Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Digestibility
Digestibility in horses refers to the process by which horses break down and absorb nutrients from their feed. It involves the mechanical and chemical breakdown of feed components in the digestive tract, enabling nutrient absorption into the bloodstream. Digestibility is influenced by various factors, including feed type, processing methods, and individual horse health. Commonly examined components include fiber, protein, starch, and fat, each requiring specific digestive processes. Research in this area often focuses on optimizing feed formulations and understanding the digestive efficiency of different feedstuffs. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanisms of digestion, factors affecting digestibility, and implications for equine nutrition and health.
The Effect of Diet Composition on the Digestibility and Fecal Excretion of Phosphorus in Horses: A Potential Risk of P Leaching? The main horse phosphorus excretion pathway is through the dung. Phosphorus originating from animal dung and manure has harmful environmental effects on waters. The number of horses has increased in many countries, and several studies have pointed that leaching of P from horse paddocks and pastures are hotspots for high P leaching losses. The hypothesis was that feeding regimes might influence phosphorus digestibility and excretion in feces, and therefore the environmental impact of horse husbandry. A digestibility experiment was conducted with six horses fed six forage-based diets to study ph...
Digestibility of diets containing calcium salts of fatty acids or soybean oil in horses. Calcium salts of fatty acids (CSFAs) frequently are fed to ruminants, but their fate in the equine digestive system is unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare Enertia s/f, a proprietary CSFAs, and soybean (SB) oil with respect to impact on apparent total tract nutrient digestion and cecal fermentation parameters in horses. Eight cecally cannulated Quarter Horses were used in a crossover design in which horses consumed a diet for 32 d consisting of 1.5% body weight (BW) (as-fed) smooth bromegrass hay and 0.5% BW (as-fed) pelleted concentrate containing 4.9% CSFAs or 4.1% SB oil. Fecal...
Comparison of three systems for predicting the digestible energy value of natural grassland and lucerne hays for horses. The accuracy and precision of the National Research Council (NRC), Gesellschaft für Ernährungsphysiologie (GfE) and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) systems for predicting the digestible energy (DE) value of hays were determined from the results of 15 digestibility trials with natural grassland hays and 9 digestibility trials with lucerne hays that all met strict experimental and a tight corpus of methods. The hays were harvested in the temperate zone. They covered broad ranges of chemical composition and DE value. The INRA system was more accurate than the other two syst...
Assessment of the application for renewal of authorisation of Yea-Sacc® (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) for horses. Yea-Sacc is an additive based on a live preparation of a strain of intended for use as a zootechnical additive (digestibility enhancer). The current assessment is performed in the context of the renewal of the authorisation of the feed additive; however, the applicant proposed also to lower (6.5 × 10 colony forming unit (CFU)/kg of complete feedingstuff) the minimum dose of the additive when used in feed for horses. The additive is produced in a powder (Yea-Sacc) and in a prills (Yea-Sacc_TS) forms. The Panel considered that the additive currently on the market complies with the existing ...
Digestibility and Retention Time of Coastal Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) Hay by Horses. Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and other warm-season grasses are known for their increased fiber concentrations and reduced digestibility relative to cool-season grasses and legumes. This study investigated the digestive characteristics and passage kinetics of three maturities of Coastal bermudagrass hay. A 5 × 5 Latin square design experiment was used to compare the digestion of five hays: alfalfa (Medicago sativa, ALF), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata, ORCH), and Coastal bermudagrass harvested at 4 (CB 4), 6 (CB 6), and 8 weeks of regrowth (CB 8). Horses were fed cobalt-ethylenediaminetet...
Omeprazole Reduces Calcium Digestibility in Thoroughbred Horses. Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole reduce nutrient digestibility in humans. This study determined the effect of omeprazole on the digestibility of diets containing limestone or marine-derived calcium (BMC) and to assess changes in blood parameters associated with gastric acid production and calcium status in horses. Thoroughbreds were used to evaluate the digestibility of diets containing different calcium sources with or without omeprazole over four 21-day periods. Each 21-day period had a 15-day diet adaptation phase followed by a 6-day collection phase, consisting of a 5-day total fe...
Phosphorus excretion by mares post-lactation. Across the equine literature, estimates of true P digestibility range from -23% to 79%. This large range cannot be explained by differences in P intake or phytate-P intake alone. However, differences in endogenous P secretion into the GI tract may explain the variation. In horses, excess absorbed P is not excreted in the urine but is re-secreted into the GI tract, increasing faecal P and leading to estimates of low P digestibility. Thus, accurate estimates of P digestibility can only be obtained if absorbed P is retained in the horse. The objective of this study was to examine P digestibility ...
Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a probiotic feed additive to non and pseudo-ruminant feeding: a review. The production of livestock and poultry faces major challenges to meet the global demand for meat and dairy products and eggs due to a steady increase in the world's population and the ban of antibiotics in animal production. This ban has forced animal nutritionists to seek for natural alternatives to antibiotics. In this context, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has received considerable attention in the last decade. It has been reported that feed supplementation with live yeast cells improve feed efficiency, enhance feed digestibility, increase animal performance, reduce the number of path...
Influence of diet fortification on body composition and apparent digestion in mature horses consuming a low-quality forage. Stock-type mares (498 ± 9 kg BW; 12 ± 7 yr) were used in a completely randomized design for 56 d to test the hypothesis that concentrate fortification improves apparent digestion and enhances lean mass over the topline. Horses were stratified by age, BW, and BCS and randomly assigned to either a custom pelleted concentrate (CON; = 13), or an iso-caloric, iso-nitrogenous pellet that included amino acid fortification, complexed trace minerals, and fermentation metabolites (FORT; = 10). Concentrate was offered at a total 0.75% BW/d (as-fed) twice daily, and diets were designed to meet or exce...
Nutrient content changes from steaming or soaking timothy-alfalfa hay: effects on feed preferences and acute glycemic response in Standardbred racehorses1. Soaking hay and steaming hay are strategies that are used to reduce respirable dust particles for horses but may result in variable nutrient losses, including nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) and minerals. Since these losses have not been quantified in Canadian hay yet, the first aim of this study was to identify nutrient losses from first-cut timothy-alfalfa hay grown in southern Ontario, Canada, after soaking for 30 min or steaming for 60 min. It is uncertain whether horses prefer hay when it is dry, soaked, or steamed. To address this, 13 Standardbred racehorses were offered 2 of these hay...
Apparent Digestibility of Nutrients, Blood Parameters and Body Development of Dewormed and Not Dewormed Weanlings. Weanlings undergo rapid body development in the first year of life and, in this period, are more susceptible to helminth infection that can impair their growth. The objective of this study was to compare the apparent digestibility of nutrients, blood parameters, and body development of deworming and not deworming weanlings. Fourteen Mangalarga Marchador weanling colts, on a farm in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, were divided into two groups: dewormed (D) and not dewormed (ND) groups. The weanlings were kept separately for 3 months in two pastures of Cynodon nlemfuensis cv. African Star Grass....
Isolation and identification of cellulolytic bacteria from gastrointestinal tract of Arabian horse and investigation of their effect on the nutritional value of wheat straw. This study was conducted to isolate and identify the cellulolytic bacteria from gastrointestinal tract of Arabian horse and investigate their effect on the nutritional value of wheat straw (WS). Results: Fresh faeces were collected from four Arabian horses. The cellulose-hydrolytic bacteria were isolated by using a medium amended with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The activity of CMC was determined by measuring the release of reducing sugars from CMC. Among the isolates, four isolates (L11, L12, L2 and Z2) showed maximum hydrolysis capacity. 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that these isolat...
Nanoparticles in Equine Nutrition: Mechanism of Action and Application as Feed Additives. Several concerns exist regarding horse rearing such as environmental pollution, antibiotics resistance, digestive disorders, mycotoxins contamination of animal feed, gut health management, and improvement of feed efficiency. Nanoparticles have the potential to address these issues and thus could be used as feed additive. Citrate reduces and stabilizes gold nanoparticles, alongside biosynthesized silver nanoparticles have the potential to prolong and improve digestive enzyme activity, which would enhance starch digestibility in the stomach. Zinc oxide and selenium nanoparticles could be used to...
Effect of Cobalt Chloride on Fermentation of Alfalfa and Smooth Bromegrass Hays by Horse Cecal Microorganisms. Effects of Co on fiber digestibility in horses are largely unknown. Our objective was to evaluate effects of Co chloride on in vitro gas production, VFA production, and dry matter (DM) disappearance (IVDMD) using cecal fluid from 4 cannulated Quarter Horses. Five grams DM of alfalfa or smooth bromegrass hay were provided as substrate with Co added at 0.0, 0.5, 5.0, 25.0, or 50.0 mg/kg substrate DM. Ten milliliters cecal fluid and 140 mL McDougall's buffer were incubated in duplicate, and pH, VFA concentrations, and IVDMD were measured after 48 hours. Gas production, used as an indicator of...
In Vitro Digestibility Measurement of Feedstuffs in Donkeys Using the DaisyII Incubator. Successful studies on in vitro digestibility measurement of feedstuffs with fecal inoculum have been reported for horses, whereas data on donkeys are currently lacking. In this study, we evaluated the use of the Daisy Incubator for in vitro digestibility measurement of feedstuffs using donkey feces as source of microbial inoculum. The method was tested using seven feedstuffs commonly used in donkey diets (alfalfa, bromegrass, ryegrass, and timothy hays; wheat bran and wheat straw; barley grains). Feces were obtained from four female donkeys, and incubations were carried out at 1-week interva...
Effects of sodium caseinate on hindgut fermentation and fiber digestion in horses. Eight cecally cannulated Quarter Horses were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square experiment conducted in four 14-d periods to determine effects of sodium caseinate (casein) on hindgut fermentation and fiber digestion. During each period, horses were assigned to one of four treatments consisting of control (water; CON), 0.125 g casein/kg BW (LOW), 0.25 g casein/kg BW (MED), or 0.5 g casein/kg BW (HI). Casein was solubilized in 800 mL water and dosed directly into the cecum at 0700 and 1900 hours using a metal dosing syringe. Smooth Bromegrass hay (CP 8.50%), water, and salt were provided a...
Influence of various concentrate-to-roughage ratios on dietary intake and nutrient digestibilities of weanling horses. The objective of this study was to compare the feed intake and the apparent digestibilities of three different diets varying in concentrate-to-roughage ratios in weanling horses (n = 24) at 5 and 8 months of age. Horses were stratified by breed, gender, birth date and body weight and assigned to one of three dietary treatments containing the following concentrate-to-roughage ratios on an as-fed basis: 70:30 (High Con), 50:50 (Equal) and 30:70 (Low Con). All horses were fed their respective diets for a 10-day adaptation period and a 4-day collection period at 5 and 8 months. There were no d...
Effects of two equine digestive aid supplements on hindgut health. Gastrointestinal disease is the number one killer of horses. Little is known about the maintenance of microbes in the equine hindgut and how to distinguish a healthy gut in a live horse. Utilization of internal and external digestibility markers and starch fermentation has been extensively studied in ruminants and is the basis for research conducted on horses. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of two equine feed digestive aid supplements on hindgut health () as reflected in fecal pH and digestibility and to compare and validate DM digestibility measurements through the use...
Evaluation of titanium dioxide and chromic oxide as digestibility markers in ponies fed alfalfa hay in relation to marker dosing frequency. In equines, Cr2O3 is widely accepted as an indigestible marker, but there are health concerns regarding the carcinogenic properties of Cr2O3. Recently, TiO2 has been suggested to be an alternative digestibility marker in equines. However, a comparison between Cr2O3 and TiO2 has not been made in equines. Six Welsh pony geldings (initial BW: 254±3 kg; 7 years of age) fed chopped alfalfa hay were used to evaluate the use of TiO2 (Ti) and Cr2O3 (Cr) as markers for calculating apparent digestibility and to investigate the effect of frequency of marker administration on the measurement of digestibi...
Effect of exercise on apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients and faecal recovery of ADL and TiO2 in ponies. Exercise and physical training are known to affect gastrointestinal function and digestibility in horses and can lead to inaccurate estimates of nutrient and energy digestibility when markers are used. The effect of exercise on apparent nutrient digestibility and faecal recoveries of ADL and TiO2 was studied in six Welsh pony geldings subjected to either a low- (LI) or high-intensity (HI) exercise regime according to a cross-over design. Ponies performing LI exercise were walked once per day for 45 min in a horse walker (5 km/h) for 47 consecutive days. Ponies submitted to HI exercise were gra...
Effect of Dental Correction on Fecal Fiber Length in Horses. The aim of the study was to determine if dental correction changes fecal fiber length (FFL) in horses that had never been subjected to dental treatments. Thirty adult horses with mild to moderate dental abnormalities were selected. Dental disorders noted included sharp enamel points, focal overgrowths, shear mouth, step mouth, wave mouth, accentuated transverse ridges, and diastema. The horses were confined to individual stalls and fed Tifton hay (Cynodon spp.) 1.5% bwt/d, divided equally between two feedings. Fecal samples were taken for FFL analysis before (Day 0) and after (Day 15) dental c...
Influences of different dietary contents of macrominerals on the availability of trace elements in horses. In this study, influences of a reduced macromineral intake on the trace element metabolism in horses at maintenance were investigated. Background of this study is the revised recommendation on the macromineral supply for horses (GfE ). Balance studies on three adult pony geldings with body weights of 405 / 348 / 384 kg were performed to obtain data on apparent digestibility (aD), retention and serum concentrations of different trace elements (Cu, Zn, Se) at different dietary macromineral levels. A mineral supplement or a complementary feed-with a reduced macromineral content-was added to a ha...
Comparative selective retention of particle size classes in the gastrointestinal tract of ponies and goats. There is a discrepancy in the literature on potential digesta separation mechanisms in horses, with both a selective retention of fine and of large particles postulated in different publications. To assess the net effect of such mechanisms, we fed ponies on a hay-only diet a pulse dose of whole (unchopped) marked hay together with a solute marker, collected faeces on a regular basis, measured marker concentrations in whole faeces and in their large (2.0-16 mm), medium (0.5-1.0 mm) and small (0.063-0.25 mm) particle fraction, and calculated the corresponding mean retention times (MRTs). For ...
Feed intake patterns of sport ponies and warmblood horses following iso-energetic intake of pelleted fibre-rich mixed feed, muesli feed and semicrushed oat grains. The aim of the study was to compare diverse feed intake patterns in sport ponies and warmblood-type horses after feeding iso-energetic amounts of three different concentrates: a pelleted fibre-rich mixed feed (PF), a muesli feed (MF) and semicrushed oat grains (OG). Four sport ponies and six warmblood-type horses received the concentrates and meadow hay according to maintenance (0.52 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) kg body weight (BW) /day). Both breeds were allocated at random to three groups and received once daily for 8 days either OG (1 g starch/kg BW/meal) or iso-energetic quantities of ...
Evaluation of methodological aspects of digestibility measurements in ponies fed different haylage to concentrate ratios. Methodological aspects of digestibility measurements were studied in four Welsh pony geldings consuming haylage-based diets with increasing proportions of a pelleted concentrate according to a 4×4 Latin square design experiment. Ponies were fed four experimental, iso-energetic (net energy (NE) basis) diets (i.e. 22 MJ NE/day) with increasing proportions of a pelleted concentrate (C) in relation to haylage (H). The absolute amounts of diet dry matter fed per day were 4.48 kg of H (100H), 3.36 and 0.73 kg of H and C (75H25C), 2.24 and 1.45 kg of H and C (50H50C) and 1.12 and 2.17 kg of H and C ...
Comparative fibre-degrading capacity in foals at immediate and late post-weaning periods. Total tract apparent digestibility of dietary fibrous components and parameters of the faecal digestive ecosystem were compared at immediate and late post-weaning periods using five foals. The foals were abruptly weaned (day 0) from their mares at 6 months of age. Immediately (day 0 to day 14) and later (day 131 to day 194) after weaning, foals received the same basal diet consisting of hay and pellets. Pellets were fed at 0.36% BW. Hay was offered ad libitum and corresponded to 120% of the average voluntary hay intake measured individually during the immediate (days 1 to 4) and late (days 180...
Effects of Different Oral Doses of Sodium Chloride on the Basal Acid-Base and Mineral Status of Exercising Horses Fed Low Amounts of Hay. The provision of NaCl, according to current recommendations, to horses in moderate work has been shown to induce immediate postprandial acidosis. The present study aimed to clarify whether this NaCl induced acidosis i) persists beyond the immediate postprandial period, and ii) is still present after a 2 week adaptation period. Six adult warmblood mares in moderate work received daily 1.00 kg hay per 100 kg body weight (bwt) only together with 0.64 kg unprocessed cereal grains/100 kg bwt.d as fed basis. Using a 3x3 Latin Square, either 0 (NaCl-0), 50 (NaCl-50) or 100 (NaCl-100) g NaCl/d were fe...
Allergenicity of milk of different animal species in relation to human milk. Protein content in cow milk (with over 20 proteins, and peptides may also occur as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis) ranges from 2.5% to 4.2% and is about 1.5-2 times higher than in human milk. Its most important allergens are considered to be β-lactoglobulin (absent in human milk) and αs1-casein. The most similar in composition to human milk is horse and donkey milk. It contains considerably more whey proteins (35-50%) than cow milk (about 20%), and the concentration of the most allergenic casein fraction αs1 is 1.5-2.5 g/l. In comparison, the content of αs1-casein in cow milk is about 10...
Review: Feeding conserved forage to horses: recent advances and recommendations. The horse is a non-ruminant herbivore adapted to eating plant-fibre or forage-based diets. Some horses are stabled for most or the majority of the day with limited or no access to fresh pasture and are fed preserved forage typically as hay or haylage and sometimes silage. This raises questions with respect to the quality and suitability of these preserved forages (considering production, nutritional content, digestibility as well as hygiene) and required quantities. Especially for performance horses, forage is often replaced with energy dense feedstuffs which can result in a reduction in the p...
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and domestic horse (Equus caballus) hindgut microflora demonstrate similar fermentation responses to grape seed extract supplementation in vitro. The domestic horse is used as a nutritional model for rhinoceros maintained under human care. The validity of this model for browsing rhinoceros has been questioned due to high prevalence of iron overload disorder (IOD) in captive black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), which is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Iron chelators, such as tannins, are under investigation as dietary supplements to ameliorate or prevent IOD in prone species. Polyphenolic compounds variably affect microbial fermentation, so the first objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of grape seed ext...
