Does anyone give BOSS ?

[Julie_in_PA]

Does anyone give BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) to your mini horses ? If so - how much do YOU give ?

Just curious. BOSS is really good for them. It's a natural source of selenium, a natural dewormer, can add some weight, also enhances thier coat, among other good things. Star just LOVES it ! My goats do as well

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For my goats - they get 1/4 cup of it daily. And that's the maximum for them - if given to much it would make them fat.

Does anyone know the approx ration for a mini horse ? I just figured that it would be close to what I'm giving my goats. So for now I've been giving her a 1/4 cup a day as a treat.

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[miniaddiction]

Hi there :saludando:

We love our BOSS here, my show horses are on about 1/2 cup at the moment although I have been known to give them a little more...

: , your filly would probably be fine on that but what you are feeding her sounds great. Its fantastic stuff and when its cheap and natural it doesnt get much better than that!

Star looks very pretty.

 

[Jill]

I know a lot of people feed BOSS. The shells though really concerned me when I was going to try it on my horses years ago. What I use is ground flax seed and I've been thrilled with the results. In addition to being a great coat conditioner (shine shine shine), it enhances gold tones which is great for those buckskins and palominos

 

[wiccanz]

Hey Jill, we feed BOSS and ground flax seed to ours, they have never had a problem dealing with the husks of the BOSS, in fact, BOSS is included in some of the grain mixes that we buy anyway, so we are just topping it up a bit. :bgrin

 

[Jill]

Yes, I know it works well for a lot of people but it just wasn't worth the worry to me. I had fed Select Nu Image before starting to feed flax seed and I don't think my horses could really look any better than they do coat wise, so it's not worth the worry to me (even though it is probably unfounded).

Back in 2003, I had a yearling show filly at my former trainers and she had bad impaction colic and required surgery. The surgeon told me it was as if she had access to very coarse feed (and the hay at that barn was SO coarse). I won't ever forget what happened and how we could have easily lost her, and am really overly cautious now but can't help it.

 

[justagirl]

A natural dewormer ?? Never heard this before .... is this true ??

I personally don't feed BOSS , I have in the past but never noticed any change in their coats . I 'm like Jill , I feed flaxseed and rice bran .... errr .... should I say , the feed I buy already has it mixed in.

As busy as I am , I like to have all my ingredients in the bag , no extra steps here.

 

[Jill]

I also had not heard of it being a natural dewormer and when I read that, what I pictured was the shells "scraping" worms out of their intestines. I realize, if it really is a natural dewormer, my vision is probably cartoonish and not at all how it really works :bgrin

 

[justagirl]

Jill ~ that's also the image I had conjured up in my mind

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[Julie_in_PA]

Yes - BOSS is a natural dewormer. Ask any goat farmer (we all use it) and they'll stand behind it.

Although - it's still good to have a regular deworming routine. Even though BOSS is a natural wormer - that doesn't mean that it's Potent enough to keep your horse completely worm free. But is does HELP ALOT. :bgrin

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Julie I am sorry but I do not believe it.

All responsible goat breeders I know deworm the same as horse owners- with chemicals.

Anything else is just a cheap cop out.

Sorry!!

 

[Julie_in_PA]

Rabbit - I NEVER said that goat farmers do not use chemical wormers. If you would read my post - you would see that I said that it's still recommended to use a regular worming program (with chemical wormers), and that the BOSS helps alot but should not be the ONLY source of deworming.

I'm a goat farmer myself, and have 2,665 goat farmer friends on the forum that I'm absolutely DEDICATED to about goats. I can tell you for a fact that pretty much ALL of them use the BOSS for their goats. And I NEVER at any point said that they do not use other worming methods. Cause I can tell you they do. I do as well. I'm just trying to say that BOSS is also a natural wormer ... and that it does HELP in that area - but NO should NOT be the only thing used for taking care of worms.

Trust me - when 2,665 goat farmers will stand behind BOSS to say that it is a natural dewormer, a good source of selenium, a coat enhancer, and good for putting on weight ... you have to believe that there's some truth there.

I have all of my goats on BOSS - and it does them wonders ! I wouldn't want to be without it.

And I myself use chemical wormers to deworm my goats.

So you must have misunderstood my post - to think that I meant that goat farmer SOLELY use BOSS as a dewormer - I never said that and never meant that or intended for someone to think that's what I meant. Cause it's not.

 

[ctgponies]

I use it for the minis, the pony and the big horses. I've found it really helps their coat. Plus we've had a couple of sunflowers sprouting in the field

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[disneyhorse]

First of all...

Goats and horses can both be EFFECTIVELY dewormed with ivermectins and other chemical wormers. Please do not trust other methods for such an important health aspect. Chemical dewormers are not expensive and you can find the generic ones online for even less than commercial brands.

Also goats and horses are MUCH MUCH different digestively. Goats are ruminants and horses are single-stomach animals that cannot regurgitate. What may work for one may not work for the other.

Secondly...

BOSS can be used to enhance coats but I have found better fat sources: Ground flax seed (has great Omega 3 fatty acids), soybean meal or rice bran, and plain soybean oil. I also like Select NuImage for a coat supplement, it is pretty cheap and is basically soybean meal with some biotin supplements thrown in.

Fats and Omega 3s are what really put that bloom on a coat. Also consider a good broad-spectrum vitamin supplement, as a lack of proper vitamins may also contribute to a dull coat.

AND THEN brush that coat like crazy to add shine from the outside!

Andrea

 

[Julie_in_PA]

First of all...

Goats and horses can both be EFFECTIVELY dewormed with ivermectins and other chemical wormers. Please do not trust other methods for such an important health aspect. Chemical dewormers are not expensive and you can find the generic ones online for even less than commercial brands.

Also goats and horses are MUCH MUCH different digestively. Goats are ruminants and horses are single-stomach animals that cannot regurgitate. What may work for one may not work for the other.

Secondly...

BOSS can be used to enhance coats but I have found better fat sources: Ground flax seed (has great Omega 3 fatty acids), soybean meal or rice bran, and plain soybean oil. I also like Select NuImage for a coat supplement, it is pretty cheap and is basically soybean meal with some biotin supplements thrown in.

Fats and Omega 3s are what really put that bloom on a coat. Also consider a good broad-spectrum vitamin supplement, as a lack of proper vitamins may also contribute to a dull coat.

AND THEN brush that coat like crazy to add shine from the outside!

Andrea

Oh yes of course .... like I stated ... I would not ever rely on soley BOSS as a dewormer. I tried to stress that in my reply. For my goats OR for Star. I give the BOSS for ALL of it's benefits. But I DO also have a regular deworming program with chemical wormers (such as Ivermectin)

ANd of course .... goats and horses are different. Yes - goats are "Ruminants" I know that.

So I realize they have different needs,etc. Which is one reason why I asked in another post of mine about Star being able to eat my goat's loose mineral "Sweetlix" ... but no one seemed to have an answer

:

I do give BOSS to all of my goats and to Star as well. I would like to however also incorporate some Flax Seed into my feed routine as well.

:

:bgrin

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Sorry but you do get some people who still believe that you can deworm a horse with nicotine!!

And I honestly have never heard of BOSS even helping with worms- I still am inclined to take that with a pinch of salt, I am afraid.

I like BOSS- I do use flax as well, and I also use full fat soy meal, but any and all will work.

I'll stick to ivermectin for deworming, though

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[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Julie I am sorry but I do not believe it.

All responsible goat breeders I know deworm the same as horse owners- with chemicals.

Anything else is just a cheap cop out.

Sorry!!

That is pretty harsh

NOt a cheap cop out if it is works for some she clearly said it is a good idea to use regular de wormers.

There is a way to state YOUR OPINION WITHOUT MAKING ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH YOU WRONG-

I realize we are all passionate about different things but.. come on now...

now that said.. I am not sure why anyone would assume it is a money issue to feed BOSS compared to say rice bran, flax seed ect. They all are pretty high in fat but to be honest I find they are not all interchangeable and some seem to add weight on the horses where I dont want it.

I can feed a horse rice bran and get a very different result then feeding flax seed ground or whole compared to BOSS again maybe just my own experience but I find that one doesnt do the same or that one doesnt fit all the horses I have.

 

[chandab]

I feed all my minis BOSS, about a 1/4 cup per day seems to do pretty good with adding shine to their coats without adding weight. I had taken them off for awhile, and noticed a difference, so decided to put them back on it and they do seem to like them.

 

[MiniHunterHorseFan]

Where can one buy BOSS? And is it really good. I mean can you tell an obvious difference?

 

[chandab]

Where can one buy BOSS? And is it really good. I mean can you tell an obvious difference?

BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) can be purchased many places; feed stores, discount stores (ie: Walmart), and more. I buy my at ACE hardware. Just make sure to buy plain sunflower seeds, not the kind iwth the sprout inhibitor that some places have (so the seeds the birds drop don't sprout).

Some people have good luck with BOSS, others say it doesn't work. If you try it, give it at least a month to see if it does anything for your horses.

 

[mydaddysjag]

I feed boss. About 1/4 cup a day, but I also feed Nu-Image.

This is what my trainer put him on while she was coniditioning him, and I kept him on it when he came home because he looks good.