Chook Me! - Have you heard of Narasin and Monensin, two horses dead, learn from my horrible experience?

Have you heard of Narasin and Monensin, two horses dead, learn from my horrible experience?

Narasin is added to poultry food to help prevent disease in intensive production, Monensin is also used for this, as well as in catle feed as a growth promotor. If you read the label it will tell you that it is toxic to horses, but did you know a few mouthfuls is all it will take? We lost 2 horses this week, and the necropsy showed that they had been poisoned by one of these agents. We were originally looking for medicated cattle feed as we keep cows and that was assumed to be the cause, the fact that we've never had it on the farm was confusing. Eventually we found a very small bag, less than 1/2 lb, with the remains of some poultry starter food in it. It been brought home by my son when he rescued 3 chickens. We still don't know how it got from the barn to the paddock, but I so wish that we had got rid of it. If you want to know more check out the following: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/news/jun06.htm http://www.alpharma.com/newahd/pages/getfile.aspx?id=AC1C899A-8030-4AF0-BC0A-78CD0BB49061

Public Comments

my sympathies on your loss
So you lost both of them - I am terribly sorry but hopefully your post can help someone else and save their horses. Again, really sorry for your loss and thanks for the info.
Well, at least now you know what it was. Thanks for the warning, and maybe it will make your loss easier to take knowing you may have saved another horse's life.
Thank you so much for this information. We keep our poultry feed and horse feed in the same area of the barn. I will move the chicken feed immediately
omg! that is so horrible i am truely sorry that happened to you thank you for the warning and i had no idea the weird thing about your question is that my daughter's Mare a very crafty QH/Arab cross who is an escape artist got out a few months ago and ate HALF(25lbs) bag of my medicated chick starter as well as a few pounds of calf starter feed its a miracle that she didn't even colic i wonder if this medicine they add to these grains only affects some horses...hmmm must look into this one a bit more...thanks so much for the warning
im so sorry i would probably die if 2 of my horses died but at least your telling everybody about your experience so i bet you saved some horses again im so sorry that makes me cry