ANSC 433 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Equine Nutrition, Cecum, Lignin
23 May 2018
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20. ANSC 433: Animal Nutrition & Metabolism 1
Equine Nutrition
Industry Profile
- In Canada, a little over a million horses
o Horse pop decrease
o Mostly used for pleasure (economic aspect)
o Atually ey high, ost people do’t thik it’s this high
- Dairy industry = 1.4 million
- Industry involves: pleasure, sport, breeding, racing and others
Livestock per Province
- Contribute $19 million to Canadian economy
- Creates a lot of jobs via on-farm activities with horses
Equine Natural Diet vs Today’s Euine Nutition Stategies
- New feeding strategies in the industry have significantly changed equine nutrition habits and diets compositions
- Horses are natural trickle feeders
- Typically spend between 12 and 16 hours a day eating
- Horse natural diet is mainly composed of grass and pasture
- Focus on dry forages and dense energy concentrates (from grain sources)
- Eat grass for a long period of time per day b/c they need it for nutrition
o 70-80% of pasture
o Rest is DM
- Forages = 80% dry matter, 20% humidity (challenge for equine nutrition) – reverse of livestock looked at so far
Equine Nutrition – Digestive System
- Equine are monogastric
o “peial oogasti = etee hua ad uiat (does a lot of feetatio ut does’t hae ue
o Have something that allows them to use fiber as energy source = cecum (where fermentation takes place and it very
efficient)
▪ One of the reasons they need to eat over very long period of time
- Digestion and absorption of most nutrients occur in the stomach and small intestine
- Microbial digestion and fermentation take place in the hindgut and cecum
- Horse have higher efficiency with more number of meals
- Digestive diagram: large cecum = highly developed to absorb
fibers as energy
- Skull diagram
o Not uiats = do’t uiate
o Digestion begins with mastication and mixing of the
food with saliva
o Bicarbonates and amylase help with digestion (start in
mouth via saliva)
- Definitions
o Esophagus = specific/special: a’t tho up = oe ay sphite at esophagus ad stoah jutio (problem since
they a’t ough o tho up to oe the food, it has to go do
o Small stomach = not a lot fits → ette to feed otiuously sie ette asoptio he stoah is’t oeloaded
▪ Problem: constant acid production = empty within 60-120 mins after meal and causes problems
o Small intestine: site of digestion of most grains and simple feedstuffs
▪ Containing proteins, fat and simple sugars
o Cecum and large intestine: fiber fermentation
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find more resources at oneclass.com
20. ANSC 433: Animal Nutrition & Metabolism 2
▪ Important microbiota
▪ Re-absorption of water
Reminder – Nutrient Groups
1. Carbohydrates
o Separate by structure and where they are
absorbed
o NSCH and SCH
2. Fats
3. Proteins
4. Water
5. Minerals
6. Vitamins
- Calories come from carbs, proteins and fats
o Proteins not good source since energy
balance is negative
Nutrients – Water Needs in Equine Nutrition
- Horses drink between 35 and 48 L of water / day
o Maintenance 5 L/100 kg wt = not a race horse
- Why hydration important = fermentation of fiber (most of their diet)
o Water for fiber absorption/digestion
- Dehydration = blocks esophagus (horses smart enough to stop eating before that)
o Loss of appetite
o Behavioural changes (mood changes)
o Higher risk of nutritional related diseases
- Validate hydration frequently (i.e. every day)
o Check if drinks and how much it drinks using measure buckets
o Skin folds (capillary return) – thin skin = neck; mouth = push on gums (colour should return quickly)
o Water in feces (should have fair amount of water, dry feces = indicator of dehydration)
Feedstuffs
- Can meet most of their nutrient requirements with hay
- Selenium not contained in feeds (start with this when making a ration)
Hay
- Can meet requirements for: calories (energy supply) and proteins (but not always)
- Cannot meet vitamins, minerals and water requirements
- Represents the major ingredient in horse diet: at least 50% diet is hay = need long fiber
o Normally composes between 70 and 90% of the complete ration
o If not = problems in digestion and nutrition (acid production)
- Sources:
o First cut and second cut hay are normally used in equine nutrition
▪ First: normally more fibrous, grows for longer
▪ Second: contains more proteins and less fibre
o Plants and vegetal sources:
▪ Timothy (grass)
▪ Alfalfa and clovers (legume)
• Allergic to Alsike clovers (react and become photosensitive)
▪ Brome grass, orchard grass and fescue
- Pectin and gum are superfibre (less digestible)
o More digestible, helps with passage = lignin
- NDF = cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin; ADF = lignin, cellulose
- Example 1
o DE = 2.03 is high (good)
o Problem? Protein is high, Ca:P ratio is 1:1 = not good !!!
- Example 2
o Typical ADF and NDF
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20. ANSC 433: Animal Nutrition & Metabolism 3
o Lignin should be lower than 5
o 3:1 Ca:P is good
o Low protein (should be 8 or higher for Hay)
Supplements and Complete Feed
- Vitamins and minerals, proteins and additional energy requirements
- Horse normally receive a complete supplement to meet their vitamins, minerals and proteins requirements
o Compose a small portion of their complete ration (normally between 2 and 5%)
o Sources: processes feed (grains or fibers) and specific ingredients (powders)
o Roles: meet essentials Vit/Min requirements for horses
▪ Selenium (0.1 – 0.5 mg/kg rations)
▪ Proteins and EAA (8 – 12%)
▪ Cobalt (0.04 – 0.07 mg/kg rations)
▪ Vitamin D (300 – 500 UI/kg BW)
- Phosphorous
- Start with selenium for balancing since not present in forages, regulations for use
o Deficient and toxicity is small in selenium
Complete Feed
- Sometime, hay and supplements are not enough to meet all horses nutritional requirements
o Reproduction mares, growing foal, performance horses, race horses, etc.
o In this case, we use a complete feed containing high energy and some vitamins and minerals
o As you increase the amount of complete feed used, you reduce the amount of supplement used in the ration because
complete feeds contain come vitamins, minerals and proteins
- Sources of nutrients:
o Processes feed containing ingredients fibre, carbohydrates, proteins and fat
▪ Beet pulp, soya hulls, rice brands, etc.
▪ Oat, wheat, barley, corn, etc.
▪ Essential amino acids (lysine, methionine, etc) (powders)
▪ Vegetable oil
- More concentrated in terms of nutrient
Top Dress
- Sometime, hay, supplements and complete feed are not enough to meet all horses nutritional requirements (energy or specific
needs)
o High performance horse (race, eventing), horse with health problem history, etc.
o In this case, we use Top Dress containing specific ingredients and nutrients to increase ration performances
o Can be used to alter behaviour, supplemented specific nutrients (proteins or fats) or for a health issue
- Sources of nutrients
o Specific ingredients: Vitamin B complexes, prebiotics (yeast), selenium, flaxseeds (processed or not), essential oil
(camellia oils)
- Source of fat and flaxseed to put on weight
Body Condition Score in Equine
- Assessment of body fat deposit and global condition
o Horses mostly deposit fat subcutaneously
o Helps to determine the energy requirement in the ration
- General condition of the horse
- On a scale from 1 to 9 with 0.5 increments
- Horse should always be between 5 and 6
- Easy to assess fat (enough or need more) since deposits subcutaneously
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
In canada, a little over a million horses: horse pop decrease, mostly used for pleasure (economic aspect, a(cid:272)tually (cid:448)e(cid:396)y high, (cid:373)ost people do(cid:374)"t thi(cid:374)k it"s this high. Industry involves: pleasure, sport, breeding, racing and others. Creates a lot of jobs via on-farm activities with horses. Equine natural diet vs today"s e(cid:395)uine nut(cid:396)ition st(cid:396)ategies. New feeding strategies in the industry have significantly changed equine nutrition habits and diets compositions. Typically spend between 12 and 16 hours a day eating. Horse natural diet is mainly composed of grass and pasture. Focus on dry forages and dense energy concentrates (from grain sources) Eat grass for a long period of time per day b/c they need it for nutrition. Forages = 80% dry matter, 20% humidity (challenge for equine nutrition) reverse of livestock looked at so far. Digestion and absorption of most nutrients occur in the stomach and small intestine. Microbial digestion and fermentation take place in the hindgut and cecum.
