Help Me Find A Flax Alternative

[wildlifer]

Tapping into the COTH hive mind bc my brain is tired these days. I had been using (& been thrilled with) TC ground golden flax for an added fat/omega topdressing for feed for my 4 y.o. OTTB. It really puts the bloom on my horses, so I’m bummed that it is currently out of production.

I was going to go back to my previous rice bran pellets, but my feed store is no longer carrying them, grrr. So now I need to figure out how to compensate when I run out of the flax soon. Horse has been gaining weight well but is just starting work (i.e. we’re only doing walk/trot right now, so energy demand is not high), so I think he will need the continued extra. He gets nice timothy hay from NY, which also helps.

Base feed is TC Complete (~7 lbs per day), to which I add soaked alfalfa pellets & the ground flax. My feed store (Southern States) has Empower (which I did feed to my Appendix years & years ago) and the ProElite Topline-whatever-its-called, those are the two top dress options I saw today. I do have a TSC too, although I don’t like buying horse feeds from them bc the bags are usually really old & often mangled, but occasionally one can get lucky. But those are the only two feed store options I have local to me.

So would one of those be an appropriate substitute for the flax (especially the omegas)? Or should I just increase the alfalfa pellets & hope for the flax to have a better year next year? I don’t want to mess with oils at all, nope nope nope.

Thank you in advance!

[Tee]

Can you get just regular flax from your feed store? I am down to one bag of the TC flax (bought two when I heard there was going to be a shortage) and that’s my plan when I run out.

[Feathered_Feet]

I agree with Tee - just ask for a good ol’ bag of whole flax. It’s cheaper than pre-ground and you can feed it whole (feed more since it doesn’t all get digested).

[Montanas_Girl]

Regular/unbranded flax may or may not be available either, depending on your local supply. The regional feed company I work for, for example, has stopped bagging flax to ensure we have enough on hand to use in our feeds.

I suggest HorseTech’s Nutra Flax: https://horsetech.com/nutraflax.

[Xanthoria]

@wildlifer

I don’t want to mess with oils at all, nope nope nope.

Well that cuts out some excellent sources of omega-3 and fat.

You’re left with Chia seeds (one of the highest omega-3 fatty acid levels, containing 63% omega-3 as a percentage of total fat.) and manufactured supplements if you cant get flax or rice bran.

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

Try hemp hulls for healthy oils to add a bloom?

Elite Equine Evolve

[wildlifer]

I know, I hear you on the oils, I really do. I just really hate the mess so very much & can’t deal with any new “chores” at this point. Maybe 6 months from now I’ll feel differently, but at present, it just seems like another thing that needs to be cleaned more often.

Where does one get either of these other things? (I’m in NC but in a rural area) And why did my dumb feed store ditch my rice bran? (I know, no one knows)

[StormyDay]

Purina Amplify? It’s essentially rice bran and flax seed. I agree that I like flax more, but this was my backup plan if I ran out of flax before they got more in stock.

[2DogsFarm]

At the advice of COTH, I’ve been feeding small amounts of BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) for several years.
About 2T, twice a day, top-dressed on grain (whole oats for horse & pony, TC Sr for mini).
All are in good weight & coats remain soft & shiny year-round - no thanks to my (lack of) grooming.
18yo TWH looked a bit ribby in late Fall, so I added a cup of TC Sr to his grain. He put on weight & has kept it through our Midwest Winter < admittedly milder than normal, until this week

[Scarlet_Gilia]

Is Renew Gold by MannaPro available in your area? It contains stabilized rice bran, coconut meal, and flaxseed.

[Scribbler]

General comments.

Flax has the best Omega 3 ratios for the cost of all the options. I’ve looked at both chia and hemp data. Whole raw flax is the best and up until this year it was crazy cheap, like $30 for a 50 lb sack, that lasted me six months. The world wide flax shortage this winter is very annoying. The feed store that delivers here quoted me $100 for a 50 lb bag last month. I said no. I’m just waiting this one out. There isn’t a really great affordable substitute.

[Texarkana]

For the sake of simplicity, if it were me, I would just feed Empower. It contains flax and rice bran and has higher omegas than the ProElite product, which is more of an amino acid booster. Empower is more likely to accomplish the same goals as the flax, maybe even more beneficial for you since I believe it has a higher calorie density per volume than straight ground flax.

Southern States usually carry Legends Rice Bran. That might be what you were referring to when you said they no longer stock it.

If you are committed to finding flax, when I couldn’t get it at my feed stores in the past, I would buy it from grocery stores and human food distributors. You always pay a bit more. I like feeding whole flax because I see better results with that than pre-ground, stablized flax and I don’t have enough hours in the day to grind it fresh.

[Equibrit]

Try this;

Ground Golden Flax | Bulkfoods.com

Golden Flax | Bulkfoods.com

[Garythesquirrel]

Interesting. I bought two bags of the Triple Crown golden flax at my feed store a couple of weeks ago. I just checked on line and they have 8 in stock and all of their other stores also have it in stock. Is this a regional problem? I’m in the Pacific NW.

I would feed whole flax if I were unable to get the milled.

[Montanas_Girl]

@Garythesquirrel

Interesting. I bought two bags of the Triple Crown golden flax at my feed store a couple of weeks ago. I just checked on line and they have 8 in stock and all of their other stores also have it in stock. Is this a regional problem? I’m in the Pacific NW.

It is national (well, more than national, as the shortage is also affecting Canada) issue. Your store may have already received their bags before Triple Crown stopped milling the product and/or the warehouse they get deliveries from may have had some product stored.

[tabula_rashah]

Smart Pak offers a ground flax that looks to be in stock (it’s called Smart & Simple Flax). Seems to be relatively inexpensive

[cbg]

Thanks to this thread I bought all six bags of TC ground flax that my feed store had left. Price has definitely increased - paid $41 a bag.

[wildlifer]

@cbg

Thanks to this thread I bought all six bags of TC ground flax that my feed store had left. Price has definitely increased - paid $41 a bag.

Ahhhh, I am so jealous! That would probably last me over a year, maybe two – you might be able to start selling portions on the street corner, LOL.

I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts! I will look into those alternate sources, I don’t know why I didn’t think to look at SmartPak’s stock, I already get a couple other things bulk shipped from them, thank you for that. I will also check out your links, Equibrit, interesting, I have never heard of that website.

@Texarkana yes, the Legends product is what I used to use before I switched to the TC flax for a better omega profile. My SS still stocks all the other Legends products, I don’t know why the rice bran went away, but their ordering practices can be really hit or miss at this particular store. I am leaning in the Empower direction, as you say, for simplicity & it did seem to do the job decently before when I used it many years ago. If I strike out at SmartPak, I think I’ll try a bag of that next time I go into town.

[Tee]

We have two feed stores that carry it, across the street from each other. One was $56/bag last I looked. I just ordered 2 bags from the other at $40/bag. Should hold me for a while, at least. And those bags are being shipped in from another store.

[cnd8]

Have you looked into Cool Calories? Its a granulated supplement that is 99% fat and the horses eat it up and it gives them a great bloom for the ones that need it. A little goes a long way, unlike other weight builder supplements.