I belong to a few goat and hobby farm groups on Facebook and really enjoy seeing all the new baby goats coming into the world. It’s also pretty cool to see new farmers and goat owners come on the horizon, whether it’s because people want to become more self-sufficient, teach the kids, fulfill a lifelong dream, or just because! Unfortunately, along with a lot of the learning comes some misinformation. As of late, I have seen some questions regarding the use of beet pulp in animals’ diets and some myths regarding its use.
Colic in a horse is a pretty scary thing to witness. The first time I saw a horse experiencing severe colic was when we had taken our horse to the vet for a different health issue. As the vet was treating our horse, this colicky mare was brought in. The owners tried to keep her up and walking until the vet could attend to her and boy did she look like she was hurting and miserable. I felt so bad for her. I later heard that her colic was due to impaction and that she made it through and was doing fine. I think that my heart skips a little beat whenever I go out to the pasture and see a horse enjoying a little nap in the sunshine, or scratching a back itch with a roll in the grass. Laying down and rolling can also be signs of colic along with pawing, restlessness and stretching. We have been very lucky (knock on wood) with our horses. We have experienced some unusual things, but so far, no serious bouts with colic.
I don’t really know too much about sunflower seeds other than discarded seed hulls generally littered the ground under the stands at baseball games and birds really seemed to like them. They were not a favorite of mine. I enjoyed sucking the salt off of the seed, but breaking into the hull for such a tiny reward didn’t seem worthwhile to me. Just recently I discovered that all sunflower seeds are not created equally. Some have thicker hulls, less oil, different nutritional benefits. Others are a really great source of nutrients for a variety of farm animals. The familiar black seed that is found in wild bird seed is the Black Oil Sunflower Seed, often referred to as B.O.S.S., a very adept acronym for a powerhouse food. No wonder birds love them! They seem to know instinctually the treasures that Mother Nature has supplied for them. Who would have guessed that a common bird feed would also be good for horses, goats, chickens and even rabbits!
