Feeding flax to the picky eater...

[islgrl]

Ok, looking for ideas - here's the setup... Horse lives with 3 others out 24/7. 2 horses are brought into barn at meal time, 2 left out to eat in pasture, once everyone is done eating all go back out. My horse is often left out, but is not kicked off his grain. He is a picky eater, I want him to have ground flax and he won't always eat it. He seems to like the flavor, but I think that he just can't be bothered to lick it off the bottom. He doesn't like oil in his grain so there isn't anything to make it stick. I am in a co-op situation, so having someone add, for example, warm water (which we don't have anyways) at meal time is a pain and I woudln't want to ask.

So, what do I do? Can anyone think of a way to make it stick that is not a pain and won't taste wierd to him?

[deltawave]

You could just try feeding it whole, not ground. It's just as effective, honest. :)

Or maybe instead of making it a part of feeding time, you could find a recipe for "horse cookies" made primarily with the flax and use them as treats?

[retrofit]

Horsetech has a variety of flavorings like peppermint, molasses, etc. that they can add to their flax supplements. Maybe he would bother to lick it up if it were yummier?

My horse is not picky but I have heard that Horsetech is really good to work with, i.e. won't leave you stuck with a whole bucket of something your horse won't eat. Give them a call.

[Bluey]

I am waiting for the day some horse will post "how do I keep my owner from trying to put strange, foul tasting stuff in my food, when I make it perfectly clear it is not something I want to eat?":lol:

[barnchick]

Whole flax cannot be broken down by horses, so feeding it whole son't work. I have always fed it on a textured (sweet feed) so it just naturally sticks. If it is ground well in advance of feeding, it may be already going rancid and the horse is picking up on this. If it is added to the top of a pre-set feed that is being dumped in a tub, it may just be hitting the bottom of the tub and sticking due to the warmth of your guys breath and the oily (that is what it's being fed for) content oif the ground seed. Mixing it through the feed before dumping may help. You could try mixing the ground flax with jellow powder, he will lick the bowl if it's overwhelmed with sweet.

[Let'sTalkAboutHorses]

HorseTech (Love em!) can help you out if it comes to that. But honestly, what has worked for me is just mixing a small amount of either apple, carrot, or peppermint into my horse's feed 1-2x/week. He will lick the pan clean for a few days afterwards. Maybe he's in not as picky as your horse (or as smart?:sadsmile:) but keeping him in a state of anticipation seems to work.

[deltawave]

Whole flax cannot be broken down by horses, so feeding it whole son't work.

Sorry, urban legend. Horses have saliva, teeth and stomach acid, all of which do an admirable job of "breaking down" flax seeds. Yes, you will see some come through in the poop. But I've been feeding flax on and off for years and the difference is always obvious in coat shine. Try putting some flax in warm water and see what happens. The seeds are not iron-clad. They turn to mush.

[MunchkinsMom]

Omega Horseshine makes horse snacks made out of flax, perhaps that would work?

[JeanM]

You could try mixing it in with applesauce, or juice (prune or apple).

[islgrl]

I am waiting for the day some horse will post "how do I keep my owner from trying to put strange, foul tasting stuff in my food, when I make it perfectly clear it is not something I want to eat?":lol:


:winkgrin: I know - but in this case I don't think he dislikes it, as he licked it right out of my hand yesterday morning when he hadn't bothered to lick it out of the bucket.

I don't grind it way ahead specifically to be sure it doesn't go rancid. Generally the longest it is ground is 12 hours. When its been longer the temp has been below freezing so no worries there.

I like the idea of flax treats but they are pretty pricey in that form so I'm trying to avoid that solution (although I think its a good one)

All your ideas are good, I may try some of them. On the other hand he ate it all last night so maybe sometimes he's just not in the mood for it. I get that.

Thanks everyone!

[suzyq]

those little tubs of applesauce work great. iwould think it would be easy enough for the person feeding to mix that in.

[deltawave]

Somebody's got to have a flax horse cookie recipe somewhere. Anyone?

[islgrl]

I found a flax cookies recipe but it has sweet feed in it, which I think I'd rather not give him... and... he doesn't seem to like applesauce. Wouldn't you know. :winkgrin:

[EAY]

My horses love the flavor of Omega Horseshine. It's more expensive than grinding your own but you don't have to worry about it going rancid. My understanding is that flax seed goes rancid very quickly and that even 12 hours is too much. I'm not sure that even freezing prevents this (unless perhaps it was vacuum sealed). As someone else mentioned, if it is even slightly rancid that would impact its palatability.

[Dressage_Diva333]

Where can you get ground flax? I've been using flaxseed oil, but it all seems to sink to the bottom of the bucket and a lot gets wasted... would be interested to try some ground flax.

[ThoroughbredFancy]

Flax Snax are horse treats made with flax. You can pick them up at TSC or order from SmartPak. He might find that to be more appetizing.

[deltawave]

If you want to grind your own flax, your best bet is a mini coffee grinder, so you can grind it up fresh when you need to.

[BEARCAT]

Use a FEED BAG.

[Stonehedge]

I grind mine ( with a cheapy Wal-mart grinder) every 2-3 days and keep it in a sealed container after it is ground and store it inside a cupboard in our feed room. We have had very good luck so far and no trouble with it going bad. We get human grade flax from our feed mill in a 25kg bag. I used to soak it with the beet pulp but my vet and out equine nutritionist both state that it is much more effective ground than whole. Horse have a harder time breaking it down whole especially older ones.