Factors Affecting the Rate and Measurement of Feed Intake for a Cereal-Based Meal in Horses.

This research article explores the factors that influence the rate of intake (ROI) for cereal-based meals in horses. The study demonstrated that the addition of chaff slows the intake and that other factors like exercise level, age, and gender have no significant impact on ROI.

Study Overview

• The research was conducted in four separate studies, each focusing on different variables that might influence the rate at which horses consume high-cereal, low-roughage meals.
• These meals have been known to cause gastrointestinal and behavioral issues in horses if ingested too swiftly.
• The studies explored the influence of factors like the length and amount of chaff addition, meal size, molasses addition, breed, body weight, exercise, and gender.

Study 1: Chaff Length and Addition Rate

• The first study focused on the effect of chaff length and the rate of its addition to oats.
• Results showed that oats’ ROI decreases as more chaff is added to the diet. This decrease was specifically significant at levels above a 15% chaff addition and reached a plateau around 50%.
• The decrease in ROI was independent of chaff’s stalk length, whether it was measured at 1.4 cm or 4.1 cm.

Study 2: Meal Size and Molasses Addition

• In the second study, the research looked at the impacts of meal size and the addition of molasses on the ROI.
• The findings exhibited that either reducing the meal size from 0.5 to 4 g/kg body weight or the addition of 10% molasses didn’t affect the ROI of a cereal-based meal.

Study 3: ROI Over Time

• The third study was designed to understand how ROI changes over time during a meal.
• The results demonstrated that ROI changes significantly across the duration of a meal, starting from an average rate of 74 g/minute for the initial 5 minutes, and decreasing to 15.8 g/minute after 30 minutes of feeding.

Study 4: Breed, Body Weight, Exercise and Gender

• The final study conducted explored the effects of breed, body weight, exercise, and gender on the ROI in horses.
• The results showed that in Clydesdales breed, body weight affected ROI and these horses had a faster ROI than Thoroughbreds of similar body weight.
• However, factors like exercise levels, age, and gender did not have a statistically significant impact on ROI.

Research Implications

• The conclusions from these studies suggest that adding chaff to a horse’s diet can effectively slow their ROI, thus potentially decreasing the risk of related gastrointestinal and behavioral disorders.
• The research also highlights the need for a standardized protocol to accurately measure and compare ROI across different studies and settings.