eating wheat straw

Question
hello ma'am, do horses eat wheat straw or rice straw? do they like the taste of it? is it advisable to feed them the straw?

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Thank you for your question.  Horses may resort to eating straw if they find themselves short of better quality feed or effective fiber.  Straw is not particularly palatable to horses and does not provide a lot of nutritional value.  Because straw is very low in digestible fiber, eating large quantities can increase your horse's risk of developing impaction colic(s).  If you bed with straw and your horse is lacking energy or effective fiber in his diet, he may be prone to snacking on the straw as a last resort.  Conversely, horses bed on straw seldom eat it if they have enough better quality forage to consume.  Straw is not a good choice of forage for your horse.

Thanks, Corlena