Manna Pro Flax;
Chia does not need to be groud. Of course, I never ground my flax seed either, but I do think they are able to absorb more of the nutrients from chia.
I have one horse on chia, the other on flax. I switched from flax to chia in the hopes that it would help her FWS. It didn’t, but I left her on it anyway. It’s not too expensive. I get it from Equine Chia. It’s her only fat source and let me tell you that if that’s the reason for her shiny coat, it’s working! She only gets 1/4 cup a day, and the one on flax gets 1 cup a day (in addition to 8 lbs Triple Crown Senior Gold) and she’s shiny, but nearly as shiny as the one on chia!
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I’m not a huge fan of buying feed at TSC either, but some of them still have the Triple Crown flax in stock. It has a two-year shelf life unopened and since the bags are clearly dated on the side at least you do know how old it is.
My mare gets 8 oz a day with her soaked alfalfa and balancer. I can’t really afford the Manna Pro or SmartPak flax options at that feeding rate. So when I run out of the TC Naturals I’ll probably end up switching to the Dumor Ultrashine, which is the TSC version of Omega Horseshine at about the same price point as TC flax.
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How much do you feed? I’m looking at adding chia to my geldings diet; he tends to get fecal water syndrome when the weather changes late summer/early fall. I’ve been reading chia can be helpful with it.
I feed 1/4 of a cup twice a day but currently have had trouble getting my regular supply
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To share the best event of my week- I found a bag of TC flax at tractor supply! SO EXCITED! That store didn’t used to stock this product, so it was unexpected
I was tempted to ask what they had in the back, but that bag will last me several months & I wanted other "me"s to have a chance. But wanted to share so those of you looking- keep your eyes peeled, you never know where they will turn up!
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I also was just able to order the TC flax from TSC too! Hopefully availability will be better!
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I have to say I am very sad that I have to buy triple crown golden flax at tractor supply, which really makes me laugh because I am a retailer, but according to my distributor, OH Kruse, they have had real issues with Purina delivering all of the TC products to them because Tractor supply gets the first allocations, combined with the supply chain issues I have actually gone to many of OH Kruse in house products because they are more reliable on their delivery time table, however the one product they dont seem to have a similar product is the Golden ground flax, just fyi it is still on their website and it looks like it might be getting a new bag. but for now I have to go to tractor supply and buy it.
Both my regular feed store and my local TSC continue to have the TC ground/sliced flax in stock. The price has gone up some.
I was at a feed store (not Tractor Supply) a couple of weekends ago and they had 12 bags of it in stock.
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You guys had me scared there was going to be a major flax shortage so I went and ordered a bag of Omega Horseshine even though I still have half a bag of flax left because I didn’t want to run out…and it’s got a long shelf life as long as I can keep the garage moths out of it…so, yeah, I’m well stocked!
But it looks like there is not that much of a problem after all?
Where in the PNW are you? I buy the large buckets (8 lbs I think) of stabilized ground flax at my local feed store and if they don’t have it, they’ll order it for me. It’s about $33.00 and lasts a few months.
I’m in the Puget Sound area and buy my flax at Wilco. The Triple Crown golden flax, last time I checked, was $49 for a 25 lb bag. The store I went to that had lots of it in stock a couple of weeks ago was Coastal Farm and Ranch out in Sequim.
I get mine at the co-op supply, which is kind of like Wilco on a smaller scale. I’ve never looked for it at Coastal.
My TSC didn’t have the Triple Crown Golden Flax when I was in there the other day so I don’t know if they were just out as they sometimes are, or if it will actually be hard to get now. But since I ordered Omega Horseshine and still have an open bag of Triple Crown flax, I am probably set until late fall now. 
Yay for backups! I did notice when I was in there the other day, the price had gone up. I paid $39 for that bag I got 1/29; they had another bag in the store but it was now $49. Maybe they read this thread…
I currently feed the Manna Pro Simply Flax. I was considering changing to the TC Naturals Golden Flax when I next needed flax because it was a better value. So, needing to purchase more flax this past weekend, I went into Tractor Supply with that intention.
The Triple Crown product had increased in price from 29.99 to 46.99 for the 25-lb. bag since the last time I bought flax. The 8-lb. tub of Simply Flax was on sale for $28.99, so I scooped up all three buckets on the shelf (hoarding, yes, I admit; but my mare is a seasonal headshaker and the regimen of supplements I’m using works for her, and I’m not about to risk running out of one of the puzzle pieces).
Anyway, the TC product was available in my local TSC, but its price had increased astronomically.
A suggestion for people feeding a lot of oils or fats. Do the calculations on also feeding Vitamin E as PUFAs speed up the depletion of Vitamin E in horses, leading to muscle fatigue or even neurological disorders in severe cases. You need a lot of Vitamin E to safely feed a high fat diet and many things like feeding mostly hay or some preservative hay treatments deplete Vitamin E in the diet.
I have been looking at young horses to buy last year and this year and was very concerned at the diets some of them were on: too much fat, no pasture or limited pasture and often treated hay. And that is the few breeders who could answer questions about the diet knowledgeably.
This is a review for you to read.
camelina is a popular fat source here - most feed the oil but I have fed the whole seed with good results (neighbour was growing it that year). Have not had good results with hemp - about 3/4 of my horses refused to eat it.
