This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Pica: Horses Eating Inappropriate Materials »
  Discussion on Horses licking limestone
Author Message
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 - 7:31 am:

Dr.O. yesterday I saw Hank at the auto waterer standing, he turned around and started licking snow I thought. I figured maybe the auto waterer had froze, as Sam went over and did the same thing shortly after Hank.

I went outside to check the waterer it was fine, looked down where they had been licking snow and saw they had a hole there with a nice lick made in the limestone.

Hubby was outside and I had him come over and looked at it. He said the cows have been going crazy on their loose mineral too, and we may go bankrupt if they stay at it. They are going through 100#'s a week which is more than double of their normal intake...HMMMMM

Ag lime is what my horses are licking, which is ca/mg pretty much,... the cows are nursing calves.

I wonder with our weird hay year this year if the hay is lacking in Ca/Mg. The cows are getting a little alfalfa.

The horses have free choice hay, salt, mineral blocks, For feed they get about half a pound of Timothy/alfalfa pellets and Gro N' Win ration Balancer. I will admit I don't give them the recommended amount of RB, but am going to start to see if it makes a difference.

It looks as if they have been doing this for awhile...the hole is about 6 in. deep. I don't mind them eating weird things, but limestone concerns me since it has little rocks in it.

Their homemade mineral lick. Is it possible the horses and cows are trying to tell us they are lacking Ca/Mg in their own way??
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 - 10:36 am:

Horses have no specific dietary desire for either magnesium or calcium Diane for more on this see the Pica article and check out the Causes subtopic. Many other have noticed horses on snow covered ground start ingesting odd things but other than boredom do not have an explanation.
DrO
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 - 12:32 pm:

Thanks Dr.O. I did read the article. It's funny horses or cows don't get "cravings" for things they need... I get chocolate cravings all the timeand I know I Need it!

I am going to up their RB, put out some free choice minerals again and see if they quit
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 - 1:18 pm:

Diane,

Just curious, when did you switch to the hay you are feeding now. I again am trying to make a correlation to the rings on all three of your horses feet plus their new lick.

Maybe they have been eating(licking) this for a while even before your area became snow covered ( not necessarily in the same area, but elsewhere in the pasture) due to the different hay.

Yes, I know its a longshot, but hey, I've seen horses do some very strange things and I can't dismiss the feeling that if a horses' diet is missing something they will go to a variety of lengths to find in their surroundings whatever that something is.


Rachelle
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Jan 3, 2010 - 2:00 pm:

Rachelle, ya know I have been thinking about my hay.. I got most of it from my farrier and had been feeding that up until about 5 weeks ago.

One of my other suppliers I use called me and said he had a wagon load if I wanted it, I asked if it was all grass and not moldy.. Horses didn't get to taste test this before I bought it.

Anyway he said yes it was nice hay and I could have it for $1.75, pick up the wagon and just leave it in the barn until it was empty. SOOO we picked it up the middle of Nov. I think. I have been feeding that since around then to get rid of it and get his wagon back to him. I had been mixing some farrier hay with it, but got bizzarded out from that barn for awhile.

The hay LOOKS nice but I can tell he put it up a bit damp and used that preservative on it... my horses had problems with that last year when I got some from him.

The horses have also been coughing a lot. It is not dusty, but that preservative has never agreed with them.

I told hubby today I was not going to feed that for awhile... Is it related to lime licking, hoof discoloration, Sam foundering or whatever his problem is... don't know, but I am going to remove it and see If things improve...the cows can have it!
Member:
npo33901

Posted on Monday, Jan 4, 2010 - 5:36 am:

Interesting .
I've had fracture 2008 in the spring . Horses got to eat only hay ( no hard food ) and pasture time during the day . I did notice, that they licked the salt block a lot, which they did not do before my accident !! Specially Trubi ( the horse with hoof problems ).
He also lost a lot of weight . In spring 2009 I've started to give them hard food. They started to put on weight . In December 09 dietician gave me new hard food with soy oil and minerals . No salt lick - she said .
The hay and food will be analyzed , hope now in Jan.
My hay is bad - I think - And Trubi hoof is probably due to bad feeding . I was/am also worried about Ca/Mg in their food .
I am still thinking to get them Himalayen salt lick .
Their condition is now good, but they are not working yet .
I let you know about the result of the analyze (spelling ?)
Member:
scooter

Posted on Monday, Jan 4, 2010 - 6:10 am:

Anna don't your horses get ANY salt??? or are you putting it in their feed? How is Trubi's hoof doing I have been waiting for an update... Hank has something similar going on with his crack.

I know that presevative is suppose to be safe for horses, but I wonder if Sam could have some kind of allergic reaction to it? Yesterday morning was their last time for it.

I'm sure you probably don't recall but Flash started standing all stretched out last year when they were on the big bales with the preservative. They even refused to eat one bale of it. She is standing stretched out again, maybe it effects older horses or something... Hank seems fine, except he isn't real fond of it.

They have been getting nothing but that hay since our "blizzard" I was not able to get to our other barn. And they have been getting a lot of it due to the cold weather. Up to then I was mixing it with my farriers hay and they weren't getting much, the weather didn't call for it.

I upped the ration balancer to recommended amounts, put out some free choice mineral, switched hay and covered the hole Hopefully they will quit it now, and Sam will get better. (that's just wishful thinking)
Member:
npo33901

Posted on Monday, Jan 4, 2010 - 4:39 pm:

Sorry, I forgot to say, that ,BEFORE my accident, Trubi hardly tched the mineral/salt lick - Violino did lick it a bit . BUT AFTER the "starvation"diet - I call it this way as I thought, they don't work, they can survive on hay only......They both were licking it all the time . And that and Trubi's hoof made me think they are lacking some nurishment .
Diane, no, at the moment they are not getting any mineral/salt lick - the nutrition girl told me they don't need it... She is coming this week to cheque on them how they are doing - I shall question her . I think I would like to test the horses with the Himalyen salt block. - if she doesn't object .

Trubi 's hoof. We still didn't work out sending photos - .I don't want to bother you all the time.
He actually had a thrush at the place of the previous V opening,
but from the sole side. And I drilled and - blood came. I packed it with 50/50 Neosporen/Athlete's foot, and kept changing the packing. Now it is widely open and looks clean. I shall write more on the proper site when I master the photos sending .
Forgive me, what does men "stretched" and what preservatives on hay ?
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Monday, Jan 4, 2010 - 5:14 pm:

On the Dr. Oz television show, he praised the Himalayan salt as being helpful for humans suffering from acid reflux problems. Thought that was interesting.
Member:
npo33901

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 - 3:20 pm:

Vicky, did they say on the show how us human should take it ? My husband suffers acid reflux .
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010 - 9:48 pm:

No, he did not elaborate. He also mentioned vegetables are good to eat for the problem and that chewing gum is helpful.

There is a general article at this site: https://www.ehow.com/how_5624681_prevent-heal-acid-reflux.html

If you do a search for "Himalayan salt for acid reflux" several sites should come up with more information.

I need to look into this further myself.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC