Hi all,
I run a one man shop and aquire a fair amount of sawdust and chips from my dust collection. I have a man who comes and picks up my shavings and uses them for his horses. One time he said to me, “Don’t give me any sawdust if you have cut any black walnut, a horse will die from black walnut dust.” I don’t do much with black walnut but do use it from time to time for accents. Is there any truth to his statement?
Thanks,
Eric
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Replies
He's right. There's a toxin in black walnut that can make a horse sick - or kill them. You might also check with a large animal vet to find out if any other woods cause problems.
Causes hoof problems I think.
Google is our friend...
Search: toxin +horse
From myhorsematters.com:
"The type of wood shavings that is toxic to horses is made from black walnut trees. In fact, if as little as five percent of the shavings are from black walnut trees, you may see signs of toxicity. The most common toxic reaction is laminitis or founder, where the horse’s feet become very painful. Horses with laminitis may walk as though they are on eggshells or may even lie down for long periods of time if the feet are very painful. Other signs of black walnut toxicity include swelling of the lower legs (limb edema), lethargy or depression, loss of appetite, mild colic and fever. Because the toxin in the black walnut wood is unknown, there is no antidote. Once the problem is recognized, the horse should be removed from the bedding as soon as possible and treated by your veterinarian in the most up-to-date manner for acute laminitis. Typically this involves medications for pain, anxiety and blood pressure changes, as well as support for the fleshy part of the bottom of the foot, the frog. Washing off the horse’s lower legs with water while waiting for the vet to arrive may help remove any toxin not yet absorbed through the skin. It is difficult to tell black walnut shavings from other, safe shavings by sight. Therefore, be sure to tell the person that you get your shavings from that you will be using them to bed horses and cannot have ANY black walnut shavings in them. Most places that supply barns with shavings are aware of the danger, but is a good idea to mention it anyway. There are other trees that can be poisonous to horses — such as cherry trees — but horses are such picky eaters that unless they are very hungry, they probably will not eat enough of the bark or leaves to become ill. If you are concerned about other toxic plants around your stable, ask your veterinarian to review with you common poisonous plants in your region. Better yet, schedule a walk around your pasture with your veterinarian so that you know for sure what deadly nightshade, white snakeroot and other toxic plants look like."
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
That's an excellent explanation that Bill Arnold found. The hardwood lumber yard where I buy most of my lumber sells shavings to horse barns. They have a separate collection system which they switch over to when milling walnut for clients.
Chip
Good one, Bill. That sounds very much like what my vet told me several years ago about walnut shavings.
Another pasture problem is star thistle. I lost an appaloosa several years ago that had gotten into some. Part of the pasture was a steep hillside that I seldom went to and the thistle spread from the neighbors field. The moral of the story is to check ALL of the pasture - particularly in the spring.
Well, I don't pretend to know anything about horses, but I've heard about this issue with walnut for years. I also found out the hard way that walnut shavings are bad for a few plants. I dump my DC bag around planting areas in our yard -- some plants didn't like it when there was a large percentage of walnut in it.
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Thanks for everyones reply. Sorry I didn't get this post up earlier. Bill, thanks especially for yours. I don't know why I didn't think to check Google, but I appreciate you doing so and for your post. It was very informative.
Thanks again,
Eric
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