>Susan recounted: the chickens that I purchased were being fed 'pellets'. In fact
the woman mentioned that their horse had gotten into them and eaten so many
that he would blow up if he had any water. So they had to walk him and make
sure he didn't drink. I was wondering what these pellets are made of.

Horses are a bit like many animals/humans (when fed the wrong diet); they can be on the
road to killing themselves and not even know it. They will eat oats and sometimes hay
(dried grass) well beyond the point of need.  They seem to lose their natural "stopping"
mechanism that prevails when they are not out grazing on their "natura" diet.  Horses will
O.D. on many foods besides pellets (but never on wild, fresh grass!).

Case in point: When I was less than 4 years old, we had a horse that got into the feed
room and ate until she was ready to burst.  It was winter. She got colic!  After the vet
arrived he said the horse had to be walked constantly for if she was allowed to roll (as
she wanted to to try to relieve the extreme pain), she could twist her intestines and
die!!  My mom stayed up almost all through the night, walking her on the hour.  By the wee
hours, my mom, who was pooped out, figured she (the horse!) was okay, so she brought her
in the nice warm house and tied the lunge line around the stove.

The horse survived. And it was sure fun to wake up to a horse in the house in the morning,
pile of manure and all! (We pulled it off then because it was an adobe house in rural New
Mexico, with high ceilings, no carpet, no linoleum, just brick floors, and a big
kitchen....) My mom had to explain why the OTHER horse couldn't come in the house after
that, when she found me trying to toilet train it! (She'd told me he couldn't come in
because he wasn't toiled trained!)

Moral of the story:  Watch out of agricultural foods that are so plentiful and also so
stimulating that they can over-ride your sensibilities.  Also, be able to come up with
good answers when kids ask "why not...."

I'm rambling....obviously I've worked enough today!  Okay, I'll go make some beef jerky.

Rachel

P.S.  Ever come close to feeling like the horse after making your way through a large
trough of pasta, brown rice, bread, or cookies in your excess-carb days???  (Probably!)