buckwheat Groats

Question
What is the nutritional value of adding this to his grane diet?
Is it harmful? I have a bag from Russia & would like to include it in what I already give my 4 yr. old mustang.
Thank you.

Answer
Hi Carmela,

Thank you for your question.  There would be some nutritional value in feeding buckwheat groats to your horse...although not tremendous.  Groats (from oats, buckwheat or other cereal grains) are the seed coats and screenings (left overs) from grain processing.  They are fed primarily as a source of fermentable fiber in the diet (fiber with decent levels of cellulose and hemi-cellulose that the hindgut can convert to energy in a safe manner), as well as a limited amount of protein and non-structural carbohydrate.

The one down fall to feeding this type of product is the risk of mycotoxin contamination...higher than in the cereal grain itself.  Mycotoxins are the by-product of fungus development usually occurring on the plant while it is growing in the field.  The fungus generally likes to grow on or around the grain of the plant...leaving its byproduct stuck to the seed coat or hull.  The only way to test the levels of mycotoxin that may be in this byproduct is to have a sample tested in the lab...it's not something you can necessarily see with the naked eye.

You can feed it if your horse needs a little more energy in the diet than it's forages can provide.  Otherwise (and without knowing with any amount of certainty whether or not it is contaminated) I would suggest you don't.  The other option is to feed it along with a mycotoxin binder like sodium bentonite (200g/day) or a yeast based binder(10g/day).

Sorry that's not a cut and dry answer, but it does provide you with some options.

Thanks, Corlena