Informal Poll ~ Flax Seed or Oil?

[diamondindykin]

I work for an organic health food manufacturer that makes mainly flax products. We make several race horse products for a company but they are mainly targeted towards race horses on the east coast. I have really been bugging my company to launch a line of flax products for the general equine public since there are not very many straight flax products on the market. I was talking to our National Sales Manager today and I think that he is realizing that this is a product that we would use if available. So, I thought I would use this informal poll to see what horse people would be interested in.

Flax Oil
Flax Seed (cracked or ground)
Flax Meal
Flax Seed blended with ?

Our company is VERY "green" and we do not use plastic for any of our products. I have tried to explain that most horse people would not want glass around our horses because of the danger of breakage. Our company is VERY against plastic because of the toxins that can transfer into the product. So, as consumers, what packaging OTHER THAN plastic would you want to buy your flax product in?


Glass
Bags - paper ~ foil
Tin pails
?

Now the next item for debate is the sizes to offer each item:

Flax Oil?

32 oz
1 gallon
5 gallons

Cracked Flax?

5 lbs.
10 lbs.
25 lbs.



Your input would be appreciated!! If you have any other ideas for products containing flax I would love to hear your ideas.

If they launch these products, they have already promised that Whiskey's picture will be on the packaging ;D ;D

[schwung]

You know, I wish I could comment on this, but I can't, as I have never fed flax before. I know the seed is most common, but I'd be curious about the oil. I think most people are feeding large quantities of oil these day because of the EPSM diet rage, many people are feeding 1-2 cups of oil a feeding so I would be thinking the bigger the size container the better. I just looked into getting some flax seed for my poor keeper, but unfortunately he has to be on a low protein diet and while it is high in fat it is also high in protein (about 18-22%) so he can't have it. Another popular thing to feed is Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS), has your company thought about that?

As for what I would buy it in, well I think flax is commonly sold in the feed stores in smaller quantities in brown paper bags, but that's not real attention-getting. So not even plastic bags? I guess other than glass I am having a hard time thinking of non-plastic containers. Aluminum certainly wouldn't work! What about one of those tins that Quaker Oats come in? Aren't they kind of a cardboard-type tin?

[bsnlark]

Hooray, i know nothing abt flax, but have heard it works wonders. i found this information interesting also, while i was reading another BB




this month's horse journal...on flax...

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Did yall read the current month's horse jounal, there was a person who asked dr kellon about feeding flax seed, and she reasoned why it is best to feed stabilized flax....and specifically NOT soaked flax...


Here is how she answered a readers question:

"Cyanide, in the form of hydrocyanic acid, is produced when freshly ground whole flaxseed is wet. Flax contains varying levels of compounds called “cyanogenic glycosides.” These are cyanide precursors that can be converted to cyanide when they contact an enzyme that is also in flax.


The two do not come into direct contact in an intact flaxseed, but grinding the flax can release the enzyme, and adding water can accelerate the reaction. This is why whole flaxseeds should not be soaked in water to expand and soften before feeding.*************




the beet pulp i have is in a cloth sack...made me think of the olden days when they used the flour sacks for dish cloths. i get tired of all the paper bags, but i wud prefer them to foil or tin buckets.

however if the buckets have Whiskys face on them , or different poses for each size/ type just think of the further crafty possibilities ;D ;D
hummm, my brain hasnt been this active in months.. each type cud be represented by a diffrnt horse, of course they wud b urs and then................each size wud have a diff pose, then their wud be the seasonal packaging .....

good luck, this is very interesting ...

[averyacres]

I recently bought a 25lb bag from Dayville of Flax Seed for my guys, and I paid about $30 for it. I feed them about 2 or so ounces p/day (do you know if that is enough?). Not sure if they are getting all of it (probably not) but it is better than nothing I guess. With the oil, wouldn't you not have to feed as much? If so, I would probably go with the 1 gallon as with the oil, I think you have to refridgerate it, which might be an issue for some barns and depending on the weather and climate.

Isn't there a plastic container that is available that do not have the toxins in the plastic make up? Reason I ask is at the PCC (Puget Sound Co-op) I know they sale plastic water containers w/out the plastic toxins, but it might be kind of pricey for large distribution.

[diamondindykin]

I feed my horses cracked flax because I have sand in my paddocks and I worry about sand colic. The flax in the cracked or whole form will work like psyllium in clearing the colon. Luckily I work where I can have my flax cracked by a machine but if you feed the seed intact they will not get any benefit of the oil. I don't feed the oil because my horses don't care much for it. Most horses love the oil once they get used to having something wet on their feed. The dose for flax oil is only a 1/4 cup twice a day and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup for the cracked. Flax is suppposed to be good for many things including weight gain, healthy coat, feet and on and on.

Jaime ~ I will check on it but I think that flax is low in protein and high in the healthy Omega fats. If you want I will send you some for your horses (for free of course )..........

[schwung]

Connie - I got the protein content off this site:

www.omegafields.com/static/product-horseshine.asp

Horseshine is a stabilized, fortified flax seed product. It lists 18% protein.

[diamondindykin]

Ok, I checked the label on the blended Flax oil (flax, sunflower, sesame, oat bran and rice bran) that we manufacture for horses and the protein is only 1.5% and the fat is 98.2% and the fiber is 0.1%. I checked with our chemist and she said that the flax meal or whole flax will have a high protein but not the oil.

[cardicorgi]

Interesting idea, DDK!
I haven't fed it to my gelding, although it is contained within his pelleted senior feed - so I haven't thought about supplementing it.

One finds the oil in the human health stores in the refrigerated section - I wonder why? Does it destabilize or something if it isn't? Is it likely to go rancid?

As far as packaging - what about some kind of waxed paper bag?

[fototropic]

I had started feeding my 2 hard keepers corn oil on their senior, but I read that the omega fatty acids in corn oil actually increase inflammation, which is not something I want to do with older horses, 17 and 21. That made me start thinking about flax, but the flax oil is very pricey here. Seems like it was about $20 a quart. I haven't decided what to do, other than go around in circles in my head, that is.
Pam

[schwung]

For those that feed large quantities of oil, price is definately a factor. Vegetable oil is usually cheaper than corn oil, and I just picked up Canola oil at the grocery store the other day because it was on sale for cheaper than both vegetable and corn oil.

Flax oil would either have to be priced similarly to more common oils or have some signficant advantages to sell well, I would think.

[jennywho]

I feed flax oil to my boss' horses and to my sales horses. It runs about $25/gallon here, but I only feed 2oz per day. I'm not sure if it's what keeps their coats shiny or one of the other supplements, but they sure sparkle.

I have also worked for a couple of people that fed whole flax and never had a problem. However, when I started feeding my own horses whole flax I had two colic within a month. They say that the seeds can compact and cause an impaction. After the colic episodes I quit feeding it.

I've never heard of cracked flax, but it sounds like it would be worth looking into.

There was a recent study done on flax that showed the omega (3 or 6 I can never remember which) that is found in flax and fish oil actually has anti-inflammatory properties.

[daz]

diamondindykin said:

I feed my horses cracked flax because I have sand in my paddocks and I worry about sand colic. The flax in the cracked or whole form will work like psyllium in clearing the colon.

Thank you for this bit of information. I too have sand areas where the horses tend to eat and a horse that refuses to keep her food in her pail, thus causing me concern about colic. If cracked flax were available for a reasonable price, I would definitely have it in my barn. Does it keep well or would it need to be transferred into a storage container?

As for the oil, I agree with Schwung, it would have to be priced comparable to Canola.

Any advantages to flax meal over the cracked and/or oil?