Fiber digestion and voluntary intake in horses after adaptation to extensive large-colon resection.

The research investigates how horses adjust their feed absorption and consumption after extensive large-colon resection, focusing on three forage diets: alfalfa pellets, alfalfa hay, and grass hay. The study found that alfalfa hay was the most suitable diet for these horses, who also showed a notable increase in voluntary intake.

Overview of the Research Study

In this research study, the researchers performed three digestion trials on two groups of horses, 6 to 12 months after they underwent either a sham operation or a large-colon resection. These trials tested three forage diets, namely alfalfa pellets, alfalfa hay, and grass hay.

Detailed Digestion Analyses

• Following the digestion trials, the researchers performed a series of analyses on feed intake and fecal output. These analyses primarily aimed to determine digestion rates of dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein.
• The researchers also assessed the true digestion of multiple substances, such as total plant cell wall, hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin.
• Additionally, they evaluated various fecal and metabolic factors, including fecal water percentage, total fecal water, metabolic organic matter, metabolic crude protein, and metabolic nitrogen.

Digestion Post Large-Colon Resection

• The results showed that horses with large-colon resection had decreased digestion of plant cell wall, owing to decreases in the digestion of cellulose in both the alfalfa pellet and grass hay diets, but not in the alfalfa hay diet.
• These horses also experienced significant weight loss, indicating that the grass hay diet didn’t provide sufficient energy or protein.
• Further, these horses demonstrated an increase in voluntary intake, which suggests that horses’ feed intake levels may increase after colon resection.

Conclusions

• The researchers concluded that, of the diets studied, alfalfa hay was the most suitable diet for horses that underwent extensive large-colon resection, compared to alfalfa pellets or grass hay diets.
• Further studies are needed to substantiate these findings and to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the long-term effects of large-colon resection on horse health and diet.