Transcript Equine Stuff - Tomball FFA

Equine Nutrition
Digestive Anatomy & Function
• Small Intestine: Major site of digestion &
absorption of many nutrients
– Parasite control is necessary because it
reduces feed utilization & causes colic
• Large Intestine: (cecum & colon) has large
population of microorganisms (bacteria &
protozoa) that ferment the fiber in plant
materials
–Fiber digestion is dependent on the
efficiency of microbial fermentation
–Horses don’t digest low-quality
forages (cellulose) as well as cattle,
so they need immature, high quality
hay or pasture
–To a degree, the cecum & colon
serve the same purpose as the
rumen in a cow
Horse’s Needs For Feed:
• Need the following ingredients:
– Carbohydrates
– Fats
– Protein
– Minerals
– Vitamins
– Water
• Major sources of energy & protein: grains
& roughages
•
Horses receive their daily ration in 2
parts:
1. Roughage (hay or pasture)
2. Concentrates ( protein supplement, minerals
& vitamins, bran, molasses, dehydrated
alfalfa)
• Digestible Energy: portion of the gross
energy in a feed that is not excreted in the
feces
• Metabolizable Energy: energy in the feed
that is useful to the animal for growth,
production, & reproduction
– Not lost in feces, urine, & gas
• Net Energy: energy fraction of the feed that is
left after the fecal, urinary, gas & heat losses
are subtracted from the gross energy
– More precisely measures the real value or
feed
• Total Digestible Nutrients: (TDN) term that
indicates the energy density of a feed stuff
– Takes account the amount of fat, protein, &
carbohydrates in the feed
• Energy is needed for:
– Maintenance
– Reproduction
– Gestation
– Lactation
– Growth
– Work
– Old Ages
– Stalling
• Overfeeding= Excess fat & can cause
stress
• Protein: Composed of amino acids used
by the horse to build the proteins in its
body
– Greatest growth when fed protein high lysine
• Crude Protein: Total amount of protein in
feed
• Digestible Protein: More accurate estimate
of how much protein the animal is actually
able to use
• Protein Deficiency:
– Foals- smaller, less
healthy
– Older horses- hair
coat & hoof wall may
be affected & tissue
wasting my color
Minerals:
• Macro:
1.Calcium
2.Phosphorus
3.Potassium
4.Sodium
5.Chlorine
6.Magnesium
7.Sulpher
• Micro:
1. Copper
2. Iodine
3. Iron
4. Selenium
5. Cobalt
6. Manganese
7. Fluorine
8. Zinc
• Calcium:
– Involved in homeostasis (functions that
maintain life- blood clotting & muscle
contracting)
– Makes up 30% of the horses bone
structure
*Def: leads to rickets in foals
• Phosphorus:
– Makes up 14-17% of the horse’s skeleton
– Required for many energy-transfer reactions
& the synthesis of some lipids & proteins
• Potassium:
– Maintains the acid-base balance & osmotic
pressure inside the cells
– Examples: forages & oilseed meals= 1-2%
corn, oats, wheat= .3-.4%
*Def: causes loss of appetite & weight loss
• Sodium:
– Maintains the acid-base balance outside the
cells & regulates the osmosis of the body
fluids
– Involved in nerve & muscle function
– Salt is usually added to feed
*Def: decreased elasticity of the skin, tendency
to lick sweat covered things, decreased
appetite, decreased water intake
*Acute Def: stop eating, uncoordinated muscle
contractions, impaired chewing, & unsteady
gate
• Chloride:
– Normally accompanies sodium as NaCl or
Salt
– Involved in acid-base balance & osmotic
regulation
– Essential component of bile, hydrochloric
acid, & gastric secretions
• Iodine:
– Essential for the production of the thyroid
hormones
– Regulate basal metabolism
– Supplemented as iodized salt
*Iodine Def: pregnant horses may lead to still
born or weak baby
-baby may have an enlargement on the front
side of neck (thyroid)
*Iodine Excess: leads to baldness, foals born
w/iodine induced goiter, mares milk will
contain too much iodine
• Iron:
– 60% of the iron is in the red blood cells
– 20% is in the muscle
*Def: anemia
*Excess: can kill young animals
-don’t give supplemental iron by mouth
• Selenium:
– Essential for detoxification of certain
peroxides that are toxic to cell membranes
– Closely connected w/ Vitamin E
*Def: causes white muscle disease, weakness,
difficulty in sucking & swallowing, troubled
breathing, & heart dysfunction
*Excess: causes blind staggers
-can be ingested from toxic plants
-chronic selenium toxicity results in hair loss
about the mane & tail & clacking of the
hooves
• Vitamin A:
– Important for good vision
*Def: causes night blindness, excessive tearing,
thickening of the horn layer of the skin & the
cornea, lack of appetite, poor growth,
respiratory infection, abscess under the
tongue, convulsive seizures, & progressive
weakness
*Excess: over long period of time= fragile or
thick bones, flaking skin tumors, hair & skin
loss, depression, lie down on their sides
• Vitamin D:
– Exposure to ultraviolet light
*Def: loss of appetite & slower growth
*Excess: calcification of blood vessels, the
heart, & other soft tissues, & to bone
abnormalities
-toxic eating of plant: day jasmine
• Vitamin E:
– Works w/selenium as a part of
multicomponent antioxidant defense system
– Reduced by moisture, mold, & grinding of the
feedstuff during processing
*Def: degenerating skeletal & cardiac muscles
-swelling of tongue
•
Vitamin K:
–
•
Role in blood clotting
Water-Soluble Vitamins:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Panthothenic acid
Biotin
Folacin
Ascorbic acid ( Vit C)
Choline
Vitamin B12