about flax/linseed...

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Hmmm, I tried to send this yesterday, but it didn't seem to go through, so
let's try again...

>Subject: Re: Re: feeding linseed meal to my thin horse
>
>Hi Susan,  thanks for the feeding info.  Now I have a bag of linseed meal
>that I dont know what to do with.  Had no idea it was the same thing as
flax
>seed.  Duh!!  Maybe my goats and sheep would like it.

Yes, they like it just fine.  Just don't feed alot to them all at once
either.  A handful a day until it's gone is fine.

How come
it
>acts like a diuretic?

I've never heard it referred to as a diuretic, nor do any of my references
mention it as such.  However, it does have emetic (read laxative)
properties, which is why you'd never feed linseed oil as a fat supplement.
If you fed it in sufficient quantities, I suppose you could lose significant
fluids that way---but I suspect if your horse were dehydrated, there were
probably other factors involved.

>Does
>the beet pulp balance out the rice bran  as far as the Ca/Phos ratio?  This
>is getting confusing.  I gotta find me some FatPak.!!!  Thanks again.
gesa>n clovis n sky

NO IT DOES NOT.  There *is* some calcium in beet pulp, more than in any of
the other feeds except for alfalfa, but not enough to offset the high
phosphorus content of rice bran on a one to one basis.  For every pound of
rice bran fed, you need to either feed one pound of alfalfa, or two pounds
of beet pulp (dry weight) to offset the Ca:P ratio.  This is, of course,
assuming the rest of your ration is already more or less balanced.  Anyone
that knows me knows I'm not a big fan of rice bran at all, but if you must
feed it, I highly recommend not feeding more than two pounds a day tops.
Otherwise, you're having to feed alot of other things to offset the mineral
imbalances, which tends to open up a myriad of other cans o' worms. :-)

Hope this helps.

Susan Garlinghouse