Bran/Bran mash?

Vikki89

Vikki89

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One of the horses on the yard possibly has colic at the moment, has had a injection and if no better by 8 he is going to horsepital
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This got us talking about bran/bran mash, mum said when she used to work with horses (worked with hunters about 20 years ago) they all used to get fed bran mash.
Do you feed it/ have any in incase you need it?

Also in stable yard
 
my boss uses it on a couple of horses who have loose droppings as advised by vet. it has helped them alot and their droppings are now firm!

you are supposed to feed it with limestone flour to balance it out cos the bran leaches calcium out of the horses bones.

it has no nutritional value but for a horse that might have had colic of azoturia and it needs something very bland or something to add medication to then its useful.

Some people also give their mare that has just foaled a bran mash.

hope that helps!
 
I do. One likes it like soup so it's a useful way of getting plenty of water into him & following a colic op in June the hospital are happy with this. The other one is a greedy welsh cob - in his case it gives him a feed that looks a decent size but hasn't got many calories!
 
I disagree, Bran mash works wonders for colic and does indeed work as a clear out, i know i've said this before but at my old yard all horses where fed bran as part of there staple diet and on the very very rare occassion anything got colic, the where put in a shavings box and fed bran mash only and it always helped, to the point our very good vet used to say he wished morre people delt with there horses the way our yard did and never told us not to use it. Nothing has any bone problems and some of the golden oldies on the yard have been fed it for 20+ years. to the op yes i feed it and yes i always have it on hand.
 
The mixed opinions are interesting as we were discussing using it as part of the daily feed, and how benificial (sp) it would be.
Personally i have never used it (have had horses for nearly 3 years) and others used to but don't now but a horse that used to be on the yard was fed it when he had colic last year.
 
Old fashioned bran was much better than modern bran as the newer processing methods take all the goodness out of the bran.

this means that what you are left with is a very highly digestible fibre source that the horse can digest very quickly and easily. This is great when a horse has loose droppings, but it can increase the risk of colic if the horse is already showing signs of gut problems.

please don't feed bran to 'treat' colic, or for tired horses after hunting. you are only risking problems!
 
I disagree and stand by what i said earlier, To be honest i'd rather stick to what i know especially as in my experiance it doesnt/hasnt caused problems, and my vet who i would listen to above anyone else has never said a bad thing about it. That said everyone is free to follow there own experiances and beliefs.
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Hi DunRoamin,

I agree also! (But no-one listens to me either!)

But doesn't it make sense, that if we have an impacted colic, then giving fibre + water is surely the best way of shifting it? Simple nursing science.

Having said that, prevention is better than cure. Need to look at cause of colic.

And yes, bran interferes with calcium uptake of the body, so we need to feed balanced feeds. Or so the feed companies say.......
Arules + boss believe that we need to feed limestone flour, to prevent bran leeching calcium out of bones. (I thought science poo-pooed this theory about 20 years ago?)

Oh, i don't know where truth is any more!! If one of mine gets colicky, then i want a bran mash. Problem is, in this day + age, i just can't get it. BS X
 
I haven't fed bran for years, but believe that it does have its uses and would always consider using it if the situation warrented it. It is however worth remembering the following:

If it does cause problems with bones etc it would have to be fed over a sustained period for these problems to occur, as would be the situation with most feed imbalances. Most people feed it short term to help a particular problem ie colic.

Fed wet it can have a slight laxative effect, fed dry it should help 'bind' a horse whos droppings are loose.

I was always taught that the link to calcium is actually due to a high phosphorus content that inhibits the horses ability to utilise calcium correctly. Calcium and phosphorus always go hand in hand.

Hope I'm right, if anyone knows otherwise I'd be interested to know the latest thinking!!
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Its also useful if you need to poultice a foot but don't have any of the usual brands to hand!!!!
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I don't feed bran - if I want a laxative effective then I would feed unmollassed beet which has less starch than bran and you don't have to worry about it upsetting the calcium:phosphorus ratio.
 
But surely, it's laxative effect that we're seeking? (Not long term, obviously)

Appreciating calcium:phosphorous ratio long term, while also appreciating benefit of bran mash, to make the horse's digestion work + make it poo/not poo, according to the problem.!

Tennesse's words are very wise.

BS x
 
[ QUOTE ]
But surely, it's laxative effect that we're seeking?

[/ QUOTE ] Exactly, which can be achieved very well with unmollassed beet that is another form of fibre plus water, without the associated problems of bran.
 
Hi again, TGM,
Like i said, i very much appreciate the long term risks of the phosphorous v calcium imbalance in feeding bran long term (+ don't know anyone who feeds bran these days, for this reason alone. I certainly don't)
However, i have to question that unmollassed beet (which i do feed) would have a strong enough action in an impacted colic case.
Returning to the original question, i think that Vikki89 did exactly the right thing in getting vet out when it's colic. Sometimes a bran mash will help, but then again, who'd take the risk in this day + age? (I don't, but did resort to a bran mash when my horse got very stressed - by a children's fairground! - + colic resulted, + we were in back of beyond! It worked, thank god!)
Hoping your horse is fine now, Vikki89, am sure vet's injection worked, + understanding how horrible it all is. All bests, BS x
 
Putting aside the calcium/phosphorous imbalance, the occasional bran mash is great that is if you want to totally upset the gut flora, for this reason alone I would never ever feed to a horse with or recovering from colic.

Why do you think people are advised to gradually introduce new feeds over 4/5 days?
 
[ QUOTE ]

Hoping your horse is fine now, Vikki89, am sure vet's injection worked, + understanding how horrible it all is. All bests, BS x

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, it was a friends horse, the injection did work thankfully
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and there was no need to have the vet back out. It was horrible though as the vet told her he didn't think the horse was going to make it through the night.
 
Thank you brandysnap, it is not often I'm accused of being wise lol!!!
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SirenaXVI I totally agree with the point you make about introducing feed slowly so as not to upset the gut flora, and i think this is why most have done away with the old rule of a bran mash the night before a horses day off each week. However, in colic, the horses system is already highly upset, and I personally believe that in this situation a bran mash can be more beneficial than trying to offer a horses normal feed or not feeding at all.

Glad horse in OP is on the road to recovery.
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Just to throw a spanner in the works, I have just found out to my surprise, that a stud / showjumping yard near me that does ok for itself, feeds bran in every horses feed every day alongside other compound mixes and nuts, not straights.
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Each to their own, and whatever works for that horse!
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