Copra Meal

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RUNVS

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I've read many glowing reports about Coolstance Copra Meal and am thinking about trying it on my four TB's as they have a tendency to drop off a bit during the colder months despite warm rugs etc.
Some people just seem to feed this with chaff or Alfalfa alone. Is it 'complete' enough to feed like this or should concontinue to feed mix/cubes/chaff with it?
 
I use it on my 7 yo ex-racer - I have a litre size jug and over summer she gets half a jug of dry copra which is then soaked, and half a jug of micronised linseed. I've just upped her feed to a whole jug of each, plus a jug of pony nuts as she's still unrugged and out 24/7 and I want to maintain her weight. She's looking really well on it, seems to really enjoy it (and it smells delicious). She's been on the copra/linseed combo for about 6 months now. Depending on how much water you use (learn by trial and error) it can be a bit sloppy and porridgy, but then she just sucks it up :D

In terms of consistency, the soaked copra is similar to soaked sugar beet but less 'bitty'. Can certainly be fed alone (my other girl has just the soaked copra when she needs powdered supplements) but if you'd rather add chaff/mix you can.
 
I couldn't even get my shetlands to eat this stuff! The tb's wouldn't touch their food if it was in I and the shetlands picked around it and left their food. It smells of coconut, might be worth seeing if anyone has some you could nick a bit of to try first before buying a bag.
 
My Arab wouldnt eat it at first so I just put a tiny bit in at first then just added more and more and he loves it now licks the bowl clean, I feed with unmolassed sugar beet alpha a and micronised linseed I just adjust how much to how he looks and his level of work.
 
Adrian wouldn't eat it either, & he is a complete equine dustbin & would probably eat his own poo if I put it in his bucket. Not even if I left it in the field overnight. I would borrow some or get the co to send you a sample before you buy a whole sack.

T x
 
Copra is an excellent fat source IMO- although you do have to be careful soaking it in hot weather, as if left too long it can go rancid. It leaves an excellent shine on the coat!
Another excellent source is Ricebran, either in the pelleted/bran form or as an oil. At the end of the day, both these products will just make up the 'fat' portion of your diet- you will still need a good quality source of fibre (preferably long stem fibre ie hay) and a quality protein source (Lucerne, Full Fat Soy etc). You will need to feed a quality vit/min supplement or balancer pellet still :)
 
My super fussy WB loves it now but I did have to introduce it gradually. It is very specific in smell and so presumably taste and horses can be rather suspicious of it at first - I think it is just because it is new though, it is an acquired taste. But honestly if my horse eats it I think you could persuade any horse to, my horse wouldn't touch many things!
 
Another one whose fussy horse hoovered it up . . . I feed it alongside ERS Pellets, linseed and supplements (and if he really needs a boost, Speedibeet too). I introduced it gradually . . . and I make it with hot water so he gets it warm at night and (obviously) cold in the morning.

Wonderful stuff - my grey visibly shines.

P
 
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Yes great for coats. This is my pony straight after clipping.

I started feeding it a tiny bit at a time as got 2 that have paranoid delusions about being posioned
 
My equine dustbin was so horrified by the smell he refused to even try it on day 1. On day 2 I mixed a handful of soaked copra with some usually contraband molassed mix, and with each mouthful he was both ravenous for the mix but repulsed by the copra. On day 3 he licked the bowl clean, and then after that I cut out the mix and now he reckons copra is the nicest food ever. He's been on it for 3 weeks and I'm really pleased with the improvement in his coat and muscle tone.

I'm feeding it mixed with quikbeet and linseed. In one day he gets 4 cups of quikbeet, 2 cups of copra and 1 cup of linseed split between 4 feeds (topspec measuring cups).
 
It's great stuff the only thing I have found that keeps weight on my 17.3 bad doer and he only gets a scoop daily. Have to feed equilibrium balencer as well though as it's not nutritionally complete vitamin and mineral wise .
 
I, and every horse I've known, love it! Was first introduced to it was back in 2003 working in cattle stations in the outback; the work horses looked fantastic on it and they were in very hard work.

If you read the Coolstance website it's packed with info and answers all your questions.

I feed it with grass nuts, linseed, grass chop and a good vit/min balancer (pro balance + for two and pro hoof for the other with special requirements!).

Having (very recently) learnt more about the carbohydrates in all beets I stopped feeding and switched to grass cubes and have removed all alfalfa from their diets. I can't believe the differences that I'm seeing already.

So yeah, in short, I love copra! Even tasted a bit myself 😳 and it's like a gritty Bounty!
 
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