Why doesn't anyone feed bran anymore?

[emmab13]

Went asking round the dozen or so liveries for a scoop of bran to borrow for an old-school bran poultice, and no-one had any!

Even 10 years ago this would have been unheard of. So why don't we feed it anymore?

I know if you fed loads of bran and nothing else it would mess up the Ca-Ph ratio, but really, a bit isn't going to do much harm is it?

 

[vicm2509]

I think the main reason being is that is hardly has any nutritional value, and you have to add limestone to it. It is basically classed as a pointless feed and not quite so readily available in feedstores. These days there are much better feeds on the market which are complete feed so people tend to use those instead.

 

[scrunchie]

Doesn't it leech out a vitamin or mineral from the horse? I think it might be calcium or iron - something quite important. I know it's not recommended as a regular foodstuff.

 

[dilbert]

I feed bran , I had my grass analysed and bran was recommended to help balance the minerals I feed.

 

[Ollie's Mum]

It's not so good for them as it's too high in potassium and very low in calcium and also modern milling methods are much more efficient than in the "old" days so it takes so much out - you're not left with much of any nutritional value. If fed to excess there's actually a disease that youngstock can get called "big head disease" where the developing bones of the body get the calcium taken out of them so the body is small but the head looks out of proportion

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Showing my age here but if you dont ask you don learn...whats dose a bran poultice do and how do you make it?

X

 

[criso]

I feed bran , I had my grass analysed and bran was recommended to help balance the minerals I feed.

That

I have fed it at both yards I have been at. In my case it helps with the calcium phosphorous ratio while adding non fattening bulk and being palatable to carry supplements.

At my last yard the Calcium was so high (off the end of the scale in the analysis) that I had to be careful of foodstuffs like Alfalfa and Sugarbeet.

 

[Horses24-7]

Isn't it a politics for a foot abscess? We used to do it 20 yrs ago on my old pony, basically pack it into sole of foot whilst warm and bag and bandage on, much cheaper!

 

[Horses24-7]

Poultice (silly phone!)

 

[AdorableAlice]

Bran can be useful and I do keep it in.

At present it is being used as a laxative feed for a very long term (8 months) box resting horse. It is useful for mixing sedative powders in as the bran binds to the powder.

Added to the evening mash is chopped carrots, and a multi vit.

Obviously my horse is being kept in extreme conditions and I am a rather older horse keeper, but I do think bran can be useful in certain circumstances.

 

[Black_Horse_White]

I fed a small scoop full to my horse everyday. I fed it to a previous horse who had colic once. So I just feed a small amount to my new horse as a preventative measure.

 

[russianhorse]

Weirdly, I was just having this discussion at my horse feed shop today - reminising about how straight forwards it was to feed a horse many moons ago - and how sundays were always a bran mash day

 

[Hollywood]

I add half a scoop a night with a small scoop of limestone flourto my feed - its a very underated food - it has no nutrition as such but it keeps the gut moving and is very good for tempting fussy feeders or getting supplements into a horse and horses love it. It can be fed as a warm mash as well. I am showing my age here but in the 60's my hunting pony was fed bran and oats everyday and there was no limestone flour additive then and never had a days illness. David Nicholson champion NH trainer in the 60's and 70's trained on bran and Australian oats and I know that as a fact. In my day very few horses or ponies suffered with laminitis - there is alot to be said about some old fashioned ways of feeding - alot of todays complete feeds contain far too much sugar for the normal everyday rider IMO.

 

[Moomin1]

My old pony was fed bran all his life and lived until 40yrs (ridden until 39). Never seemed to do him any harm at all, but then if the research is there that it does no good, then hey ho.

I personally wouldn't feed bran long term without the required additives anymore. Can't see the harm in the odd hot bran mash though for ill horses, and I really miss the smell of the warm bran on a freezing winter's night!

 

[Technique]

My old pony was fed bran all his life and lived until 40yrs (ridden until 39). Never seemed to do him any harm at all, but then if the research is there that it does no good, then hey ho.

I personally wouldn't feed bran long term without the required additives anymore. Can't see the harm in the odd hot bran mash though for ill horses, and I really miss the smell of the warm bran on a freezing winter's night!

This!! I used to love that blast of steam, when you took the piece of sacking off the top of the bucket, was very tempting.

 

[rockysmum]

I still feed it to the oldie.

Following his colic the other day, all he is getting at the moment are three very sloppy warm bran and melted pony nut mashes.

He is happily slurping away at them, he isn't interested in much else except grass, I think he is still sore from the tubing.

 

[Lintel]

I feed it- regularly!
My boy is a Highland who has previously has laminitis and bran has no value whatsoever, no sugar, no additives, nothing. Just pure and straight bran.

Every second day (now) Everyday in the SOLID winter.
He gets:
Spoon of garlic. Scoop of bran (half scoop in the summer) and a little cup of suregrow

I soak all his feed! Nowadays there is just too much s*** in *made up* feeds, such as dengie, baileys etc. Even in pony nuts there are oats, sugars and everything else I do not want for my boy! Chaff is beyond a no no- you only have to smell some of the stuff to go- "I WOULD NEVER FEET THAT TO A LAMINITIC!"

It's like human processed foods.. full of a load of crap. Grr.
Rant over.

Yes I do feed bran No idea why others don't. (Keep baby's bowels moving nicely too!)

 

[Oberon]

My forage is high in calcium, but it's matched to a high phosphorous level. I have to feed copper, zinc and magnesium to jump over the Ca and P anyway.

I could feed bran with limestone flour...but I'd have to add extra, extra copper, zinc and magnesium to jump over.

So I don't feed it routinely....however I use bran with medicines and for a treat as they go mad for it.

I really wish I could feed it routinely. When I used to use it, it helped put weight on my old boy. And I love the smell of it.

You can buy small bags of bran from large supermarkets, near the porridges (I've used porridge oats too, rather than buy a big bag).

 

[Little Squirrel]

Mine get a bran mash every Sunday. They also have a mash after running or if they have had a proper day's hunting.

 

[cambrica]

We give a warm bran mash occasionally. Bit of a treat really like porridge on a cold day.
I remember when I was a kid a neighbour with show ponies who always gave a bran mash with guiness and a raw egg once a week.
On the subject of all these 'new age' mixes on the market I tend to stay away from them. It concerns me as to what exactly goes in that is supposedly beneficial. A bit like dog food with added caramel
When my 3 yr old was loosing his baby molars and couldn't chew hay or mix I, in desperation fed him some baileys cubes mashed which were not meant to be heating and some lo-cal alfalfa. Within 24 hrs he was horrible, mean and so out of character. Molar quickly deposited in food bowl and back to cool mix and hay within no time I had my dopey boy back.

 

[MileAMinute]

I'd not fed bran for years until Meg came down with colic last month. She's just come off it now to go back onto her chaff as she has no real need for it now.

It's a shame, I love mixing it with warm water....and the smell.....yum!

 

[LickettySplit]

I feed my ponio bran every day - 1/4 scoop morning and night is what he needs to bind him...he's a good doer so doesn't need anything of any nutritional value.

My hunter also gets a warm bran mash with her feed after a days hunting - dunno why, it just seems like the right thing to give her on a winter's night.

 

[yeeharider]

feed a scoop to my old boy everyday following episode of colic feed it with his ready grass and a scoop of sugarbeet to balance things up

 

[shelly19]

My good doers get a scoop of bran in their night feed with a few carrots, just to get their supplements and to give them a bucket feed when all the others on the yard are fed.

 

[Ellen Durow]

Bran can be useful and I do keep it in.

At present it is being used as a laxative feed for a very long term (8 months) box resting horse. It is useful for mixing sedative powders in as the bran binds to the powder.

Added to the evening mash is chopped carrots, and a multi vit.

Obviously my horse is being kept in extreme conditions and I am a rather older horse keeper, but I do think bran can be useful in certain circumstances.

I don't use it routinely nowadays but my retired horse was a martyr to impacted colic and the vet told me to use mashed bran in the feed as a laxative.

We used to give a warm bran mash many moons ago when the horses came in from hunting but whenever I comment on this in hunting circles these days it's met with gales of laughter as it is held to be very old-fashioned.

 

[henryhorn]

We keep some because it's a tempting feed for sick horses especially with hot water added. I fed all mine for years on it and most lived to a healthly old age so I do tend to think the fuss about it is a bit silly.
What is different is the process it's made by, old fashioned broad bran was lovely, big flakes and smelled very differently to bran you buy now.
But then I kept horses in the days before mixes, when you had oats/barley/flaked maize/bran and sugar beet plus some linseed you boiled, so you had to understand what feed did what...

 

[Maesfen]

I don't use it routinely nowadays but my retired horse was a martyr to impacted colic and the vet told me to use mashed bran in the feed as a laxative.

We used to give a warm bran mash many moons ago when the horses came in from hunting but whenever I comment on this in hunting circles these days it's met with gales of laughter as it is held to be very old-fashioned.

Not around here it's not and I'd think not in many decent hunting yards, there's no better feed for a tired horse although I agree, the quality of bran nowadays is a shadow of what we used to have.

It's no surprise that Leahurst use it a lot and many times like your vet, recommend it as a normal part of the diet for those prone to colic.

Agree totally with A Alice and HH; there's always some here and I always feed some for a fortnight before and after foaling as routine so that it's not a shock to the system when the mare needs all the help she can get. But I'm old fashioned, I also add Kossolian too!

 

[Auslander]

I also add Kossolian too!

Blimey, I haven't heard that name for years!! We always had a tub in the feedroom. I also remember Red Cell coming out, and thinking it was completely revolutionary! I got bucked off onto the cobbled stable yard 4 times in about 10 minutes after I started feeding my pony Red Cell - it completely blew his tiny mind!

 

[Mince Pie]

You can still get them
http://www.animalmedicationdirect.co.uk/kossolian-blood-salts-for-horses-1kg-25kg-20kg-pr-5704.html

 

[zaminda]

I was told that bran these days had a lower nutritional value due to the way it is processed now. It is now veryhard to get hold of as a result