An Equine tip

Foxtail plant, one of the Setaria species

Cindy Dell just wrote a piece on foxtail which I want to pass on to my friends.  Foxtail is a weed of the Setaria family.  Cindy points out in her CFC Farm HomeCenter newsletter that conditions have been good in the eastern atlantic areas of the US for the Foxtail plant to invade hay fields.  This means that any signs of excessive salivation and difficulty eating  in horses this winter could be the foxtail.  It is the microscopic barbs in the seed head that embed in the horses mouth which causes this reaction after eating hay that contains the plant head.  Changing hay that is cleaned out of the weed will remove the symptoms in the horse.  Good to know,  I have seen this plant around my farm.

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