Feeding linseed and soya oil

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I was wondering what people have found the most cost effective and beneficial way of feeding linseed is? :) Equally, soya oil?

I have a mare with cushings, who sadly suffers with skin problems as a result. She seems to have benefitted hugely from Bailey's outshine, and I've just started trying her on Simple systems instant linseed, but both are quite an expensive way to do it and she doesn't seem especially enthusiastic about either. She is more keen on her food if I add mint, but it means her list of supplements is getting a bit ridiculous. If I add straight oil she tends to snort a lot and empty the bucket on the floor, before walking off leaving it uneaten :rolleyes:

Has anyone any other high oil products/ways or products of feeding these that they would recommend?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
A&P Fast Fibre has linseed in it - really useful as there is no molasses in it as a product and they love it! It is about £7 a sack so good value to.

The other oil dense porduct we used with great success last winter for weight gain was Coolstance - oil and fibre dense and at £15 approx was really good value. My neices TB was fed the Coolstance and fibre all winter for his feeds and he looked fantastic - only used about 2 sacks full as well. Was the cheapest winter ever for feed for him and he came out of it (including 2 months of knee deep snow and minus temps) looking better then ever - his coat was shiny and he never dropped weight:)
 
I don't feed soya, made mine incredibly fat incredibly quickly and there are some quite worrying reports about nasty side effects of soya on both horses and people.

I do feed linseed though :) I buy the big sacks from Charnwood Milling, something like £30 for about 25kg plus delivery. They deliver v quickly and M's coat this year is the best it's ever been. I tried him on a high oil diet a couple of years ago to help with his shivers but couldn't get him to eat the suggested amount. The linseed from CM is whole cooked, ground and microionised (I think!) so it looks like bran - he finds it more palatable than oil. I can't say I've seen the improvements in his joints (specifically hocks) that lots of people on here report but his shivers are pretty good and his coat is amazing :)
 
Off to have a google for both. Thank you for the suggestions so far :) :)

ETS - incidentally, do either products smell especially strongly?
 
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Another vote for micronised linseed from Charwood. I've just started my lad (ex-racer) on it and he is looking great. It doesn't smell at all and it works out really cheap.
 
Don't feed soya to a Cushings Case. Soya can cause hormonal imbalances by affecting the thyroid gland, so if she's already insulin resistant (as some Cushings case are), then she will be worse affected.

I also feed linseed from Charnwood Milling. My ponies love it!
 
Skip the Soy oil it affects the pancreas and is not good for anything!

I feed Linseed - I buy it whole and grind it fresh daily as it not only improves the coat but when fresh it has Omega 3 & 6 in it - both good for horses joints.

I have a small coffee grinder that I use. Takes just a minute. 1 cup of whole Linseed grains per day.
 
Another vote for Charnwood Milling micronised linseed - cheap as chips!

I would be very careful about grinding your own linseed - I understand that linseed should be thoroughly cooked or micronised before feeding as the raw product contains a poison.
 
Tammytoo said:
Another vote for Charnwood Milling micronised linseed - cheap as chips!

I would be very careful about grinding your own linseed - I understand that linseed should be thoroughly cooked or micronised before feeding as the raw product contains a poison.
Click to expand...

Another myth ..

My take is that its low risk. Linseed itself does not contain cyanide but contains cyanide-glycosides which may release cyanide following a glycosidase catalysed reaction. Glycosidase is present in linseed. Grinding the linseed will release the glycosides and the enzyme but reaction is unlikely to take place to any great extent in the ground powder due to the relatively dry conditions which are not conducive to catalysis. Feeding it to the horse, due to the action of stomach acid, will result in the glycosidase being denatured, rendering it inactive and therefore unable to catalyse the reaction so cyanide will not be released.

This post talks about a recent study but sadly does not cite it:

http://www.horsehero.com/1751/28351
Click to expand...
 
Tammytoo said:
Another vote for Charnwood Milling micronised linseed - cheap as chips!

I would be very careful about grinding your own linseed - I understand that linseed should be thoroughly cooked or micronised before feeding as the raw product contains a poison.
Click to expand...

Linseed does not need to be cooked before being fed - I've been grinding it myself and feeding it like this for decades.

http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/flax-seed.html
an excerpt from the page
Does it have to be soaked and/or boiled?
Contrary to popular belief, flax seed doesn't need to be soaked or boiled before feeding.

The belief that flax needs to be soaked or boiled before being fed comes from the fact that the seeds contain components of cyanide, which is toxic.

However, the two components of cyanide that are found in flax are stored in different parts of the seed, never touching each other, and therefore never able to create cyanide.

Any contact with water (including boiling or soaking) brings the two components together, creating cyanide -- so the "prevention" to make the seeds "safe" actually is more dangerous than feeding them unboiled or unsoaked. (Note that saliva, stomach acid, and other digestive juices break the two components up before they could ever become joined and create cyanide within the horse's digestive tract.)

Soaked is actually one of the most dangerous ways to feed flax, as the cyanide is created and left standing in the water and flax.

Boiling changes the cyanide to a gas form, thus removing it from the flax. However, it also destroys all the fatty acids, effectively removing the entire reason for feeding the flax in the first place.

Another consideration is that when you remove the lid from the pot, you are going to be the one ingesting all the cyanide.

Thankfully, the amount of cyanide created when boiling flax is very small...in fact, we take in more cyanide in our daily lives through our food, water, and the air we breathe than is found in a cup of boiled flax. Cyanide is also very quickly removed from the body and is not stored in the body tissues -- so if you don't die immediately from cyanide poisoning, you're going to live.
 
Agreed - stay away from soya.

My fussy (read eats speed beet when dryish, refuses to touch it if slightly sloppy...!) pony will eat micronised linseed raw from a dog bowl as I was putting it out for her to munch - she choses it over her dinner - it is quite palatable.
 
wonkey_donkey said:
Codswallop, nothing wrong with feeding soya oil :-)
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Soy affects the Pancreas - the pancreas controls insulin - explain to me why we have so many insulin resistant horses? Since SOY has been added to horse feeds there have been more and more horses affected by insulin resistance.

Soy is apalling stuff and should be removed from all our foods as well as horses feed. If it was processed inthe correct way then it may be OK but it isn't!
 
Tammytoo said:
Another vote for Charnwood Milling micronised linseed - cheap as chips!

I would be very careful about grinding your own linseed - I understand that linseed should be thoroughly cooked or micronised before feeding as the raw product contains a poison.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is very true. I think the poison is called lysine or something like that. It should always be boiled before fed or buy the micronised ground linseed which is already prepared. I think if you go on the Charnwood site it tells you on there about the poison.

Please be careful.
 
I know we have been brainwashed for decades that linseed needs to be boiled - I used to do so too.

Modern research though has shown that it does not need to be cooked in any way at all to be safe to feed. There was a time when feeding Linseed as an oil was an absolute no no as it was cold presed and terribly poisonous - but many people now feed it as an oil.

To get the most benefit from Linseed - including Omega 3 & 6 it needs to be fed freshly ground. I've been feeding it freshly ground now for about a decade and all my horses are still very much alive and bouncing with health.

If you cook it then you can feed a large quantity - fed for coat shine 1 cup per day of freshly ground linseed is absolutely fine.
 
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