DONT FEED BRAN!! rant

[HorseGirl18]

i am reading a horse magazine (not h&h). it says:

DONT FEED BRAN - IT IS COSTLY AND ADDS NOTHING TO YOUR HORSES DIET

well actually, it is very good fibre and helps them with digestion, fills them up (instead of wasting your money on chaff) and it has been the thing that i feed for the past 2 years so my fussy eater will eat!

yes, chaff is, in the magazine, 1p cheaper than bran. but what if you have alfa-a. u-h-hum £3s more expensive!! and if you had chaff, bran is expensive but it does add something to your horses diet - maybe no vitamins and minerals that i know of but its not as if its unhealthy and what they have said is absoloutley incorrect!!!!


rant over - i think........

 

[AmyMay]

Actually, it's a great filler, and a great laxative - but I would agree with the article that it adds nothing in particular to their diet.

However, I'm not sure it's actually worth ranting about........

 

[Maesfen]

I'll join you in a rant. Very under-rated feed IMO.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Actually, it's a great filler, and a great laxative - but I would agree with the article that it adds nothing in particular to their diet.

However, I'm not sure it's actually worth ranting about........

agree ^

However, its worth keeping in feedroom. I only use it sparingly in daily feeds, but if needed for a main purpose I know I've got it (IYSWIM?).
I split a bag with the neighbour when we buy it, means it gets used within a good timescale.

MMmmmmm bran mash & sticky fingers

 

[ThePony]

It adds phosphorus actually, so def useful stuff! In our grazing that is high in calcium, the ratio with phosphorus and magnesium is knocked out, so we feed bran and magnesium - smashing stuff! (ahem, this is assuming I have understood our feed plan correctly, which I hope I have!). Anyway, who couldn't love the smell of a hot bran mash!

 

[Mrs B]

We always used to feed it - as did everyone else I knew in the 70's Bran, oats, new-fangled things called pony nuts and sugar beet in the winter - all in one bucket and twice a day.

I seem to remember that all but the teeniest ponies used to get at least half a scoop to a scoop of bran per feed. What I can't remember is any of the assorted 26 equines on the yard having digestive problems...

 

[AmyMay]

That's the great thing about feed stuffs. We all have varying opinions.

 

[HorseGirl18]

It adds phosphorus actually, so def useful stuff! In our grazing that is high in calcium, the ratio with phosphorus and magnesium is knocked out, so we feed bran and magnesium - smashing stuff! (ahem, this is assuming I have understood our feed plan correctly, which I hope I have!). Anyway, who couldn't love the smell of a hot bran mash!

i didnt know that one!!!

your even better that the writer of it - a nutritionist!!! hehe

amymay and the fuzzy furry, i'm just very annoyed that a nutritionist can put such a thing, and according to thepony, its not correct anyway!!!!!!!!!

 

[JFTDWS]

I believe the laxative effect is, in fact, something of an old wives tale, more relating to increased fibre resulting in increased fecal volume, as it were. But I could be wrong there (/where ever I read that may not be the most reliable source, since I can't remember where it was!).

That aside, it's the same as most straight feeds - useful in some circumstances, less so in others. Dismissing it outright is rather unnecessary.

ETA - nutritionist is an interesting term - if I'm right in thinking that a "nutritionist" is not a controlled term, pretty well anyone can call themselves a nutritionist and spout whatever nonsense they choose, and innocent folk will believe it is supported by science. There's one who writes for the daily mail who claims fruit and veg are just fibre and add nothing to the diet at all, advocating the scrappage of the 5 a day scheme. (If I recall correctly, and it was publicised quite extensively by Ben Goldacre's blog).

 

[itsonlyme]

I think it's only good to feed when your calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is out. Otherwise, the body will try to right the ratio itself and draw calcium from its stores, causing bone weaknesses, etc. That's what i was told anyway.

 

[HorseGirl18]

jftd, i thought it did have a laxitive effect! the more water the easier it goes through and out the other end - taking everything else with it :s

 

[Natch]

Which company is the nutritionalist working for?

This put me off a career in nutrition - dissing anything that isn't your own company's products

 

[Merrymoles]

W always used to feed it - as did everyone else I knew in the 70's Bran, oats, new-fangled things called pony nuts and sugar beet in the winter - all in one bucket and twice a day.

I seem to remember that all but the teeniest ponies used to get at least half a scoop to a scoop of bran per feed. What I can't remember is any of the assorted 26 equines on the yard having digestive problems...

^^^
Exactly this!

 

[ThePony]

I think it's only good to feed when your calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is out. Otherwise, the body will try to right the ratio itself and draw calcium from its stores, causing bone weaknesses, etc. That's what i was told anyway.

'tis true, was just going to post that as thought my post might have come across a bit one sided! If your calcium is right (or even lacking) then feeding something with high phosphorus like bran can result in calcium being leached from the bones - the ones in the face go and instead leave soft swellings, which is why you get diseases like these ''Big Head Syndrome, Miller's Disease or Bran Disease'' Like anything though, just needs to be in balance - as suited to different horses and feed regimes! High calcium feeds are popular (speedi beet and alfafa anyone?) as is alot of UK grazing, so adding magnesium and phosphorus can't be a totally bad thing!

 

[ABC]

Can you buy bran online?

My feedstore no longer sells it, and I like nothing more than making the horses a bran mash in winter

I really want to get some in, I like to have an array of foods just incase.

 

[Oberon]

Bran fan here too.

Molasses adds nothing, fillers add nothing but its OK to put them in commercial feeds!

Bran may add 'nothing' but at least it also detracts nothing either.

With the high calcium levels we are finding around the UK's forage and with the insistance of putting alfalfa in everything (also high in calcium), then simple bran is a safe filler to put my minerals into. The horses love the taste of it and it's cheap as chips!

If this made you rant - you should carry on and research what goes into all the 'laminitis trust approved' feeds - 'twil make your hair curl!

 

[JFTDWS]

I think it's only good to feed when your calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is out. Otherwise, the body will try to right the ratio itself and draw calcium from its stores, causing bone weaknesses, etc. That's what i was told anyway.

Or you balance the Ca-phos with Ca-rich forage / sugar beet etc in the feed. Most cereals are phosphorous rich and will deplete Ca stores if fed in sufficient quantities. Though bran is worse than (e.g.) barley in that sense.

 

[brighteyes]

Think that calcium leaching syndrome applies to youngsters mainly and causes the big head type thing.

 

[ThePony]

Our feed supplier does it, they mainly do stuff for farmers rather than horse owners so have a much wider range of straights. If you are in Glos then try Henry Cole, great place!

 

[ABC]

Might pop down to the farm shop then, might sell it there

Im in Lancs

 

[JFTDWS]

jftd, i thought it did have a laxitive effect! the more water the easier it goes through and out the other end - taking everything else with it :s

Within reason, to an extent, that is true. However, by that token, sugar beet and all other mashes are laxatives - but they don't share bran's popular reputation as a laxative. And of course, you're assuming you feed bran as a mash - some people do feed it dry. The fibre will help to keep the intestine moving, but it's not a true laxative.

 

[Maesfen]

jftd, i thought it did have a laxitive effect! the more water the easier it goes through and out the other end - taking everything else with it :s

This is one reason why Leahurst use so much of it for their nursing cases and most horses take it readily which is what they need then. Just the smell of a bran mash makes me feel better, lol.

 

[AmyMay]

amymay and the fuzzy furry, i'm just very annoyed that a nutritionist can put such a thing, and according to thepony, its not correct anyway!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps the nutritionist is writing that because being knowledgeable in her field it's the conclussion she came to.

Either way - lots of people - including myself - feel it's beneficial to feed, even if they don't necessarily agree that it is nutritionaly beneficial (if you get what I mean).

 

[rockysmum]

Whoever wrote that is missing the point entirely.

Bran has no feed value at all, well great that makes it the perfect feed for the fatties.

I actually started buying it in again after my 35 year old got colic last year. I started feeding him a sloppy mash every night.

It suddenly occurred to me that I could also feed it to our overweight cob. She expects a bit of something when she comes in at night. Molassed chaff is just adding calories, unmolassed chaff she turns her nose up at, can you blame her, she probably has better in her haynet. So now she also gets a bit of mash with a few pony nuts which melt into it for flavour. She loves it and I dont have to worry about whats in it.

 

[Dancing Queen]

Bran - adds very little nutritionally to the diet, can scour horses/ponies, but great filler and always my backup if they look a little uncomfortable (hot bran mash)

I remember the good old days when they used to be feed sugarbeet and bran mashes - I LURVVVVVVVVE the smell of sugar beet and love running my fingers through the bran.

 

[AmyMay]

and love running my fingers through the bran.

Me too - forgotten all about that!

 

[competitiondiva]

I think it's only good to feed when your calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is out. Otherwise, the body will try to right the ratio itself and draw calcium from its stores, causing bone weaknesses, etc. That's what i was told anyway.

here's a useful link: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/article.php?aid=39346

 

[competitiondiva]

Bran - adds very little nutritionally to the diet, can scour horses/ponies, but great filler and always my backup if they look a little uncomfortable (hot bran mash)

I remember the good old days when they used to be feed sugarbeet and bran mashes - I LURVVVVVVVVE the smell of sugar beet and love running my fingers through the bran.

lol, what about those hot guiness bran mashes, my old horse always got one on her birthday and lurrrrvveed it!! I loved the smell too! Have to say it was the only time I ever fed bran!

 

[Fauvea]

Can you buy bran online?

My feedstore no longer sells it, and I like nothing more than making the horses a bran mash in winter

I really want to get some in, I like to have an array of foods just incase.

Look up Thunderbrook Equestrian, they sell human food grade organic bran, only 10 quids for a 20 kg bag.

 

[FairyLights]

I read somewhere that bran has good levels of good quality protein. The problem with bran is its calcium to phosphorus ratio. can be corrected with limestone flour apparently.