Is Chia Good For Your Cattle?

Although there has been no detailed studies to date we are aware of, we have fed chia to our two Charolais heifers since purchasing them in November 2009 when they weighed about 500 lbs each and were approximately 6 months of age. The most striking observation is increased hair coat. Photos of the coat which were taken in August in Arizona, not the coolest of climate at that time of year, can be seen here. Their temperament has been remarkably calm as well, and could be due to the omega3 in the chia.

The two heifers were bred to an Angus bull in late December 2010, and calved in October 2011 within 30 hours of each other. Photos of the offspring can be seen here.

There were no problems with the delivery of either calf, or in the calves themselves have been noted, with both having somewhat heavier and more of a curly coat that would be considered normal.

How much chia should I feed to meet ALA requirements?

Chia contains on average 18 g of ALA per 100 g of seed, or 0.18 g ALA per g of seed. The problem is NO ALA requirement has been established for cattle so a specific recommendation cannot be made.

As chia has been classified as a food by the FDA for humans, and is listed as a feed ingredient in the Official Publication of the Association of American Feed Control Officials Incorporated official publication, there should be no concerns about feeding any reasonable amount