Archive for uknhcp.myfastforum.org Natural hoof care resource forums for all those interested in barefoot horses
 


       uknhcp.myfastforum.org Forum Index -> UKNHCP Barefoot Community
poghag

Big seaweed questions

I know I'm asking a lot of questions right now, but if I'm overhauling Pog's feed I really want to try to get it right this time.  I still have too many seaweed questions before I will happily go down that route.  This post on the Magnesium in Top Spec thread I thought was particularly interesting, but didn't get picked up on.  I hope it's OK, Maggie345, to bring this up on a separate thread as a relevant point.

maggie345 wrote:
Here is one:
http://www.crossgatesfarm.co.uk/seaweed.xhtml
Don't know about how reliable it is. I had them fax me the analysis for the seaweed I'm using (I think it's probably repackaged Charwood Mills), and it contains over 800ppm iodine.
I don't know what everybody is basing their information on. I took Dr.
Kellon's NRCPlus class (can highly recommend it). Based on that information, my horse requires about 4mg/day of iodine, and toxic/harmful levels start somewhere around 50mg/day. For my seaweed, that means that I only need to feed about 5g a day (1tsp) to cover the full requirements, and feeding the "recommended amount" on the package of 50-100g would provide my horse with several times the levels considered to be harmful according to NRC.
If I do feed seaweed at safe iodine levels, all the other ingredients in it are at such a low level that they don't make much of a difference as a balancer.
I know many people on here do feed seaweed/linseed/brewers yeast/MgO, and seem to be doing fine. I'm curious, how much seaweed do you feed? Are you worried about excess iodine? Or do you have information that would suggest that the harmful NRC levels are too conservative?


Please can anyone comment on the above points?

Thank you!
brucea

I worked out the seaweed to be containing anything between 400ug and 800ug per 1 gram - so a 100gr load of seaweed (which is quite a lot really) would deliver 4mg.

I think there is a lot of confusion out there caused by the reporting of iiodine content in ppm and in ug or mg . Also my researches have indicated a number of positive benefits of the iodine supplementaion on healthy gut flora and metabolism of fats.

I also understand that the iodine (and other trace element) content of the Ascophyllum varies with seasonal changes in the temperature and salinity of the sea water (if the salinity changes the amount of iodine absorbed by the kelp from the seawater similarly changes)

I see many benefits from feeding seawed to my guys (about 30 gr a day) and so far no problems - so I'm going to continue giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Someone please correct me if I have my numbers wrong!
QAR

Bruce I think you're a factor of 10 out.  100 g of seaweed at 400 µg/g would be:

400 x 100 = 40000 µg which is 40 mg.

So 100 g of seaweed with an iodine content of between 400 and 800 µg/g would provide between 40 and 80 mg of iodine. And your 35 g will provide between 14 and 28 mg.
brucea

You're right QAR - went wrong shifting my point between the 10-6 and the 10-3 - back to shool Bruce!  Razz

1mg = 1000ug
so using 800ug/1mg means each mg seaweed provides 0.8mg
so my average scoop of 35gr would provide 28mg iodine - so well within the toxic tollerance levels previously discussed
Rodania

Hi,
I've put this in here cos of the 'seaweed' link... seems sensible to keep it in the same place... sorry if I'm wrong...

I got some for Roma... showed it to him and offered him some... he told me in no uncertain terms that it was the food of the devil and he wasn't going to eat it...

I figured that as he is 'emotionally' sensitive to changes of any form, I'd go for it anyway, and put half a pinch in his bucket feed.... he noticed! But agreed to eat it if it wasn't 'in' the bucket... I guess it didn't smell so bad out of the small space...

Over couple of days he stopped minding the half pinch and I upped it to a pinch.... which he was happily eating....

Meanwhile... from day one, I noticed a differenc ein his stools... and as the days progressed they got wetter and wetter... I kept it up for a full week on a whole pinch... but there was no improvement in the qualitiy of the stools... so I stopped putting it in and imediatly his stools are normal again.....

I'm begining to think he doesn't need any suppliments... he won't touch his mineral lick (rockies can't remeber what it was called, but the 'general' one... brick coloured)... or a salt lick... (hymalayan mineral lick).... I tried Naf general purpose minerals... again just a pinch to begin... and he was really hyper... and again soft stool (although not as bad as with the seaweed...)

He's ok with a slurp of Linseed oil (stools soft for a coupe of days and then back to normal) and a couple of capsful of Aple Cider Vinegar (no issues at all)....

I guess he just dosesn't need anything right now?


I haven't tried the brewers yeast yet....

       uknhcp.myfastforum.org Forum Index -> UKNHCP Barefoot Community
Page 1 of 1
Create your own free forum | Buy a domain to use with your forum