Unicorn Diet?

[JezzyHatesJazz]

I figured this was the most appropriate place for this.

In one of my planned stories, the Cirque has show unicorns and I was trying to figure up how they could keep them/feed them and things like that. My research hasn't turned up much so I'm mainly wondering about diet right now. (What are the staples? How expensive would it be to feed them?) I would guess that unicorns are herbivores but beyond that, I'm not sure.

(Also, I'm not a big fan of caging so I was thinking of a harness-type thing to keep them in one area of the grounds/backstage but I'm not sure if that would work. They have to keep track of them somehow.)

Any help is appreciated~

[daemora]

Well, I alwasy think of a unicorn as a type of horse, first foremost, so I would think grass, oats, whatever you would feed a horse. Maybe looking into that would give you some ideas. (Thinking about this makes me want to write a campy story where Unicorns feed on rainbows and sunshine...)

As for the harness contraption, is Cirque mobile or stationary? Either a permanent stable, or a thrown together paddock if the travel with someone to keep watch might to the trick.

Just some ideas. That's just what I would think of if I were going to write it. Hope it helps some!

[JezzyHatesJazz]

Actually it does help ^^ Thanks~

That's about what I was thinking too. Oats and honey is probably the main thing they'd be fed along with other horse... stuff. (My window has gone out the English today >.>) The Cirque is mobile actually (Kelsynger uses the unicorns to pull the main/lead carriage) so they probably have something quick that they can throw together once they're stopped.

*wanders back to her notes*

[seaquille]

Unicorns seem to have originally been a reference to a long-horned herbivore, possible even a rhinoceros.
...Marco Polo described the unicorn as tamable only by maidens:

"Scarcely smaller than elephants. They have the hair of a buffalo and feet like an elephant's. They have a single large black horn in the middle of the forehead. They have a head like a wild boar's. They spend their time by preference wallowing in mud and slime. They are very ugly brutes to look at. They are not at all such as we describe them when we relate that they let themselves be captured by virgins, but clean contrary to our notions."

But, in medieval times, if you look closely at the tapestries, the unicorn is far more goat-like than pictured today. Cloven-hooves, a beard, and a very wispy, not-quite-horsey tail.

So, the idea of the unicorn transformed in time to a prettier creature, the white, pony-like thing we think of today.

If you want to go with the medieval type beast, any hay or green bushy things would be fine.

If you are going for the pure fantasy, you can pretty much do anything, but I would recommend hay as a starter, in any case. Unicorns could probably be corralled, the same as any circus pony, with those movable, iron pipe things, if they can't jump to a supernatural height, and have them tethered (tied with halter) to something stationary.

[JezzyHatesJazz]

Thanks for that. I hadn't found that bit of information before (granted, I wasn't looking that hard).

I got to thinking that maybe the 'classic' horse-like unicorns were 'Arctic Unicorns'. They are smaller and lighter with wide hooves to allow them to travel over snow and ice. Their hair is fairly thick with the white colour helping them to blend in with the surroundings. This would also explain the longer mane and tail, for warmth.

The other kind - like what Marco Polo described - would be much more likely to be found in forests, swamps and other more common places, hence why the white unicorn seems so rare and mythical. Few had ever seen it given Arctic expeditions being rare at the time and fairly dangerous even in the Cirque's world.

But that's really just me rambling... headcanon and all that.

Right now, I have it listed as 'hay, simple grass and occasionally oats and honey as a treat'. While their jumps are impressive, unless they're spooked, I doubt they would bother much with jumping the gate. A simple tether system should work out fine.

Thanks, you guys. This has really gotten me thinking.