Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Whole flax Seed

> I have a question and I am sure it has been talked about. I have not been
on
> Ridecamp in a year.
> Can you feed a horse whole flax seed, just a small handful a day or does
it
> have to be cooked? Any insight would be greatly appreciated..
> Tara

You can feed reasonable amounts (ie, less than a pound or two a day) whole.
They digest it just fine---when you see "whole" seeds in the poop, it's
generally just the hulls, the inner seed is gone (understandably, most
people don't want to look that closely).  Grinding it is fine if you want
to, but the fatty acids start to go rancid very quickly if you don't feed it
more or less right away.  Flax seed does contain some cyanogenic compounds
(as in, it makes cyanide), but you truly have to feed a lot more than just a
cup or two for it to be even the slightest problem.  Cooking drives off the
cyanogenic compounds, but as Cheryl commented, it also denatures the fatty
acids.

Translation to all of the above: just chuck in a cup or two and don't worry
about it. :-)

BTW, linseed meal sold in some feed stores is also essentially just ground
flax seed---however, it is also what's left over *after* the flax oil has
been extracted, thus doesn't have quite the EFA benefits that the whole (or
freshly ground whole) seed does.  Linseed meal is still useful as a protein
supplement (though not as good as soybean meal), but it's not the same
product as flax seed if you're looking specifically for the fatty acid
components.

Susan G
>
>
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=