Frak.
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Frak. I just found out about the situation at Beutler Ranch. That's heartbreaking.
(CW: horse death if you go looking it up)
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Owner suspects monensin poisoning from the feed. Which wold explain how quickly it happened and most likely means that there was an error somewhere upstream to them.
There aren't a whole lot of things that can kill a full sized horse that quickly, but monensin is one of them. A handful of other compounds, but very few that I'd expect in horse feed *and* that could kill so many horses so quickly.
Monensin is found in some cattle and chicken feeds, but is death to horses.
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So possibilities are:
1. They were trying to save money and purchased cattle feed deliberately, possible cattle feed that wasn't supposed to contain monensin. That seems unlikely, but is plausible.
2. They had acquired horse feed and it was a supplier who mixed it up at some stage in the process. Monensin has a LD50 of 2mg/kg in horses and donkeys, which is around the same as strychnine or oral consumption of cyanide in humans.
Just tragic.
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@hrefna That is awful. Can’t find anything about a recall or deaths at other ranches, so I’m hoping that means the feed isn’t coming from one of the big brands that ships all over the country. Sure would be nice if someone clarified that.
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@impermanen_ It'd be lovely if, out of an abundance of caution, they could at least give everyone a ballpark range for concern "came from a local supplier who doesn't ship non-locally" would be a great statement if it is true.
I'm now seeing that this was straight horse feed that had enough of the drug in it to kill cattle, which if true that indicates a bad bad upstream screwup.
Which is, to say the least, concerning.