Description
The flour industry also produces popular by-products used in horse rations. Wheat bran, which is the part of the wheat that remains when the flour is removed from the grain, has been used by horse owners for many years to add bulk and fiber to a grain mix. Wheat bran mashes have been thought to help prevent impaction colic, although the research indicates the added water may have been providing much of the benefit.
Wheat middlings (midds) are also a by-product of flour milling. Wheat midds are the bran and the germ of the grain, the healthy parts that people are trying to get back into their diets by eating more whole grains. Since the starchy flour has been removed, midds are lower in calories and starch, but higher in fiber and protein than the original wheat grain. In many ways, this makes them a more valuable feed ingredient than the wheat grain. Both wheat midds and wheat bran are high in phosphorus and low in calcium, so they must be blended with other ingredients and balanced with adequate calcium to provide a proper calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in the finished ration.
