Introduction to automatic forage stations and measurement of forage intake rate in an active open barn for horses.

The research paper is about the process of transitioning horses to automatic forage feeding stations in open barns and measuring their forage intake rates. It focuses on the training period, the differences between individual horses in terms of intake, and the number of measurements required for determining an average ration.

Training Horses for Automatic Feeding Stations

• The study investigated the transition of 22 horses to a transponder-controlled automatic forage feeding station.
• The horses were observed during the learning process to ascertain the duration required for the horses to acclimate to the automatic feed.
• After four days, 48% of the horses were observed to have achieved the goal of 90% intake. After 8 days, 71% of the horses had met the goal; and by the end of 16 days, the percentage of goal-reaching horses had risen to 95%.
• Thus, the study showed that horses could quickly learn how to use an automatic forage station, with two-thirds of them achieving this milestone within 7 days.

Forage Intake Measurement

• The forage intake rate of individual horses was measured, revealing notable differences between individual horses.
• The overall mean intake ± SD, calculated based on 314 observations, was 22.4 ± 6.7 min/kg forage DM.
• The evaluation on the number of intake measurements needed to establish a representative average ration in the automatic station determined that the variation levelled off at four samples.
• Therefore, for accurately determining the ration in a transponder-controlled automatic forage station, each horse’s forage intake rate must be measured at least four times to obtain a representative average.

Conclusion

• The increases in the use of open barns and automatic feeding stations on Swedish horse farms were highlighted, driven by changes in legal requirements and the desire to meet the behavioral and nutritional needs of horses.
• The findings have significance for the management of horse diets in open barns using automatic forage stations, providing insights into the horses’ adaptation period and the measurement of their forage intake.