Sudex hay

2 posts
Sat, 05/11/2013 - 12:17 #1

Member for

11 years 6 months
kyle
Last seen: 04/21/2018 - 14:29
Joined: 05/10/2013 - 20:18

Sudex hay

Can anyone advise on this hay for cattle- apparently it can be poisonous for horses?  The farmer i bought it from feeds it every day to his cattle - the research i did after I found out what its called suggests it can cause prussic acid and then form cyanide in the liver of equines. Anyone have any experience or knowledge of this hay??

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Mon, 05/13/2013 - 21:26 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi there,

Many types of grasses and plants form prussic acid when stressed. Some of these are the sorgums and also sudex and Johnson grass. Horses are not my field but ruminants, who have a four chambered stomach are very sensitive to  prussic acid  ie. cyanide. During the drought 2010-12 there were many livestock lost to cyanide poisoning because desperate farmers bought drought stressed fodder which contained high levels of prussic acid (cyanide.). Be very careful of purchasing drought affected or severely stressed fodder, especially sorgum. The stressed plants produce the prussic acid as a survival mechanism to prevent animals and insects eating it, which gives it a chance to seed  before it dies: this assures the survival of the species. Another thing to be cautious of, is buying and feeding crop residues such as citrus peels from juice factories to your stock. If they are organic they will usually be o.k. but if they have been sprayed with pesticides you may end up with big vet bills or worse dead animals.  Poorly innoculated and processed silage can also be a big problem as if it has not been properly processed it can contain high levels of dangerous fungii and bacteria such as Aspergilus fungii (this cost me a $2,500 stud Boer doe) or salmonela and botulism bacteria. 

kinds regards,

Barb

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