Is clover good for horses to eat?

Clover can be a good feed source for most horses because it provides useful energy and adequate protein and fiber. You can use clover in hay or pastures. Clovers can sometimes mold, which causes slobbers, photosensitivity (reactive to light) and bleeding.

Is clover toxic to horses?

More commonly known as black patch for the bronze to black spots it creates on the stems and leaves, the fungus is likely to be found on either white or red clover. The clover plants themselves are non-toxic and it is the fungus that contains the toxin slaframine that causes the undesirable symptoms in horses.

Can horses eat too much red clover?

Red clover poisoning will cause your horse to slobber excessively. Red clover poisoning is also known as Slaframine poisoning or the slobbers. It is not life-threatening and many times horses do not show any other symptoms other than excessive salivation. Red clover poisoning can affect all horses of any age.

Is sweet clover safe for horses?

Most people do think that sweet clover is toxic to horses, and in most cases it is not. However, when the clover is infected with a specific fungus, slaframine, horses can become ill and have excessive salivation.

Is clover high in sugar for horses?

When pastures are deficient in nitrogen, clover has a competitive advantage because it makes its own nitrogen. Clover can be very high in sugar and starch and is not a good forage for horses with EMS. Thick, properly fertilized grass will keep clover from taking over.

Ask the Vet - Clover slobbers and slaframine poisoning in horses

Can horses eat clover pasture?

Clover can be a good feed source for most horses because it provides useful energy and adequate protein and fiber. You can use clover in hay or pastures. Clovers can sometimes mold, which causes slobbers, photosensitivity (reactive to light) and bleeding.

Does clover Cause founder in horses?

To clarify, clover itself rarely causes any health problems in horses. Clover toxicity is caused by the fungi that can propagate on the leaves and stems of the moldy plant.

Does clover make good hay?

Red clover is also a great choice for incorporation into older, grassy hay and pastures to improve quality and yield through frost seeding or no-till drilling.

Why do horses drool after eating clover?

This is known as Slaframine poisoning. The fungus infects red clover, white clover, alsike clover, and alfalfa. Slaframine poisoning is not life-threatening, but it can cause excessive salivation, The slaframine stimulates the salivary glands and causes horses to drool.

Does clover cause laminitis?

Clover under stress such as frost or drought will also accumulate NPN naturally. At excess levels, NPN can overload the digestive and metabolic system of the horse causing liver imbalance and toxins in the blood. Toxins in the blood may trigger laminitis.

Does clover cause diarrhea in horses?

Other varieties of clover, such as sweet clover (Melilotus species) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), may also cause health problems, with toxicity signs including slobbers, colic, bloating, diarrhea, weakness, abnormal heartbeat, and abortion in pregnant mares.

How do I get rid of clover in my hay field?

How do you treat clover poisoning in horses?

Remove all clover from the horses diet, keep the the horse indoors out of the sun, and gently clean affected skin with mild antiseptic solution until lesions heal. Photosensitization. The white areas of the animal's skin become raised, reddened, painful and eventually dry and slough-off.

Does white clover make good hay?

White clover and red clover with one of the grasses listed in Table 2 should provide an excellent hay or pasture stand.

When can you graze clover?

When grazing red clover, turn livestock in when plants are six to eight inches tall. Remove the animals when three to four inches of the plants remain. Do not graze after September 15 to allow plants to store up reserves in the root systems. Graze again after the first killing frost.

Which cut of hay is best for horses?

Mid- to late-maturity hays are best for horses with low nutrient requirements, because the horses can eat more to satisfy their appetites without overeating and becoming fat. Horse owners also ask whether first or second-cut hay is better. There is more variation within a cutting than between cuttings.

How do you get rid of horse slobbers?

No treatment for slobbers is necessary except for changing the horse's food and limiting its access to pastures that contain infected fungi. Mowing the pasture can help control infected plants and promote healthy regrowth.

Is clover bad for livestock?

Sweet clover contains a high level of a chemical that can be converted to an anticoagulant. Improperly curing hay made from certain sweet clover varieties such as white and yellow sweet clover can cause severe and often fatal hemorrhages in livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.

Can livestock eat clover?

Yes, cows can eat clover but feed safe and mold-free clover. Cattle grazing on sweet clover, yellow clover, and white clover may develop metabolic disorders. Clover poisoning leads to bloat which may cause the death of an animal.

Can you mix red clover and alfalfa?

Overall, 50:50 was the optimal mixing ratio of alfalfa with red clover, showing good fermentation quality with lower pH and higher lactic acid concentration, reduced protease activities and proteolysis compared with pure alfalfa silage, and also more total N content than pure red clover silage.

How do I stop my horse from foundering?

What are the signs of founder in a horse?

What kind of clover makes horses slobber?

If harboring sufficient fungal loads, white clover, alsike clover, alfalfa, ladino, and lespedeza can induce slobbering. The fungus produces slaframine, and it is this mycotoxin that actually provokes the extreme salivation.

What is the most nutritious hay for horses?

Legume Hay for Horses

Alfalfa, white clover, red clover and birdsfoot trefoil are common types of legumes, with alfalfa being the most popular choice. Benefits: Legumes are higher in protein and calcium than grass hay, and may also provide more energy and a higher level of total digestible nutrients, such as vitamin A.

Is alfalfa the same as clover?

Alfalfa is like a clover, but has a bigger stem than grass. It also can produce higher protein levels than grass. Clover is a type of grass that does better in low ph levels, but doesn't have the yield or longevity as alfalfa. Alfalfa is more drought resistance too.