Oat protein

Susan F. Evans (suendavid@worldnet.att.net)
Thu, 05 Dec 1996 07:41:32 -0800

Dave Postles wrote:
>
> Susan,
> Would you please tell us more about this specific protein which only ocurs in
> oats? This may explain why some horse/ponies do better on barley than oats in
> the UK.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Suella Postles
>
> <snip>
> >However, there is a specific protein that is found
> > only in oats that some horses are allergic to. It can cause the hives
> > you mention, also puffiness and filling, changes in behavior, etc.

Suella and everyone else,

My notes don't list the specifics of the allergy-causing protein (of
course), and Dr. Bray is off on sabbatical doing lion nutrition at the
San Diego Zoo---he can't get THEM to eat corn oil, either <g>. However,
I have to climb around in the library databanks next week and will see
if I can find out the specifics. However, I tend to prefer to feed
barley over oats even aside from the possibility of allergies because
barley has a slightly better "balance" of the micronutrients than oats
do, although that's not a real big deal. Mostly I feed it because
it's 11% higher in energy than oats with the same protein content.
Susan