Copra feed

ihatework said:
I'm loving a new product from GWF that is a small pellet feed that can be fed wet/dry and is made up from copra, SB, hemp seed (possibly had some linseed in too) and seaweed meal. It is exceptionally palatable yet very low sugar and starch.
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What's this called? I tried looking on their website, but couldn't see it :( it sounds interesting, apart from the seaweed .
 
Cragrat said:
What's this called? I tried looking on their website, but couldn't see it :( it sounds interesting, apart from the seaweed .
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Fibregest no starch - available but not launched yet, you will need to contact them for the full spec. I've been using it on my old cushings TB all winter
 
You can feed up to 4kgs a day of copra (although my cob says 2 is plenty when she is in hard work). It's lower in NSC (sugar and starch) than micronised linseed too.

You can only feed a far smaller amount of linseed and for a horse in hard work it's not enough (and it made my PSSM horse ill so we won't be touching it again thanks very much!).
 
MagicMelon said:
Is linseed poisonous??
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Linseed is actually poisonous - but horses can handle around 1 cup per day. When the husk and inner seed mix they produce cyanide - if you want to feed quantities large enough to put on weight you need to either cook it - as in boil it for 20 mins or feed micronised.

hairycob said:
I always thought copra was low in lysine so am struggling to see how it can be considered a complete feed. Still not convinced it's as good as linseed but am open to persuasion if anyone can come up with a good case.
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Lysine levels are low so will need to be topped up with supplements.

criso said:
I wouldn't treat any straight feed as a complete feed and they will be high or low in various minerals. This actually works for me with Copra as it is low in calcium and high in phosphorous so balances out my forage a little but might not suit someone else.

Copra has a 3:1 ratio with Phosphorous so is a good balance - certainly is not lower in Calcium than Phosphorous.

It is far cheaper to feed to increase weight through the oils, has fibre, its great for lamanitic ponies and for Endurance horses
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I'm feeding it on its own (as a complete feed, nothing else with it) with a vit&min supplement. Working well so far and horse loves the taste :-)
 
Tnavas said:
Linseed is actually poisonous - but horses can handle around 1 cup per day. When the husk and inner seed mix they produce cyanide - if you want to feed quantities large enough to put on weight you need to either cook it - as in boil it for 20 mins or feed micronised.



Copra has a 3:1 ratio with Phosphorous so is a good balance - certainly is not lower in Calcium than Phosphorous.

It is far cheaper to feed to increase weight through the oils, has fibre, its great for lamanitic ponies and for Endurance horses
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In the UK people tend to feed it as micronised as that's the easiest form to get hold of which is why the poisonous issue doesn't arise.

If you check the Coolstance site (I think someone linked to it earlier),the level of calcium is 0.058 of calcium and 0.558 of phosphorus so the latter is much higher.

Lastly it may be a geographical difference, but prices between the two are similar, both come in 20kg sacks and round here one shop is cheaper for Copra, one for linseed.
 
I feed it to mine.excellent for coat,hooves, weight if fed significant amount. Put weight on my old boy even where other feeds failed, without upsetting his hooves or skin. Very cheap too.
 
I think it's all been said. Will just add that I've been feeding my IDXTB copra for a few years. Mixed with Fast Fibre. I swapped from linseed because it made his mineral balancer MORE palatable (he's barefoot and on a strict nutritional diet to keep his hooves tip-top). He's looking great and going great. Hoorah.
 
I went out and bought a bag of CoolStance yesterday as a result of this post - got a very skinny veteran WB who hasn't got through the winter well despite being on other "conditioning" feeds. Have begun adding it very slowly, along with Barley Rings and oil for an added boost. My scales are broken, can anyone advise roughly where on a round scoop 1kg of Copra would come to? Just trying to work out how much I need to build up to!
 
So I could possibly use it for Clive. Does anybody give samples out? He is a bit cautious about new flavours - looked at us like we were barmy the first time he was offered a polo.
 
MagicMelon said:
I went out and bought a bag of CoolStance yesterday as a result of this post - got a very skinny veteran WB who hasn't got through the winter well despite being on other "conditioning" feeds. Have begun adding it very slowly, along with Barley Rings and oil for an added boost. My scales are broken, can anyone advise roughly where on a round scoop 1kg of Copra would come to? Just trying to work out how much I need to build up to!
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It's quite dense so weighs a lot. Not very scientific but I weighed one of the larger/deeper plastic pots you get stuff from the supermarket deli or coleslaw hummus in and it was about 600g dry weight. You add 3 to 4 times the amount of water depending on whether you want it fluffy or sloppy, leave it for an hour and it expands.
 
hairycob said:
So I could possibly use it for Clive. Does anybody give samples out? He is a bit cautious about new flavours - looked at us like we were barmy the first time he was offered a polo.
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I'm not sure, but i would be happy to post you a small sample if they don't :)

I only have 1 of mine on it, but all 3 have tried it and liked it. One of mine is super fussy, hates change and would rather not eat anything at all than eat something different - he ate it!
 
Thanks Crackers. Will contact Cool stance and ask. No point in buying a big bag to try as the last thing HP needs is a bag of weight gain feed to finish off if Clive turns his nose up.
 
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