the others, and as long as she has that (she won't free-choice it), she's not a beaver.

[okggo]

JB, no doubt we will lose a few of them, I'll wrap the rest. Argh. See, all these things nobody tells you until you own a place and learn them all the hard way...

If they would invent horses that eat pricker bushes, then I would be a very happy soul.

Good thing I don't really like the trees anyway. Sigh.

[Altamont Sport Horses]

If the mineral block has alfalfa in it I'm sure they found it just too tasty. The best thing to provide IMO is a salt block without minerals. Most of the mineral blocks are trace mineral blocks meaning there are very little minerals in them. It is basically just salt with a little bit of minerals. If they really need minerals but don't need the salt they aren't going to get what little minerals are in the block anyway. If you provide loose minerals that have minimal salt in them and they go crazy for them you know they are missing something because loose minerals do not taste good. Mine gobbled the loose minerals like they were starving even though I have always offered trace mineral blocks. Once they got their fill they ate the loose minerals in much more moderation. Some people will let the horses get their fill and then afterwards just put loose minerals in their feed ration. It depends on the horse what will work best.

Horses like to eat green living stuff and trees. The tree eating is usually worse in the winter when their isn't any yummy grass. They are definitely missing things in their diets when they don't have green grass (Omega 3s, sufficient lysine, etc. if I remember correctly) and you may need to supplement. I have definitely learned that a "balanced feed" isn't ALL that. Some horses will require more and some horses do not need as many calories so you can't feed them the minimum required feed without making them fat. If they don't eat the minimum they probably aren't getting the minimum vitamins, minerals and other nutrients they require either. What also isn't considered is the quality of forage given. A balanced feed can't accomodate for horses given better or lesser quality forage so ultimately the feed formulation will have to be made based on an average. And since hay from one field can different in quality from hay in a field on the other side of the street there are going to be a lot of differences across the country.

[LMH]

JB, I didn't know you were having luck with force fed Izmine-may have to add some of that in!

[Flying Hill]

If they would invent horses that eat pricker bushes, then I would be a very happy soul.


They have! They're called goats. :)

[ThisTooShallPass]

Horses are browsers. Thus they do eat trees. (Some) People seem to think horses are classified as grazers.

[George Myers]

There is a theory that stripping bark indicates a shortage of copper. But it may be a whole host of minerals they are getting - or just boredom - it's fun stripping off bark.

Best thing you can do is - get rid of the blocks that have ALFALFA (!!!) in them - give them a straight salt block and straight minerals. That way they can take as much salt as they want - and they'll only touch the minerals if they need to.

Then - find some overgrown willows, birches (any 'horse approved' tree) and cut them a few big branches to strip the bark off.

[greysandbays]

Willows and birches are two of the trees my horses won't touch. Their favorites are poplar, oak, and elm -- and live spruce twigs.

[blackstallion2]

Mine love the weeping willow (planted just outside of their fence) and they chew the fallen pecan branches. But those are all they have access to.

[Tree]

Ours will go for dogwood, poplar, maples and some oaks. We have cedar trees but they prefer those for scratching itchies on and won't chew on them.