Balancing Digestible Energy (DE) in the Equine Diet

The horse’s Body Condition Score (BCS) always trumps what our daily “Digestible Energy” requirement suggests. Horses are unique individuals that have different calorie requirements & we need to feed as such:

Example: an “above ideal” BCS horse should not be given added calories, even if their calculation suggests that they require more calories. Conversely, if a performance type horse is considered “below ideal” BCS we need to add additional calories to the diet, regardless of the calculation results.

 Daily Digestible Energy (DE) Requirements of the average 1,100 lb horse:

Maintenance Type Horse                          16,500 kcal/day        

Gestation- Final Trimester                        21,000 kcal/day     

Moderate Work                                           23,000 kcal/day        

Lactation- 1^st month                                  32,000 kcal/day

Heavy Work                                                  27,000 kcal/day     

Yearling-2 year old                                     19,000 kcal/day

     Example- Balancing forage DE in the diet:

                  1,100- Moderate Work level Horse =                  23,000 kcal/day

                  The average “Grass Hay” contains = 909 kcal/lb

                  1.5-2% of Body Weight in forage =                       16.5-22 lbs of hay/day

**This horse will require 25.3 lbs of this hay, per day to meet its caloric requirements without the addition of a grain or supplement. This amount exceeds the horses’ daily recommended amount of forage & no consideration for protein and/or vitamins & minerals has been given. In this example it is necessary to supplement the horse’s diet with a grain/concentrate to meet the daily caloric requirements.

We also must remember that caloric recommendations are just that- recommendations. These give us a baseline to work from, but each horse is an individual & we need to feed them according to what their body condition is suggesting they need. Your local equine veterinarian or equine nutritionist can help you determine your horse’s current Body Condition Score (BCS) and what would be considered ideal for their age, breed & working class.

Balancing Vitamin & Minerals in the Equine Diet

Horses fed strictly forage diets (hay or pasture) are almost always found to be deficient in their recommended vitamins & minerals. Most forages exhibit peaks & valleys in their vitamin & mineral content leaving the horse with the same peaks & valleys in their TOTAL diet. These “valleys” or deficiencies will typically manifest themselves in poor-hair quality, poor hoof quality or a general lack of condition in the horse. These might be good indications that your horse has a vitamin/mineral deficiency or imbalance within their diet, but deficiencies can often go visually unnoticed for months or even years.

Over time, deficiencies left unaddressed can contribute or cause your horse to be more susceptible to serious diseases, health conditions and/or decreased longevity.

It is important to remember that horses require a concentrate or supplement in addition to their hay to ensure the diet is balanced. The challenge lies in finding the right product fit whether it be SafeChoice (a concentrate); providing additional calories and the necessary vitamins and minerals, OR Empower Balance (supplement/balancer); which provides minimal calories but all the necessary vitamins and minerals, balancing the diet of the “easy keeper” or strictly forage diet. Concentrates & supplements should be fed at no less than the minimum recommended feeding rate based on your horse’s age and activity level to ensure that they are receiving the proper nutrients.  

Lastly, all horses should have free-choice access to clean water and salt.

** Want to learn more about what’s in your hay and how to balance your horse’s diet? Come to the Northwest Horse Expo March 22-25^th  at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany Oregon and visit the Nutrena booth! We’ll have hay testing with instant results and customized recommendations based on those results. For more info, including how to take a hay sample, go to www.nutrenaworld.com/hay.

Written by Tiffany Towne at Cargill

Tips & Tricks to Wintering your backyard Flock.

 

·         Make sure your birds are on a good quality commercial laying ration such as Naturewise® Layer Crumbles or Pellets as the majority of the diet.

·         Increase scratch grains for a little extra energy and warmth, but don’t feed more than 10-15% scratch in the total ration per day (about as much as they’ll clean up in 15 minutes). Feeding too much scratch will dilute your total protein content as well as vitamins and minerals.

·         If you are looking for a way to feed scratch that will last for at least a few days, try a scratch block. Birds can peck at the block to get their grains and 1 block will last for an extended length of time depending on your flock size.

·         Provide a draft free shelter for birds to roost and get in out of the cold (especially important to be able to get out of the wind and precipitation).

·         Check and treat for parasites (lice, mites, etc) in the fall so birds aren’t facing those challenges as they go through the winter.

·         Keep waterers full and fresh – utilizing a heated pet water dish is ideal to keep water from freezing. Birds that are drinking and eating as they should will be healthier and do better through the winter months.

·         If your birds are going through molt:

o    Make sure to provide plenty of nutritious feed, such as Naturwise® Layer Crumble or Pellets.

o    Feathers are mainly protein, so you can supplement extra protein in their diet during molt with sunflower seeds, peas, or cooked eggs.

o    Be extra careful not to over feed scratch to molting birds. It can prolong the molting period.

Do you want to keep your birds laying through the winter months?
Keep body condition up by providing a free choice laying ration, such as Naturewise® Layer Pellets or Crumbles, and give oyster shell free choice to supplement calcium. Always provide plenty of clean, fresh water.
The main tip for keeping birds laying during the winter months is light - Days become shorter beginning June 22 and begin to lengthen again on December 22. In our area the amount of daylight goes from almost 16 hours of light at the beginning of summer to just over 8 hours at the beginning of winter. This can cause hens to molt and to cease egg production. To avoid this lapse you may want to consider using artificial lighting through the winter months.

·         To keep hens laying, light must be present 12 hours per day or more, and a 14- to 16-hour day is the norm.
·         Light needs to be just bright enough to read by, and the type of bulb does not matter.
·         If a lighting program is started don’t let it get interrupted, because even a 1-day lapse can affect laying.
·         Using an inexpensive timer switch can be very helpful to keep lighting consistent and will help keep you in eggs year round!
Find all products mentioned above - from feed and oyster shell to coops, waterers and medications - at your local friendly Coastal Farm & Ranch!