Equine Feedstuffs

Flashcards about equine feedstuffs

What are the components of gross feed energy?

Carbohydrates, protein, and lipids.

Besides waste heat of fermentation, what are the outputs from an equine's gross feed energy intake?

Waste fecal and gaseous energy, urinary energy, and work accomplished against the ground.

What is concentrate feed?

Mixtures of cereals, grains, minerals/vitamins used to supplement a horse's diet to meet nutrient requirements

What is complete feed?

Contains both the forage and concentrate portions of a diet that is formulated/fortified to meet an animal nutrient requirements

What is a ration balancer?

Very nutrient dense concentrate feed (high protein, high minerals, high vitamins, low calories) is low volume and is used to “balance” a high forage diet

How much forage should a horse consume daily and for what is the ration balanced?

Horses should consume between 1.5%-2.0% of their BW in forage daily and rations are balanced for forage first with ≥ 1% forage in the diet, typically 1.5%

What are the benefits of using a feeder?

Minimize hay wastage and pay attention to pecking order when feeding in a group setting.

What feeding practice carries risk when feeding horses?

Feeding cattle grains to horses.

What are key feeding practices for horses?

Maximize forage within the diet – FORAGE FIRST and feed by weight, not by volume.

What are the risks associated with lush pasture?

Fresh, lush pasture contains increased non-structural CHOs which increases risk of gas colic or colitis.

What kind of diets can cause Laminitis – founder, Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) – Cushing’s or Equine Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance?

Low structural CHO (starch and sugar) diets

What changes in feeding practices can cause Chronic colitis (lower GI tract diarrhea)?

Increasing forage, decreasing concentrates

What changes in feeding practices can cause problems with Geriatric horses – poor dental health, intake problems?

Increasing concentrates, decreasing forages

What is a sexually mature female horse called?

Mare

What is a sexually mature male horse called?

Stallion

What is a mature castrated male horse called?

Gelding

What is a young female horse called?

Filly

What is a young male horse called?

Colt

What is a horse called that easily keeps and gains weight?

Easy keepers

What is a horse called that is hard to gain and keep weight on?

Hard keepers

What is the natural eating behavior of horses?

Horses designed to be continuous grazers

When creating/balancing rations, what should we balance for first?

Forage