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The level of chelated minerals in livestock feeding is typically added at 25-30% of the total mineral in a feed. If the chelated mineral enhances absorption why not use 100% of the mineral from chelates? Price becomes a factor as chelated minerals are expensive.
Chelated mineral products have been available for many years and more recently have seen increased usage in horse feeds. What is a chelated mineral? In very simple terms, a chelated mineral is a mineral such as copper, zinc,...
Choosing Hay
It can be confusing when choosing hay for horses. You will find as many opinions on horse feed as you will horse owners. There are a few important points to consider when choosing hay.
Clean Hay is the Best Hay
The variety of hay you choose should always come second to the quality of the hay. Hay has...
Feeding programs for horses should be based on quality forage. However, when Mother Nature does not cooperate as in the summer of 2002, forage supplies can be limited causing horse owners great concern.
Drought conditions reduced the hay available and with reduced supplies up goes the price. In order to meet your horse's nutrient requirements and control the feed bill, there are a number of strategies horse owners can consider using. These strategies while can help when feed supplies...
Feedstuffs contain the nutrients energy, protein, minerals and vitamins. The right combination of feedstuffs needs to be chosen to meet the nutrient requirements of your horse. Energy Energy is the main component of horse feeds, and it includes the starches, sugars, cellulose (fibre) and fat in plants. If the horse does not receive enough energy, it will lose weight, or with young horses, it will not grow. Excess energy...
Horses have long been known to be selective grazers. Horse pastures often have uneven patches of both over-grazed and under-grazed grasses. Do horses prefer different species or varieties of grass? To answer this question, a horse grazing study was conducted in Ohio. Four different grass varieties; ‘Tetraplus’ perennial ryegrass, ‘Cambia’ orchardgrass, ‘Tekapo’ orchardgrass and ‘Duo’ festulolium were evaluated. The grasses were planted in a quadrant pattern in three replications in 1/3...
In fall, as plants mature, they lose overall nutritional value, but at a slower rate than during the summer due to cooler temperatures and shorter days. During the fall season, grasses gradually accumulate nonstructural carbohydrates (NCS) aboveground, especially in the basal part (lower stems/leaf bases) of the plant. NSC accumulation is a gradual process and is usually higher in more mature forage. Quality of both legumes (i.e. alfalfa) and grasses begin to decline after a hard...
Sugars supply forages with energy required for re-growth, and are a nutritional component needed by both forages and horses. However, some horses, likes some humans, are sensitive to the sugar content of hay and pasture forages, which can lead to potential health problems. These problems include: laminitis (founder), equine metabolic syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, or forms of tying-up. In general, horses with obesity, metabolic syndrome, Cushing’s disease, and pasture-associated...
Meeting the mineral requirements of your horses is challenging. Which minerals does your horse require and how much of each is necessary? The Nutrient Requirements of Horses 5th edition, published in 1989, is used as a guideline. This publication provides information on mineral requirements that meet the minimum needs of horses at different physiological stages. While optimum levels in feeding programs may exist, these levels are not well defined for the horse. The goal in developing feeding...
Fat is a calorically dense, readily available and easily digestible source of energy for the horse. Although a combination of the more common feedstuffs used in the horse’s ration might contain 3 - 5 % fat, a horse can easily utilize up to 20% fat in its diet. Among the horses that might benefit the most from having some of their grain replaced with fat or having extra energy as fat in their diets are horses that are exercised intensively, older horses that have difficulty...
Young horses may be easier to train if they temporarily lay off the sweets, says a Montana State University study where two-year-olds wore pedometers, wrist watches and Ace bandages. A commercial mixture of corn, oats, barley and molasses -- sometimes called "sweet grain" or "sweet feed" -- gives horses the glossy coat and lively spirit that makes them attractive to prospective buyers, said Jan Bowman, an animal nutritionist at MSU. But the extra energy...
Horses are fed a variety of feeds. Diets range from 100 percent pasture forage to 100 percent completely processed mixes. Most horses are fed forage in the form of hay or pasture in combination with a grain mix. The choice of feed is influenced by the horses’ requirements, availability of pasture, availability and cost of commercially prepared feeds, feedstuffs traditionally fed, and how the horses are used and managed. Nutrients should be supplied in the amount, form, and method that safely...
Feeds are processed for many reasons, including removing portions for primary products such as flour or oil from grain. The part of the feedstuff that is not used as the primary product may be used as a by-product feed. For example, wheat middlings (mids) are a by-product of removing the flour portion from the other parts of wheat seed. By-product feeds have long been a part of commercially available horse feeds. Feed tags will list "grain and grain by-products" as ingredients of many of...
The horse is an incredible athlete, excelling at both maximal sprinting, such as racing or rodeo events, and low-intensity, long duration activities, such as a 100-mile endurance ride. Whether your horse is competing at top levels or just being used for the occasional trail ride, they must be fed adequately to ensure optimal health and performance. Exercise Increases Nutrient Needs The major nutrients needed by all horses are...
Horse owners and veterinarians are commonly requesting information regarding the use of haylage (hay-crop silage) and/or treated hay as low-dust feed alternatives for horses. The dust in hay is formed when the hay is insufficiently dried, resulting in heating and spoilage and allowing the growth of molds. Haylage is one of the alternative methods of preserving hay when weather conditions prevent the drying of hay below 14% moisture content. Unfortunately, haylage is not recommended when...
Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) have generated a great deal of interest as a feed ingredient as the ethanol industry has grown in the U.S. DDGS are defined by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as "The product obtained after the removal of ethyl alcohol by distillation from the yeast fermentation of a grain or grain mixture." DDGS can come from a number of different grains, with corn being the most common in the U.S. Industry estimates suggest that...
Forage is the basis for feeding programs for all classes of horses. Forage contains many nutrients, and the fiber provided by forage is essential for the maintenance of the horse’s gastrointestinal health. Hay and pasture are the typical forage sources for horses, but when growing or harvesting conditions limit their availability, horse owners have to consider alternative forage sources. Forage cubes are gaining popularity as an alternative to feeding long-stem hay. The...
Horse paddocks and pastures are often like golf courses. The horses over graze some areas so that they are golf-green height while defecating in others, creating roughs of ungrazed plants. Over grazing, compaction and tearing of the ground by hoofs, forms a surface where only the hardiest of plants can survive. Horse owners often do not manage horse paddocks and pastures to maximize forage output due to a lack of awareness and, often, a lack of equipment. The persistence of a productive pasture...
Horse managers need to make sure foals start off on the right hoof by ensuring they have access to needed nutrition in an environment that allows them to imitate fellow horses. A nursing foal's nutritional requirements will exceed the mare's ability to supply nutrients to the foal a few months after birth, said Dave Freeman, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service equine specialist. One useful way to meet a foal's increasing nutritional needs is through creep...
Forages, such as long-stem hay and/or pasture grasses and legumes, are the traditional cornerstones of horse rations. A good source of forage should comprise at least 50% of a horse's daily intake - 5.4-6.8 kg (12-15 lb) of dry hay for the average adult horse. Although forages are an important source of energy, protein, minerals and vitamins, they also provide fibre - a "nutrient" that horses also require. Long-stem hay and pasture grasses contain over 20% crude fibre, whereas most grain...
Horses may be as eager to get out in the sunshine as we are to break out the shorts and t-shirts, but after a winter cooped up in a stall eating hay, don't give them free reign to that scrumptious spring pasture just yet. According to Dr. Thomas Goetz, chief of equine medicine and surgery at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana, "spring grass has a very high carbohydrate content," which spells trouble for some horses that cannot adapt to the...