Is copra meal a good feed for horses?

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Author: Dr Nerida McGilchrist | PhD Equine Nutritionist and Founder of My Happy Horse

 Is copra meal a good feed for horses?!

This has to be one of the most common questions I have been asked in my career.

Copra meal is  made from the flesh of the coconut after a lot of the oil has been extracted.

As an ingredient, it tends to divide people, with some horse owners loving it and some not a fan.

What do I think of copra meal? Let’s dig into that…

If it’s high quality copra meal, regularly tested for aflatoxin (a mycotoxin that commonly contaminates copra meal) and not burnt during the drying/oil extraction process then I love the stuff.

Unique oil

It has a lovely oil content which interestingly has virtually no omega 3 or 6, so it won’t unbalance your omega ratios. It is also predominantly medium chain fatty acids which are unique and have some advantages over long chain fatty acids for digestion and metabolism.

High in phosphorus

It is high in phosphorus and lower in calcium with an unbalanced calcium to phosphorus ratio. It is not unique in this respect. All grains, legumes, oilseeds and their by-products are high in phosphorus

BUT, here is what you need to remember… no single ingredient is a perfect diet!

We combine feed ingredients for a very good reason, and that is because they each bring their own unique set of nutrients to the diet.

Copra meal, being high in phosphorus and low in calcium, is actually USEFUL. With the popular use of lucerne/alfalfa, beet pulp and in more recent times, calcified marine algae, we often end up with diets that are high in calcium.

And phosphorus is a sometimes hard to come by and relatively expensive nutrient. So when we can use naturally high phosphorus ingredients like copra meal, it helps to fill this requirement in a diet.

Balancing the calcium to phosphorus ratio

For example a lucerne/alfalfa, beet-pulp based diet is high in calcium, low in phosphorus. Add copra and it raises the phosphorus without also unnecessarily increasing calcium. And that helps you meet phosphorus requirement and balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

High in fibre

Copra meal is high in fibre and it makes for great fibre diversity. When we are in drought conditions, and my horses beautiful, species diverse pasture disappears, they all get some copra meal for additional fibre diversity… scientifically I can’t tell you what that actually does to the microbiome (though watch this space, we will have the ability to offer microbiome testing very soon!)… BUT I like having it in there because I do think the more fibre variety the better.

Rich in trace minerals

Copra also tends to be quite rich in trace minerals, particularly copper and zinc which are often in short supply in horse diets because pasture and hay tend to be low in those nutrients. While copra is not high enough to balance a diet for these minerals, it does make a useful contribution.

Useful protein

Last is protein. Protein is an interesting one.

Copra has a reputation for being a poor-quality protein. And yes, if you compare it to soybean it is poor quality.

BUT, and this is a big but, we don’t ever use copra for its protein. As in we wouldn’t recommend you use copra meal for a horse that needs extra protein in its diet because there are better options.

So what’s the BUT?!

Well, we use copra as a source of energy… and compared to OTHER energy sources like cereal grains and beet pulp, copra has BETTER quality protein…

So, it’s like an extra little bonus, when adding energy, you also get more essential amino acids than if you had used say cooked barley or beet pulp.

Which means, I like copra’s protein! As long as it is being used as a source of energy and not being used for protein as such.

I love high quality copra meal

For me, copra is a beautiful ingredient on two conditions; one, that it is high quality copra meal you are using. And two, that you feed it as a part of a balanced diet.

Want to be sure your horse’s diet is balanced, get the MyHappy.Horse app, free from your app store.

About the Author

Dr Nerida McGilchrist

Dr Nerida McGilchrist is an Australian equine nutritionist with a PhD and over two decades of experience. As the founder of Equilize Horse Nutrition, and advisor to some of the world's largest nutrition companies, she’s built an international reputation for blending science with practical solutions. Now, she’s bringing her expertise to My Happy Horse to make advanced nutrition accessible to all.