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Discussion on Feeding Wheat to horses
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Member:
Tangoh
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Posted on Friday, Dec 15, 2006 - 7:20 am:
I have a question from a friend, hope I can ask it here - she has oats which has an 8% wheat content in it, and is wondering if its okay to feed that to her horses. They get two 5 gallon pails split between 14 horses a day.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Dec 15, 2006 - 11:16 am:
It's my understanding that the only problem with wheat is that the kernels are very hard and unless they are cracked the horses doesn't get nutrient from them as they pass right through the horse without really being digested.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 16, 2006 - 8:23 am:
I am unaware that wheat needs to be cracked, at least for horses with normal teeth, in order to be digested properly. I will see if I can find more information on this.
DrO
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Member:
Tangoh
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Posted on Monday, Dec 18, 2006 - 7:53 am:
Any information you can find Dr. O would be appreciated. I wasn't able to find much information on the internet other than in areas of severe DrOught, where wheat is likely the most available grain, it has been used for horse feed.
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Monday, Dec 18, 2006 - 3:19 pm:
Sherri, when I was in CA, oat hay and an alfalfa/grass mix hay were the popular choices, but wheat hay was also fed. At one barn, there was found to be a couple of horses with severe wheat allergy . . . so, I guess, just like in people, some horses may react unfavorably to wheat.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006 - 6:15 am:
Hello Holly,
I went to look to see if anyone has ever published a case of wheat allery in horses and they have not. Holly do you know how these horses were diagnosed?
DrO
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006 - 8:30 am:
The horses were at a different barn than the one I managed in CA, and I assume a vet was involved in the diagnosis. I was told that they couldn't even have wheat hay around those horses. I don't know if it was a respiratory allergy or skin reaction or if the horses actually got sickly. I can try to find out more from some of the folks who are still there.
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