EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION / AE / SEPTEMBER 2018


489


TABLE 1: Suggested minimum quantity and a recommended daily target intake of forage that should be fed even to animals in hard work


250 kg pony Minimum 1.25 kg DM/100 kg bwt (1.25%) 250 kg pony Target 2 kg DM/kg bwt (2%) 500 kg horse Minimum


1.25 kg DM/100 kg bwt (1.25%)


Dry matter intake per day (kg) 3.1 Forage type Hay


Haylage (dry) Haylage (wet)


5.0


Typical dry matter


90 70 50


3.5 4.5 6.3


being fed to (taking into account the rest of the ration, health of the animal etc.); analysis is, however, required for a reliable value. Where haylage is fed (increasingly, for example, in Europe), it is not uncommon for owners to underfeed haylage (and therefore structural fibre) especially when replacing on a weight to weight basis for hay. Underfeeding also typically occurs when there are concerns with potential weight gain or behavioural issues due to its actual higher feed (energetic) value compared with hay. In these circumstances, if increasing the amount of haylage is not practical, even with a reduction in any other energy providing feed, then feeding hay with lower energy provision is advised. Guidance on forage intake is relatively straightforward for


horses that are stabled or have limited access to pasture, but once access to grazing is considered the picture is much more complicated and only rough estimates can be made (Harris and Geor 2014). Grass intake of ponies can approach 5% bwt (as DM) when they have 24 h/day access, with up to 1% bwt consumed within 3 h of turnout (Longland et al. 2011a, Longland et al. 2015). Grass intake by horses, however, is generally reported as being lower (although this can vary according to the individual) at ~2–2.5% bwt/day on a DM basis (Cuddeford 2013; Chavez et al. 2014). Intake from pasture can perhaps be ignored in horses if only minimal turnout time is provided (i.e. ≤1 h/day) given the likely increase in energy expenditure associated with this activity. Otherwise, for normal body conditioned healthy adult horses, as a starting point, the authors would always offer in addition to a horse that has access to grazing, a proportion of the daily forage allowance recommended for a full time stabled horse (as below: adapted to individual circumstances and taking into consideration the herbage yield and quality). It is important that horses are as far as possible offered forage to satisfy appetite so that they do not spend large periods of time without forage. • 24 h stable - 100% daily forage allowance • 4–8 h pasture - 50–75% daily forage allowance • 8–12 h pasture - 25–50% daily forage allowance • 24 h pasture - 0–25% daily forage allowance


An adequate intake of forage can be difficult to achieve in some horses in hard work, especially when under physiological


6.3 10.0 Indicated amount on an as fed basis per day (kg)


5.6 7.1


10.0


6.9 8.9


12.5


11.1 14.3 20.0


stress. In this situation, offering multiple forms of forage may be beneficial to increase voluntary intake e.g. hay, haylage, alfalfa hay or chaff, dehydrated grass chaff (Goodwin et al. 2007). Whilst the addition of chopped/short fibre i.e. chaff (e.g. alfalfa, dried grass and/or straw) can be beneficial to slow down the rate of eating (Ellis et al. 2005; Harris et al. 2005a,b; Cuddeford 2013) and to stimulate saliva production, in C.D.’s experience in fussy feeders the removal of chaff from the complementary feed may improve voluntary food intake. The chaff can still be offered in a separate bucket as part of the forage ration. The sudden introduction of a new batch of forage is a difficult but necessary factor to manage with an ‘in patient’ situation in a veterinary hospital due to a change in forage type or batch being a significant risk factor for colic (Hillyer et al. 2002) potentially due to effects on microflora and the pH as well as DM of hindgut content (Muhonen et al. 2008, 2009). The authors recommend that especially when changing type or maturity of the forage ideally adaptation should be made over an extended period of at least 7–10 days. For the more extreme changes at least 2 weeks and possibly more than 3 weeks adaptation period may be required (Muhonen et al. 2008). In terms of the quantity of forage it is always better to aim for the highest forage intake possible taking into account individual circumstances. Table 1 provides guidance on both the minimum daily level of forage, which should always be offered even to high performance horses, as well as a recommended target level of forage intake.


Complementary feeds


Complementary feeds (i.e. feeds fed in addition to forage) are available in various forms and the traditional view that they are always high in energy and rich in cereals is no longer valid. Complementary feeds currently deliver energy from a variety of sources ranging from high starch containing cereals and cereal byproducts to highly digestible fibre sources e.g. soya husk/hull and sugar beet. Many complementary feeds are supplemented with vegetable fat/oil from a variety of sources including integral oil/fat from cereals and pulses (e.g. oats, linseed, soya, rice bran) and free oil extracted from oil seeds. There is a wide range in the energy density of such feeds, but typically they range between 8–14 MJ/kg DE. The vitamin and


© 2016 EVJ Ltd 500 kg horse Target


2 kg DM/kg bwt (2%)


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84