Re: alfalfa precaution

[Leigh331@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/31/98 9:17:09 PM EST, Teddy@runningbear.com writes:

<< Point taken....I must be doing something right, though. The ONLY
 time I had problems is when I went OFF alfalfa too quickly.
  >>

This reminds me of a story that may help some of you someday.  I raise ponies
and have fescue pastures. To avoid the fescue the last several months of their
pregnancy, I would buy non fescue hay for the pregnant mares. This one year,
all I could find was Alfalfa.  I fed it as spareingly as I could to this
individual pony mare.  The mare did fine, gave birth fine. At two weeks old I
turned the mare and foal out on my pasture and quit Alfalfa cold turkey.  The
next day I found the mare standing stiff, frothing at the mouth over the water
tank, teeth clenched. It looked like grass tetney which I had seen in cows.
After an all day vet visit, I took her to the vet school at NC state
university.  At 10pm I gave them permission to put the pony down and made
plans to pick up the foal in the morning.  At midnight, they called and said
the mare was up eating her hay.....she had milk fever (hypocalcimia). No one,
including me, put one and one together until years later.  Getting into
endurance taught me about how the horse's body can become accustomed to
getting all the calcium from the food and looses it's ability to absorb from
other internal sources (temporarily).  I induced milk fever by taking the
alfalfa away too quickly, esp. in a nursing mare.  I've related this story so
all will know that you should "wean" from alfalfa should you want or have to
quit feeding it.
Leigh