Equine Rationing Flashcards
What is dry matter?
quantity of feed when moisture is removed
what is ‘as fed’?
quantity of feed including the moisture
What are nutrient requirements?
- Ration evaluations are there to compare nutrient intake with requirement.
- In the UK we use the National Research Council (NRC) nutrient recommendations.
- Other associations include INRA (France), German Feeding Standards (GEH) and the Japanese feeding Standards.
What nutrients are required?
- Forages alone will very rarely meet mineral requirements.
* Minerals are vulnerable to interactions.
What are the shortfalls of the NRC?
•NRC values represent the minimumrequirements for most nutrients.
•There is no allowance for a safety margin.
–Disease, nutrient bio-availability, parasites, biological variations, stress, nutrient inter-relationships can all increase a horse’s nutrient requirements.
How much should a horse be fed?
•Horse must be fed enough Chemical Energy for maintenance plus work or pregnancy/lactation
•Energy delivered using:
–MegaJoulesof Digestible Energy (MJDE) in the UK
–USA MegaCals(MCal) –Also NRC (2007) Requirements
•To convert Megacalsto megajoules multiply MegaCalsby 4.183
•e.g. 16.4 (Mcal) x 4.183 = 68.6 (MJoules)
How are feeds formulated?
- Feeds are formulated to complement average forage
- Work to the requirements set by the NRC
- Different ingredients are chosen for different types of energy, requirements etc.
What factors affect feeding?
- health
- Reproductive status
- age
- Temperament
- workload or energy requirements
- weight and condition
- current diet and management
- Seasonal changes
Why is it important to assess workload?
Energy and calories are the same thing! Digestible Energy (DE MJ/kg)-a guide to the level of energy/calories the feed is likely to give. Low energy/calorie = 7.5-10 MJ/kg Medium energy/calorie = 10-12 MJ/kg High energy/calorie = >12 MJ/kg As workload increases so do requirements THEREFORE It is important to choose a feed appropriate for that workload
people over estimate what type of work horses are in
Why should we assess weight and conditioning?
not over or under feeding
How can we check the body weight of a horse?
weigh tape
weigh bridge
calculation
How should we feed an over weight horse?
feeding eg; pony nuts by the handful is pointless as need full scoops to have a balanced diet
should feed a low cal balancer instead
How should we feed an underweight horse?
feeding increasing meal sizes- go through quickly and can’t absorb it all
feed small and often or feed higher concentrated feed
How should you feed a lazy horse?
check if the diet is balanced
How much should you feed a horse with too much energy?
•Check not over-feeding.
–Remember calories & energy are the same.
–Need to source calories from non-heating sources.
•Avoid traditional cereals e.g. oats, barley, wheat and maize.
•Cubes vs Mix
•Use high fibre and fat diets for calories if needed.
•Feed balancers if weight gain not required.
How should you feed a lazy horse?
check if the diet is balanced
lazy due to fitness
How can an unbalanced diet effect health?
- laminitus
- liver
- tying up
- poor dentition
- cushings
- HYPP
- EMS
- Allergies
- RAO
- Choke
- Gastric ulcers
- DODs
- Colic
Why does reproductive status effect feeding?
different stages require different quantities of feed Pregnancy From conceptionto term 1.5-2 LateLactation 4-6 months of lactation 2-3 EarlyLactation 1-3 months of lactation 2.5-3.5 Weanling 4-6 months 2.25-2.75 Weanling 6-12 months 2.75-3.25 Yearling 12-18 months 2.25-2.75 Long Yearling 18-24 months 2-2.5 2 year old At rest 1.75-2.25
How does age effect feeding?
OLD •Main changes in the older horse? -less workload -less teeth •When to start feeding a senior feed? –No set age where requirements change –Changes such as weight loss or loss of muscle condition may prompt a change
YOUNG
•Highest requirements for growth during the first 12 months
–Higher quality protein and mineral requirement
–Growth monitoring chart
•Developmental Orthopaedic Disease (DOD’s)
–Usually combination of factors involved: trauma, genetics, nutrition
(High energy diet +
Inadequate supply of minerals=
Developmental problems)
•When to start feeding an adult feed?
What seasonal changes do we have to consider?
–Forage –Management/routine –Body condition/weight –Exercise –Temperament/behaviour
How do we quantify forage intake?
•Need to work in DMin order to quantify nutrient content
•Hay
•Haylage
–Moisture content 40-60%
–Assume 50% DM
–If I needed 60MJDE from a haylagewith a DE of 10MJ/kg
–60/10 = 6kg DM
–BUT my haylageis 50%DM= 3kg of this haylageis water!
–So 6/(50/100) =12kg ‘as fed’
What is pasture intake?
•Essential to have an idea HOWEVER almost impossible to gauge
–Lots of variables
•Studies report DM intakes ranging from 1.5-5.2% BW
•Using a mean of ~3% BW a 500kg horse would consume 15kg DM in a 24 hour period on good grass
–Just over 0.6kg DM/hour as a VERY rough guide
•1 very heaped Stubbs scoop of fresh grass
–= ~0.5kg fresh weight
–Taking the moisture content into account = 0.075-0.1kg DM500kg horse ~0.6kg DM/hour = 6-9 scoops/hr!
How do you calculate an estimation of grass intake?
(No. hours/24) (intake%/100) x BW= Amount of grass DM
e.g. for a 500kg horse out for 12 hours
No. of hours: 12/24 = 0.5
Intake: 3% of bodyweight on good quality grazing (use 2 for average and 1 for poor)
BW = 500
0.5(3/100) x 500= 7.5kg DM of grass
What are the seasonal changes of grazing?
- Dry matter values vary depending on rainfall, temperature and other environmental factors
- Fibre, protein and soluble CHO values also range depending on the maturity and species of the grass
