Feeding Flashcards
what do horses eat?
- hay-grassoralfalfa
- pasture
- concentrate-pellets, sweet feed or extruded kibbles
- beet pulp, COB, soy hulls and/or cubes
- mineral and performance suplements
- biologicals, pre-biotics, pro-biotics
- water
principle of the first limiting nutrient
- Justus von Liebig’s Law of the Minimums states that yield is proportional to the amount of most limiting nutrient
- performance and health of horse reduced to level of most limited nutrient
6 essential nutrients
- protein
- carbs, including sugars starches, and cellulose
- fat
- macro minerals/trace minerals
- vitamins, fat or water soluble
- water
who determines how much to feed?
NRC or national research council
- they determine nutrient requirements through mathematical calculations
- requirements are based on size, age, and metabolic state of the horse, and the body weight of the individual
do you need complicated ration balancing to feed horses
- horses are fed weights of feed, not percentages or volumes
- it is not always necessary to fine tune the rations so long as you know the feed weights and animal’s intake
body weight calculation
- scales are not always easily accessible
- weight tape are easier to get and quite accurate
- calculation in inches: distance from point of shoulder to point of rump * heartgirthsquared/300+50 is weight in pounds
- can also use google for more options
other factors to consider for adjusting feed weight
- lactating or pregnant horses have greater metabolic need and thus more nutrients
- more nutrients needed if undergoing heavy training or moderate work loads
- also young horses with heavy training need more feed
How does environment affect nutritional needs
- horses that are housed have lower energy requirements than those out all the time
- blanketing can reduce energy requirements in cold weather
common factors for successful feeding for horses
- forage quality and access
- frequency of feeding
- other health issues like teeth, parasites
- social order and environment without fear
- access to water
- housing and climate
- age
Winter Management liabilities
- over/under estimating intake and digestibility
- under estimating impact of weather
- under estimating water access and intake
forage quality and horses during winter
-being non-ruminants forage quality must be high especially during winter to ensure proper nutrient absorption
horses and importance of hay
- most have forage as 80% of dry matter intake daily
- non-ruminants so digestion of hay is more difficult, high quality is a must
forage sampling hay
- sample must represent what’s being given
- core sample taken from middle of hay
- sampling should be random, and enough to cover the entire feed, ie. 20 samples per ‘lot’
wet chemistry
- chemicals in a lab are used to analyse the sample for its component nutrients
- drawbacks: time consuming and expensive
- adv: accurate for trace minerals
NIRS
near infrared relectance spectroscopy
- reliable method
- uses infrared light and computer calibrations with math modeling rather than chemicals to identify and predict amount of nutrients
- very accurate, fast, clean, and environmentally friendly