urgent - unsoaked sugarbeet

[Brandy]

Ok guys, help needed please. l've just had a phonecall from another livery to say that she's just found Tyson loose on the yard. Having escaped from his field he's been in the YOs feed room and eaten unsoaked sugarbeet. Until they arrive, I've no idea how much he's had.

I'm on my way down there now, othere livery says he looks perky but how long would it take for him to start colicing? How much does he need to have eaten and is there anything I can do to prevent it?

[notpoodle]

eeek! that is not good. i'd get the vet out *now* just in case ie. before the stuff starts expanding ...

my friend's horse got killed by unsoaked sugarbeet :(

julia
x

[artemis]

Yes I's at least ring & ask for advice. Could possibly cause a blockage in the gut.

[Brandy]

I've been to assess the damage and it was an unopened bag (until Tyson found it), he's made a mouth hole but I found it hard to believe he's had more than a mouthful or tw. Particularly as there was also a bag of carrots chewed to pieces on the floor! Will keep my eye on him, but such a small amount should be ok - shouldn't it?

[Big Ears]

he needs to be monitored, and you want to get lots of fluid down him - I would ring a vet for advice as it can be very very serious.

[Bebe]

Some people in the US feed unsoaked sugarbeet and don't have any problems. It's not something I'd do myself but hopefully it means that a mouthful or two won't be a problem.

I'd try to get a fair amount of liquid into him, sloppy feeds & soaked hay will help and if he's as keen on molasses as most horses are you could try putting some in his drinking water to encourage him to drink more.

Hope he's ok.

[virtuallyhorses]

He shouldn't colic - the 'beet pulp expanding in the stomach' story is an old wives tale. We need those guys from Mythbusters to do an equine series :D There have been extensive studies done - including horses being fed as much as 90% of their ration in unsoaked pellets with no bad effects. If you think about it - it doesn't even make much sense - the stomach is full of acid not water and quite frankly the pellets don't expand much when they are soaked - they disintegrate.

The reason for soaking beet pulp is to make it more palatable and to stop CHOKE, not colic, which can occur with any dry food or pellets. If he's already gotten it down then the risk of colic is no worse than any other horse that has gotten into some feed that he's not used to. The saving grace with beet pulp is that it is a forage - not high in sugar, protein etc - not a grain. Just monitor him as you would a horse that had gotten into a bag a chaffhage. If he's only had a few mouthfuls relax! I feed mine a couple of handfuls as a treat sometimes.

[helenc]

Hope he'll be ok brandy.

[Ipsa]

On the kentucky equine research web site there used to be a myths and wives tales page about feed issues. One of them was about sugar beet and agrred with what Viv said in her post so your horse should be fine.