Lupins

[ElleS]

Hi Guys,

I have been told Lupins are very good to feed. Just wanting some advice on this and if anyone has had any experience in feeding it and how much you need to give them?

Also I was wondering what is a good oil to put in feed for fattening and coat shine?

Thanks

[Jester]

I have read that canola oil is ok for horses, supposedly it has the right ratio of omega 6 & omega 3, however that information is only from my own internet research ... so I don't know how reputable my sources are. :D With any oil, I did read that you need to introduce it slowly/gradually as it takes a week or so for the horses metabolism to adjust to the oil in the diet, especially if you are wanting to use it as a weight builder.

As for lupins. I was feeding them last year to my horse. I had no problems with them - like oats, the cracked lupins are easiest to feed. I was told that they are less fatty than oats and don't have quite as much "fizz" in them as oats do, but I don't know how true that is. Not to sure of what quantities you feed them in, I always assumed that you would feed the same amount of lupins as you would oats.

If you're looking for a good fatty, energetic but non-heating feed - micronised barley might be an option?

[Linda]

I had never even considered lupins till I moved to WA. We had a silo full so I thought why not. Best thing ever, soaked overnight, I fed them to my mare who was a show horse and they were brilliant. I just gave a scoop, not sure how much you should feed but that worked for me. She always looked really good from them and they are very cost effective

[Marisa]

Yep lupins are a great feed. I used to feed whole soaked ones all the time when I was in WA. They seem to be a fair bit harder to come across in QLD though. They are quite high in protein, are great for topline and don't have the fizziness of oats, although like any feed it comes down to trial and error on a particular horse. I tried them on my TB last year and he wouldn't eat them which was a shame. I think some horses don't like the taste too much.

I used to feed a 2L scoop dry and pop them in a bucket of water during the day. It swells up to about 3/4 of a bucket full. I found soaking them in hot tap water to start with and allowing it to cool naturally worked better than starting them in cold water. If you forget you can also add a kettle of boiling water to them and wait for it to cool down sufficiently before you feed it.