Why would a horse eat wood?

Question

I know it probably means they are deficient in something,but my parents bought a horse that eats the fence and stall.

ok for all of you just tryin to get points.They are VERY well fed.They took it to the vet and had its teeth "floated"Vet finds nothing else wrong

People actually have said that he really could be bored.Does sound unreasonable though.

First of all "J.J." They arent CONFINED and they are fed twice a day and graze all day long.Im looking for REAL answers Thank you.

Its a boy...not giving birth.lol

New stalls,been to the vet,eat the feed like its the best ever.He eats in the stall and then goes out in the pasture when hes finished.But has eaten the doors off his stall window and the framework around it and part of the fence.

Tennessee Walking Horse

Answer 1

"People actually have said that he really could be bored.Does sound unreasonable though."

Actually, it is very common thing.

Crib biting is a common vice, in which the horse grasps a solid object with the incisors teeth, arches the neck and swallows air. This can cause gastritis (irritating of the stomach) , poor appetite and loss of weight. It is a vice related to boredom.

alleviate the boredom by putting a hay net in the horses box or a hen or small goat in the box as a companion. put the horse out in yard or paddock. Eliminate . Commerically available straps put tightly around the neck will sometimes be effective.

Wood chewing is a vice that can be costly as horse chew through stable doors or paddocks fences. The cause of this vandalism is boredom, although some people attribute to it as a nutritional defiance.
Paint the timber with creosote or other commerically available unpalatable products help.

Since you say this horse is out more than in the pen, I would recommend to "change" the pen that he is in that he does his chewing.

I would also buy him some junior or senior feed (whichever he is) or nuitritional based supplement.

For my 6 year old gelding, I bought a over sized big apple at petsmart that I hanged in his stall (when we had him boarded). He would play with that thing like crazy a long with his road cone, bouncy purple ball I called the (telletubby head cuz looked like one lol). He toned down any of his chewing as he has other things to "chew" or throw around.

I also have a huge salt brick for my horses. It usually will last 6 months to a year then I get a new one as the weather persist and they lick it down pretty good. I sometimes switch salt bricks but I mostly get the white mineral. Sometimes I might get the light brown. However, they favor the white.

Since my horse likes wd-40, non-chew sprays and hot sauce, I didn't bother with trying more products.

Reg check his teeth and lips for any splinters as well. .

Replace all wood if possible and get good sturdy fence.

Modify his behavior when you catch him in action.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Here is a real answer for you. When a horse "CRIBS" chewing wood off the fence post or railing, it is for a couple of reasons. 1) is, the wood is in fact vegetation (trees) and that's what they eat vegetation. 2) they have been known to crib out of bordem when tied up to the fence or just on they're own. most typical type of wood that is attacked is pine, they like the sap or pitch. if you have a horse that cribs and want it to stop. try Cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce or the local feed store does have products that you can buy and put it on the chewed spots and the area of the spots. more times than not, a horse will go back to the same spot where he started on.

Answer 4

If they are well feed on a commercial pellet feed or sweet feed and pasture I doubt they are deficient in anything. You could add a minerla suppliment to thier diet and see if that helps.
Are they eating it or are they cribbing?
If it is cribbing or wind sucking they make a miracle collar that will stop them from cribbing. Sometimes cribbers destroy the wood stall walls and gates.
Or they also make a feed additive Farnam makes it for horses that chew wood and you top dress their feed with it and they stop chewing the wood.
I know several people who have used it with great success it is called Quitt I think, look in tack catalogs
It works better than the spray stuff or pepper spray does.
Good luck.

Answer 5

Well, cribbing is sort of way for horses to get high, but if he's actually chewing and eating, NOT cribbing, I can think of several possible reasons.

1) Boredom... Common when a horse is by himself or in a small paddock or in a stall. My mare chews like a beaver if she's stalled for mor than a hour or two.

2) lack of Salt/minerals. I know alot of horses that chew it they don't gett enough salt. Salt licks are designed for cows (and their rough tonges) so some horses have problems with them. Consider offering loose salt or a mineral supplement.

3) Not enough roughage. keep good grass/ timothy hay infront of your horse at all times, even if all his needs are met by his current diet. If he's on grass, still give him hay in his stall, and a little in the feild. If this is too much food, cut back on grain first. (note: horses that get alot of hay are less likely to colic)

4) All else fails, cover stall edges in metal and add a hotwire to the inside of your fence.

Answer 6

Horses bit wood for many reason most that come to mind are... 1. boredom- which since they seem to been amused enough I won't consider it. 2. Diet- wood has a good salt content and some tree cure a tooth ache. 3. Teeth too long- chewing on the wood of the stall and fence rubs their teeth a little shorter each time and feels really good on their gums.

Answer 7

Horses chew for many reasons. One is - they like it. Like us biting our nails. The answer is simple. Get a good product and paint their chew area. I use Fo'Real. Found it to work forever. Nothing stops a horse chewing like this stuff. All the others are short term and make a mess. Cayenne is a bad solution - it can get in the horse's eyes then you will have an issue. Most home remedies are useless or dangerous. Just because a cowboy did it in 1876 doesn't mean it is good.

Answer 8

Maybe he's abit anxious. He may not sway or wind suck, but it may be his way of coping with a little case fo the jitters.
It could also be that he's figity? You try giving him a toy like a ball? I had a gelding who did that constantly then we gave him a large ball (you can get them at any tack sotre) and he wouldn't stop playing with it. And he pretty much stopped chewing/eating wood. You try turpintine on the wood as a deturrant? That was the other thing we did in our stable. It tastes aweful to them so they don't chew. Hope the suggestions help.

Answer 9

Does the horse have any Shetland in it? They do this a lot. Even if it is just a small bit of Shetland, and the breeder wouldn't necessarily tell you this.

My husband was raised on a farm and he said some horses just do this for some reason. He doesn't know why.

I found this on nwhorsesource.com

Wood eating can be normal behavior in horses, or it can indicate a problem, such as illness, inadequate dietary fiber, or boredom. Bark, branches, roots, and other seemingly inedible plant parts form a small but important component of the horse’s natural diet. These plant parts provide extra fiber and a diversity of nutrients. Bark, twig, and root eating may also be a form of self medication in some instances, as these plant parts often contain substances with medicinal properties (e.g. anti-inflammatory salicylates in white willow bark). But that’s a topic for another time.

As they rely on it for digestive health and energy production, horses have an absolute need for dietary fiber (“roughage”). The rock-bottom minimum amount of roughage needed per day is 1% of the horse’s body weight, calculated on a dry matter basis (i.e. taking into account the water content of the food). Well-made and properly stored hay is less than 10% water, so to keep the mathematics simple, let’s say it is close enough to 100% dry matter. That means the daily minimum fiber requirement, if the horse consumes little or no pasture, is 10 lbs of hay per day for a 1000-lb horse (1% of 1000 is 10). That’s just to meet the horse’s minimum fiber requirements; calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals will very likely be lacking at this level. Most horses are much healthier and happier when fed good quality roughage at a rate of 1.5% to 3% of body weight per day (15–30 lbs of hay, if pasture is limited).

Depending on the time of year, the water content of pasture grasses can be over 70% (i.e. less than 30% dry matter, including dietary fiber). In the spring and sometimes in the autumn, when the grass is lush and rapidly growing, a horse on full pasture turnout may not be able to meet his minimum daily requirement for dietary fiber from pasture alone, even when there is plenty of grass. At these times, horses on pasture often benefit from supplemental hay to meet their daily fiber needs.

If the horse is not getting his fiber requirements from his diet, then he will go in search of it. That’s when horses begin chewing fence posts, boards, wood stall doors or partitions, trees, etc. Bored horses also have a tendency to chew these objects. So, in addition to providing more variety in the diet and more pasture turnout (and/or hay), also provide more physical, mental, and social stimulation for the horse.

Answer 10

When a horse chews on wood it is called "cribbing". It does not mean that they are deficient in anything, and most horses (if feed at least 5 lbs of grain per day) will no have deficiencies because most grain is now made to be nutritionally balanced. This includes Blue Seal, Agway, and many other types of grain.

Cribbing is a really bothersome bad habit that horses will pick up when they are bored. Your horse might have found out how to do it on his own, or he may have learned it from another horse. The reason its a really annoying habbit is because not only will your entire barn and fences get all chewed up, but it will cause your horses teeth to wear unevenly and will end up costing you more money to get horses horses teeth floated.

Horses crib because they are bored. Think about it, inthe wild your horse would be out grazing up to 22 hour a day! who needs to chew on wood when you can eat grass all day long instead? But, we have taken horses in captivity and changes their feeding schedules. Most horses get feed 2-3 times a day and have a large portion of what they would be eating in hay replaced by grain. Many also do not have the option of living out in a pasture all summer eating grass all day long. instead, they are kept inside in a stall and let out into a paddock or feild during the day - which often does not have much grass in it.

The remedy of this problem would be to do your best give your horse more time outside his stall, with hay available. You can even try giving "free choice" hay which is when you put enough hay in the paddocks/stalls so that your horse has access to it all the time. chances are, he will end up eating the hay much more often than he will eat your barn.

Another option is to buy some "cribbing spray". there is many products out there meant to help stop a horse from cribbing (its a common problem). most of them are ones that you spray onto the wood that your horse likes to eat. it will give it an unpleasant flavor (think cayenne pepper or hot cinamon) that will make it taste so bad the horse will not continue to bite on it.

Another remedy would be to purchase a cribbing collar or strap. This is my least favorite solution. Its a leather strap that the horse will wear around his neck rather snuggly whenever he is in a place where he would normally crib. You dont put it around their neck tight enough to cut off their circulation, but what it does is stop them from "wind sucking"... which is another common annoying behavior that usually comes along with Cribbing. When wind sucking, a horse will bite onto a peice of wood and then suck in air through its teeth with a loud, whooshing sound. The cribbing strap prevents them from opening up their windpipe so far to be able to do this... and therefore prevents the behavior. It is necessary to get a cribbing strap for your horse if he is wind sucking, because when they do that, it can lead to them getting too much air in their digestive system, which can lead to a colic which can be fatal. If you do not know what colic is, i would definitely look it up!

I hope this helps! Good luck with your new horse! I am lucky to have a horse that does not crib at all :).