donkey hay

we have some young, not yet mature foxtail with lots of grass mixed in with it. we want to bale it and use it to feed our miniature donkeys . we have been told you can not bale foxtail and feed it to horses or even donkeys or mules. it is to give them mouth ulcers and make them sick , maybe even death? is this true/ I thought donkeys could survive on about anything. this foxtail is very green head and just heading. thanks for any help or ideas and past experiences

I have had foxtail in my hay a few times, usually from a new seeding. I never had any problems from it with my own animals or any customers. Sounds like a horse owner's story.

We got a load of hay that was foxtail infested. It was amazing how all the animals were able to eat around it. When done feeding there was a pile of foxtail and everything else eaten out. We graze in pasture with foxtail and all the animals avoid it. If a pasture is grazed hard on initial growth, the foxtail doesn't seem to get established. I am certain the animals eat it when it is young but won't touch it old. If I mow just before the foxtail tops, it stinks and the animals won't eat anything in that field.

I would caution about over feeding donkeys. One of the reasons for their popularity in third world countries is they can exist on next to nothing. Where I care take, they have three donkeys. The previous help was feeding a flake of alfalfa a day for three and the donkeys were all morbidly obese. Once over weight, it is amazingly difficult to get the weight off of them. They will put weight on their crest and even if you do get weight off, the crest will simply fall over. In other words, get them fat and they are essentially ruined. Even if seemingly ok, as they age, all sorts of problems will arise that donkeys don't normally experience. We now feed one flake of orchard grass per two head (one has since died) and they are grazing muzzled when out for the day.

I don't know if any of this helps, but this is my experience with it.

My father in law years ago baled every thing in his "hay field" foxtail included. He said they could eat it or the snowbank, whichever they preferred. gobble

Its the seed of the foxtail that is bad.
The seed has sharp barbs that irritate the horses mouth and intestines.

Young immature foxtail is safe. it's the hard mature seed that causes problems.The animal can seperate it better if you feed em on the ground,not in a manger/feeder.

In 1993 when it seemed to rain everyday, my neighbors hay fields grew up in foxtail. They baled it in large squares to get it off the fields. I fed this hay to my stock cows all winter, I feed outside on the snow when possible. There would be a line of seeds that fell on the ground where I would drop a section, the cows licked them right up. I grazed this field heavy and never had a foxtail issue in it. Cows carried good flesh and I had a good calf crop.