Horses may eat nuts occasionally, but certain varieties can be toxic or cause digestive issues. Black walnuts in particular pose serious danger and could even lead to laminitis – a painful condition wherein the pedal bone sinks into or rotates within its hoof causing extreme discomfort for their rider.
Shavings derived from black walnut trees should never be used as bedding for horses. Doing so could cause toxic exposure that leads to symptoms of laminitis such as an intense pulse, unwillingness to move, depression and fluid buildup in their legs.
What are Walnuts?
Walnuts are a delicious superfood packed with many health advantages. Packed full of healthy fats, antioxidants, and essential nutrients such as selenium and magnesium, walnuts make an excellent addition to many dishes or as an easy snack option. By including walnuts into your diet you may help improve heart and brain function, lower blood pressure levels, prevent chronic diseases and even help protect against potential cardiovascular risk factors.
Walnuts are fruits from trees in the genus Juglans, particularly Juglans regia (Persian or English walnut). Each walnut fruit features an edible inner hull or husk containing edible nuts which can be used in making treats like cookies and brownies; additionally they’re often added to salads, whole grain dishes, and hummus as a delicious ingredient.
Walnuts can be found at many retail and natural food stores. When selecting fresh walnuts to purchase, look for ones with firm texture and no musty aroma. When purchasing pre-packed varieties, check their packaging date to make sure that they remain fresh.
Nutrition Research published a recent study which compared the effects of black walnuts and English walnuts on appetite suppression and satiety, finding that black walnuts could more successfully suppress the appetite and make subjects feel full more quickly than English walnuts.
Walnuts provide many other advantages as well. First of all, their high fiber content helps promote digestive health and regular bowel movement, plus they’re packed full of iron, zinc, magnesium and potassium – not forgetting all their other trace minerals such as calcium phosphorus molybdenum copper and cobalt!
Although walnuts are healthy and nutritious foods, consuming too many can be detrimental. Too many walnuts may lead to weight gain as well as cause allergic reactions for people with certain sensitivities or allergies. It’s wise to consult your physician prior to adding walnuts into your diet if there has been a history of allergies or sensitivities in the family.
Black Walnuts
The Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is one of the most versatile wild trees found throughout North America, boasting one of the highest utility scores among its species. Its fruit can be used both sweet and savory recipes; its hulls can be pressed for oil production; while its wood can be used in furniture manufacturing or gun stocks. Furthermore, leaves and hulls from this tree may even be utilized medicinally.
Harvesting this nut has long been a Midwest tradition, involving thousands of people gathering walnuts from lawns, fields and pastures every autumn and delivering them to central hulling stations for processing.
Black walnuts boast an intense sweet-bitter taste, lending it an unexpected yet flavorful presence to cakes, cookies, breads and bread products. Black walnuts also make a tasty addition to salads, fish dishes, chicken meals and vegetable dishes alike! Additionally, their low saturated fat and protein content makes this an attractive choice.
Native Americans tapped black walnut trees for sweet syrup, used their bark as medicine and created brown dye with their hulls – now a mainstay in the Midwest and valued crop by landowners and gardeners alike. Hulls from these trees can be used in food products, crafts and natural wood stain applications; while powder from their green husks is sold to dye manufacturers and medical practitioners as an antidye source.
Black walnuts offer excellent nutritional benefits, including iron, fiber and protein. In addition, they’re rich in Vitamin A and antioxidants. To get the most flavor out of these tasty treats, harvest them during late summer or autumn when fully ripe – this way the nut meat is more flavorful and sweeter than other varieties.
Curing process requires spreading walnuts in a cool and dry place for several weeks until their shell rattles, signalling readiness for shelling and storage.
When considering using black walnuts medicinally, be sure to consult with a healthcare provider or physician first so as to get the appropriate dosage – taking too much can be harmful and should always be supervised by someone knowledgeable.
Butternuts
Butternut trees are deciduous trees that produce both leaves and nuts, the latter of which has small, hard-shelled nuts with a sweet taste that make great snacks or ingredients in various recipes. Unfortunately, too much walnut consumption can cause digestive issues in horses. Therefore, unsalted and shelled nuts should only be fed to them as their husks could pose a choking hazard; to ensure proper digestion it’s best to grind or chop up nuts prior to feeding them to them as this ensures they’ll be digested properly by them being ground/chopped before feeding them to ensure proper digestion by horses.
Butternut trees are a favorite choice among landscapers due to their versatile color and form, as well as their ability to flourish in different climates and environments. These trees typically reach 25 feet in height and require minimal upkeep – they also boast resistance against diseases and pests making them suitable for horse pastures.
Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) can be seen growing throughout many horse pastures, yet can pose significant danger to horses that pass under them. These trees produce juglone which is toxic to horses and can lead to serious health problems for them; those exposed will experience symptoms including laminitis, colic, depression and fluid buildup in their abdomens.
Black walnuts contain high concentrations of juglone, an extremely dangerous carcinogenic chemical, that can have serious repercussions for horses’ health. Even shavings made from black walnut wood contain enough juglone for it to cause laminitis; thus it is important that these kinds of shavings be excluded from horse bedding altogether. However, aged shavings contain less juglone so should still be avoided for your horses’ protection.
Prevention of laminitis and other health issues in horses involves clearing away walnut leaves, branches and fruit from pastures or areas where horses roam freely. You should prune any trees with these elements growing on them while fencing off any areas where horses might spend time. Furthermore, wood shavings produced from black walnut or butternut trees must also be cleared away immediately.
Oak Trees
Oak trees are deciduous plants that produce acorns, which serve as food for many wild animals such as deer and squirrels, while domestic birds also consume these nutritious treats as a great source of protein and healthy fats. In some parts of the world, acorns were once used as an alternative to coffee beans. Black walnut trees can grow up to 100 feet high. Their dark green leaves and thick, ridged bark boast thick ridges for drainage. Within each fruit lies an oily and sweet kernel for processing into edible products. Black walnuts are an extremely popular nut that are versatile enough for baking, cooking and crafting various foods. Unfortunately, though, their tree produces an alkaloid called juglone that can be toxic to horses if consumed, which could result in colic and fluid build-up issues in their legs.
Laminitis may develop in horses due to the high concentrations of juglone found in black walnut wood and bark, and may often develop after being bedded down on shavings that contain high percentages of black walnut. As juglone is absorbed through skin contact, symptoms typically show themselves.
If your horse seems odd or has started to develop laminitis, it is crucial that you immediately contact a veterinarian. He or she may prescribe supportive care such as moving him away from his black walnut bedding stall and providing him with clean, safe bedding; they may even suggest pain management therapies so he stays comfortable.
As the best way to prevent potential juglone exposure for your horse, make sure no black walnut shavings are ever used for bedding purposes. It is wiser to choose aged shavings rather than fresh ones as these contain less juglone. Haylage made from cypress or red maple shavings is much safer as these trees do not produce juglone; similarly, it would be wiser not allowing your horse access to pastures with black walnut or butternut trees for sleep or walking purposes.