Equine Nutrition I Flashcards
what is a challenge in equine nutrition
separate feeding of forage and grain; we typically feed horses separate forage and concentrate
horses type of digestive system
non-ruminant herbivore
type of digestion in horses foregut
enzymatic digestion (stomach and small intestine)
horses hindgut digestion
fermentative digestion; large intestine
what is the main cause of Gas/colic in horses
overloading hindgut with too much soluble CHO.
what are the required nutrients
energy protein vitamins minerals water
energy
from CHO, Fats, Protein, VFA
protein
specific amino acids for growth, reproduction, lactation
what is crude proteins?
percent nitrogen
fat soluble vitamins
KADE
water soluble viatmins
B vitamins
Major minerals
Ca and P, NaCl
Trace minerals
required in lessor amounts, still very important
water
the most important nutrient
components of a horse diet include
forage and concentrates
forage includes
pasture, hay, etc
concentrates include
energy (oats, corn, barley)
protein (SBM, CSM)
additives (minerals, vitamins)
supplements
water intake is determined by what
dry matter intake
in balanced rations we must consider what?
nutrient requirements and nutrient to calorie ratios
_______ is the foundation of the equine diet
forage
why is forage important
provides daily nutrient requirments
maintains integrity of GI tract
minimizes vices
how much forage should a horse be eating
minimum 0/75% BW/day
Recommend 1% BW/day
mature horses can consume 2-3% BW/day
by 12 months of age a horse is ___% of weight. height, bone growth
60% mature weight
90% mature height
95% bone growth
what are the factors affecting growth
genetics and environment (nutrition an dmanagement)
genetics propensity for
rapid early growth
nutrition determines
rate of growth and quality of growth
managment includes
type of exercise; no exercise
developmental orthopedic disease include
angular limb deformity, OCD, physitis
what are the causes of developmental orthopedic disease
genetics, nutrition, exercise, growth spurts
what is OCD
osteochondritis dissecans; refer to bone diseases of young horses in which cartilage fails to mature properly.
physitis
inflammation of the growth plates in the long bones of growing foals
in the last 3 months of pregnancy, there is ____% of minaral retention and skeletal development by the unborn foal
65%
feeding mares a balanced feed with adequate mineral decreases severity of
developmental orthopedic disease in foals
what do you feed mares?
free-choice 12/12 mineral
when does milk production in mares start to decline
at 3 months after foaling
foals are normally weaned when?
at 4-5 months; not gettting adequate nutrients from the mother’s milk anymore
what is bone composed of
protien, calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals
bone density increases by ____ from 15 days to 135 days of age
52%
skeletal maturation or pead bone mass is probably not reached until
4-6 years of age
what will increase bone density
exercise conditioning with higher mineral intake
higher incidences of DOD may be caused by
lack of, or improper exercises as well as nutritional imbalances
what has more effect on growth rate than any other nutrient
protein intake
protein _____ more important than protien ______
quality; quantity
what proteins are high quality protiens
SBM, Milk proteins, fish meal
what are lower in lysine
CSM, PM, LM, SFM
______ may also be low
secondary limiting AA
Nutrient to calorie ratio expressed in
units/Mcal
what are included in nutrient to calorie ratios
protein, lysine, calcium, phosphorus, trace minerals
based on nutrients, you can change the way horses grow by either
growing less skeleton and more fat or more skeleton and less fat (balanced diet had increased skeleton and less fat)
how much does it cost to feed a horse?
800-1500/year
what are some challneges in equine nutrition
size and breed differences
owners feed by volume, not weight
separate feeding of forage and grain
why use caution with Vitamin D supplementation
can be toxic at 10x the daily amount (very easy to overdose)
reduced water intake opens up possibility for
impaction colic
in mares, you want the calcium phosphorous ratio to be
1.5:1
if Ca: P imbalance, it will lead to
metabolic bone disease
iron can cause problems
zinc deficiency created by excessive iron; iron causes failur of absorption of zinc
______ mineral can be toxic at low levels
selenium
organic minerals are bound to
an amino acid, peptide, or protein; but most commonly bound to an amino acid in hopes for better absorption across gut wall
a key issue is
hay variation
grass hay is _____ protien
2 to 15%
grass hay is _____ ca; ____ P
0.4% Ca, 0.2% P
alfalfa hay is _____ protein
13-25%
alfalfa hay is ___ Ca and ____ P
1.5-2% Ca; 0.2% P
nutrient recommendations for weanling
CP 676 G lysine 29.1 g DE 15.5 Mcal Ca 38.6 g P 21.5 g
nutrient recommendations for yearling
CP 853 g lysine 36.1 g DE 22.1 Mcal CA 37.0 g P 20.6 g
feed program for weanlings
feed a 16% crude protein ration which is specifically formulated for weanlings at 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 % of body weight
weanling: good quality grass hay or grass/alfalfa mix at ____ body weight
3/4%
weanling: if feeding low quality (
1/2 to 3/4 lb
wenaling concentrate hay ratio
70:30
feed program for yearlings
feed a 14% crude protein balanced ration at a rate of 1 to 1.5% of body weight (less concentrate more hay)
yearling: feed good quality ___ or mixture of ____
grass hay or mixture of grass: alfalfa
yearling needs plenty of
free exercise
if yearling out of pasture, provide additional
free-choice loose mineral (12/12 mineral, 15-20% NaCl
what should be the basis for formulating rations for young horses
nutrient to calorie ratios
trace minerals must be in the proper relationship to
energy intake
producers should be cautious about adding ____ to balanced rations for young growing horses
fat
control growth rate by adjusting
total energy intake while maintaining nutrient to calorie ratios
carefully monitor ____ and ____
growth rates and feed intake
provide daily free
exercise
at peak lactation, a broodmare is producint ____ milk/day
30-35 lbs
broodmare protein needs incrase by
120%
broodmare energy needs increase by
70%
broodmare calcium needs incease by
180%
broodmare phosphorus needs increase by
160%
body condition score is an indication of
degree of fat cover and % body fat
body fat storage important to
fuel physiological functions
BCS in horses range
1 to 9
review BCS
x
Effects of BCS on reproductive performance in mares
increasing body condition throughout the breeding season took 2.8 cycles to get mares to foal;
what is recommended foaling BCS
6 (the mare will decrease in BCS during lactation)
benefits of maintaining proper BCS
cycle earlier fewer cycles per conception higher pregnancy rate maintain pregnancy more easily no benefit to BCS >77
suggested concentrate for 1100 lb broodmare in lactation
?
amount of supplemental feed required for gestating and lactating mares
?
_______% of 2 year olds get injured
50-80
____ of catastrophic injuries are musculoskeletal
80%
lameness accounts for ____ of lost days in training
70%
many injuries result from
poor quality bone and/or preexisting micro injuries
these are often caused by errors in
training and/or imbalanced feeding programs
bone is weakest at ____ days of training
50-60
when bone remodels,
we pull Ca and Ph out of bone and then put it back
buck shin
damage to periosteum in front part of cannon bone caused by micro fx; prevalent in young racehorses
waiting until ____ before introducing significant speed work you can practically eliminate buck shins in race horses
110-120 days
work requires
energy
stored energy sources include
CP ATP Glucose in the blood,muscle glycogen in muscle glycogen in liver FFA in blood fats in adipose tissue
one of the keys to improving performance is
muscle glycogen storage
glucose chains
animal starch
stored level of glycogen has direct effect on
amount of work which can be done
storage can be improved by
exercise and diet
muscle glycogen content changes during 2 wk of training
36-48 hours complete repletion of muscle glycogen once its been depleted; can significantly increase muscle glycogen with exercise; horse begins to adapt and system begins to store more muscle glycogen
will see significant increase in muscle glycogen storage after
28 days wehn conditioning at a gallop
muscle glycogen in SB horses
horses fed high CHO diet still had as muc muscle glycogen as horse on standard diet but without exercise
horses fed CHO diet had longer time until
fatigued
what affects muscle glycogen?
exercise and diet
exercise
as little as 30 days of galloping 2 1/4 miles per day increases muscle glycogen
diet
feeding a low starch, high fiber, high fat diet decreases glycogen
feeding high starch following a depletion will increse glycogen levels
feeding high fat diets with high CHO diets will increase muscle glycogen
1 lb of fat = ____ CHO
2.25 times the energy value as 1 lb of CHO
.44 lb fat =
1 lb CHO
what are the benefits of high fat diets
improves hair coat
improves athletic performance due to increased muscle glycogen storage due to glycogen sparing
allows longer work periods
decreases heat of fermentation; lowering thermal load
allows the feedin gof high energy diets without CHO overload
less pounds of concentrate required which decreases the weight of ingesta
daily feeding recommendations to meet energy needs
blah
feeding of horses
is OUTSOURCED dumbies done know nothing
some of the problems
feed crews arrive late, leave early not following instructins no guidance fail to communicate hay quality suspect feed trough numbers, size and location abrupt changes in feeding systems
teach feed crews to
report problems and look at all horses when feeding
increased risk of colic with
abnormal feeding icidents accidental overfeeding irregualr feeding times moldy feed or hay restricted water combined effects change in type of hay change in housing change in activity
hay factors related to colic include
hay quality (poor quality, low digestibility) change in batch or type of hay
feeding hay on ground predisposes horses to
enteroliths
sand colic
cross-contamination
(30% colic in US)
corn is ___ fiber
2%; 1600 kcal energy
10% fiber; 1200 kcal energy
alf. pellets
24% fiber; 1000 kcal energy
all may weigh the same but not the same!
x
high fiber, fat supplemented low CHO feed cannot support
hard work; wont provide for glycogen sparing;
beet pulp based diets
wont provide the CHO substrate needed
sweet feed
textured
pellet
various size and densities
extruded
looks like dog food
single grains
unbalanced
rate of intake
pellets consumed quicker
sweet feed in the middle
exruded feeds consumed much more slowly
make all ration changes ____
gradually
follow good management practices
routine deworming vaccinations, tooth care daily exercise feed 2x per day if concentrate exceeds 1/2% BW feed individually keep containers clean keep manure picked up inspect horses daily
selecting formulated feeds need to consider
age, use of horse forage program form (textured vs pellets) availability of concentrate read label and feed directions NO SUPPLEMENT
select high quality concentrate from
a reliable company
