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Feeding flaxseed / linseed

From: Rita

Dear Jessica, I hope you will answer this question, I have read right through your archives and not found it specifically addressed. I did find one question and answer about the cyanide contained in flaxseed, so thank you for that, because I would have been quite worried otherwise about the possibility of poisoning my dear horses with cyanide, but (please don't laugh) I wasn't altogether certain whether flaxseed and linseed are actually the same thing. Could you please elaborate on that question, and also explain how I could prepare flaxeed/linseed for my horse? Could I feed them whole, just open the bag and pour them out, or would I need to crush them or boil them or steam them? I seem to remember an old trainer friend of my grandfather boiling or steaming linseed for his horses, and I also seem to remember him saying that it took all morning to cook the seeds, but again I'm not quite certain that I am remembering this correctly, or even that linseed and flaxseed are the same. If they are the same, would it be possible to prepare them in the microwave oven? I am ashamed to admit that I actually do most of my "cooking" using the microwave oven... Thank you for considering this question!

Rita


Hi Rita! Yes, flaxseed and linseed are one and the same. Don't attempt to feed them whole - you'll just waste your money. Those tiny brown seeds are extremely tough, and whether you're adding them to your own food or your horses' food, you'll want to crush or break them somehow, because otherwise they will just pass through the body undigested.

Flax seed keeps quite a long time - sometimes up to a year - if it's whole and kept in a cool, dry place. It doesn't keep as long once it's been ground, but if you only have one or two horses, you can grind enough at one time to last a week or two, and then put it into an airtight container and store it somewhere cool. If the only reliably cool place is the refrigerator, just be SURE that the container really is airtight, so that the flax won't get damp.

I'm not sure about the microwave - it would depend on how powerful yours is! You are probably remembering the words of your grandfather's friend with perfect accuracy, because I know that if you put flax seed into a slow cooker with water (that is, put X amount into the slow cooker, plus 2 times X amount of water), set it on "high" until it boils, then turn it down to "low" and leave it to simmer, it will take most of the day to soften those hulls. So you may want to experiment with the microwave - and please let me know if you find this to be a good way to cook flax seed.

One thing to consider, though, is that flax seed - like rice bran - has a calcium/phosphorous ratio that isn't really appropriate for horses, and if your horse's feed ration is balanced without the flax seed, and you then add flax seed, you'll need to add a calcium supplement as well in order to maintain a properly-balanced ration. There are some manufacturers doing that now - you can buy balanced commercial flax seed supplements for your horses (full-fat flax seed plus calcium carbonate). Nutra-Flax is one such supplement. Just adding a bit of ground flax seed to a complete, balanced ration probably won't unbalance it, but I know that many people add a good bit of flax seed - a quarter cup, or half a cup, or a cup daily - and at that point, a nutritional analysis will definitely be in order.

Jessica

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