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Post by shan on Dec 27, 2012 22:09:53 GMT 1
Three days ago I bought a bag of Hi Fi Lite, I've been feeding a plain chaff without alfalfa, but have used HFL before without any issues. However after just 3 days of using it Sandy has come in today with sores on 3 legs much worse than the MF she had a couple of weeks ago.
It suddenly dawned on me today that I'd read alot about a possible connection between the two, but it never occurred to me until I saw the sores... it just seems a bit of a 'coincidence' -not sure if any of you have experienced this?
General concensus seems to be about 50/50 depending on the individual horse.
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Post by rosemaryhannah on Dec 27, 2012 22:42:30 GMT 1
I have four ponies who are living in a very very wet muddy area but with free access to a large stable which they usually choose to spend the night in. They are fed alfalfa every day, and thrive in it (though two are rugged) and there is no sign of mud fever.
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Post by ladyndibs on Dec 27, 2012 22:56:00 GMT 1
I don't know much about it but it seems that some horses are far more sensitive to it than others.
Some horses have been fine BF but when alfalfa is introduced they become footie and when it is stopped they are sound again I suppose it's like allergies in people, some have them some don't.
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Post by shan on Dec 27, 2012 23:15:08 GMT 1
Yeah she was fine on it previously too, possibly if her immunity is low it could become an antagonist for MF as the weak point of an already sensitive system.
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Post by ladyndibs on Dec 28, 2012 0:18:09 GMT 1
Could easily be that, if our immune system is a bit low we are often prone to infections that we would otherwise shake off.
I hope you manage to get on top of it quickly, not an easy thing to deal with in this foul weather, good luck.
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Post by jill on Dec 28, 2012 8:26:40 GMT 1
No connection to mud fever, and I'm not 100%whether it is linked but when I fed Sabria a tiny amount of Alfa A she was very itchy. She wasn't keen anyway so I stopped it in her diet. None of mine like it as a chop, but are happy with it in Fibre Beet, and in that form she isn't especially itchy.
Caspar, who is the only one so far with mud rash doesn't have it, he has regular Speedybeet as he is a good doer anyway.
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Post by shan on Dec 28, 2012 18:51:16 GMT 1
Thanks ladyndibs  Jill that's interesting though - I'm steering well clear of alfalfa for the time being anyway - justified or not I can't afford to take the chance... oh well, back up the horsey shop for more powder & spray tomorrow. At least missus is getting her lymph system working the amount she dances about having her poor legs treated  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2012 19:27:43 GMT 1
Well Talin has been on alfa most of the time I've owned him and never had MF before this year, so I certainly don't think it's responsible for his. However, it did seem to make Henry more prone to a dirty sheath and smelly feet so I do think it depends on the horse.
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Post by kizi on Dec 28, 2012 19:52:14 GMT 1
I've had some go totally crazy on alfalfa but also have one who coughs if he gets it.. Very odd but even a small bit in a bag of mixed chaff will set him coughing..
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orangetails
Intermediate Poster
Jay, Lilly and Tangle
Posts: 219
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Post by orangetails on Dec 31, 2012 19:28:13 GMT 1
I don't think there's much of a link, at least not for my horse. Same as alfalfa makes some horses footy or itchy - it's SOME, and fairly few and far between when you think of the number of people who feed alfalfa-based products (a lot of nuts and coarse mixes have alfalfa as an ingredient even if people aren't feeding an actual alfalfa chaff). Like some horses are more sensitive to grass than others, or turn into idiots when fed haylage whereas others will be fine!
My mare is horribly prone to mud fever and came to me with it when I bought her 6 years ago. Back then, she was fed on alfa a and top spec. As her workload increased with me she ended up on alfa oil, I eventually dropped the top spec as there's anecdotal evidence it's linked to ulcers (very very anecdotal I should point out - but she is doing better off it) and then she did the winergy feed trial - which also has alfalfa, and I stuck with that as a feed as it was so much simpler than what I was feeding, and she did really well on it. A year ago I swapped from winergy to pure feeds when they had their 50% discount offer on, and she has been on that ever since - there's no alfalfa in pure feeds so she's been alfalfa free for a year now.
Since the first year I owned her, when it took months and months to clear the mud fever up, she's not had any recurrences until this year - she got mud fever in June after standing on her own leg on the yard :sigh: So she was mud fever free for years and years whilst being fed alfalfa, and has got a bad case again this year whilst not being fed alfa!
It's been a bad year for mud fever full stop, and if their immune system or skin is compromised in any way it stands to reason with the constant wet that mud fever is likely to take a hold.
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