Sunflower Seeds - advice please

[vicm2509]

I know quite a few people say how good sunflower seeds are at helping with weight/condition. I have been debating weather or not to buy some for a while. They have them in the local feed store for about £9 a bag (they are the black ones).

How much do you feed to a 600kg horse that is generally a very poor doer (can I have it in either cup or scoops please). I have found a feed that works for him and he is the best hes ever been but still needs a bit more weight although his coat is in fantastic condition.

I currently give him 1 cup of soya oil a day and a total of 2-3 scoops of alfa oil so would I be overdoing the oil if I added sunflower seeds as I am led to believe they are quite high in oil?

The rest of his feed consists of cereal mix, barley, fibre beet, pink powder & carrots.

 

[Shipley]

I give my boy a cup of sunflower seeds am and pm but dont feed any other oil. I did not feed oil before so really dont know if that helpsor not. I bought a bag for £9 and it has lasted ages about a 3rd left now but really pleased with the coat condition.

hope it helps

 

[royal]

It is said that the more oil in the diet, the higher the horse's requirement for antioxidants, like Vitamin E and selenium. As a guide, for every 100ml of oil added to the diet, an additional 100IU of vitamin E are required.

Hope that helps.

 

[allijudd]

i feed 1/4 to 1/2 scvoop in each of mines feed and they are doping really well...Rowans mane has definatly got longer and longer and mud gets shed off really quickly too......

 

[S_N]

The only thing you'd have to worry about is somehow calculating the exact amount of oil your horse is getting at a day. A horse can only digest upto 250mls of oil daily. However, you can feed more (my old lad was on 750 mls of oil a day), you just need to ad a vitamin E and selenium supplement like Selenavite E to the diet, as this helps the horse metabolise the oil. Hope that helps!

 

[kittykatcat]

Actually, a horse can have up to 100ml of oil per 100kg bodyweight safely, without having to add any antioxidants. So your 600kg horse can have up to 600ml oil per day. If you go over this, then you need to add a vit E (and selenium) supplement. However, if your horse is generally a poor doer, i would perhaps look at your horse's diet as a whole. Not sure which 'cereal mix' you are using, but i would go for a conditioning type one. Barley, although traditionally used for condition is actually quite deficient in quality proteins which are obviously needed for muscle development and coverage.