The Positive Impact of Increasing Feeding Frequency on Feed Intake, Nutrient Digestibility, and Blood Metabolites of Turkmen Horses.

The research article explores the effect of different feeding frequencies on nutrient digestibility and blood metabolite levels in Turkmen horses.

Objective

This study aimed to ascertain the impacts of varying feeding frequency rates on the digestibility of nutrients and blood metabolite concentrations in Turkmen horses.

Methodology

• The study utilized 16 Turkmen horses, each weighing approximately 430 ± 46 kg and aged 7 ± 1.8 years.
• The horses were subjected to four different feeding frequencies for a period of 28 days: two meals (M2), four meals (M4), six meals (M6), and eight meals (M8) per day.
• The diet of the horses, whose hay to concentrate ratio was 70:30, included acid insoluble ash as an internal marker for determining the digestibility of nutrients.
• Blood samples were collected on 13 different occasions on the 27th day of the study.

Results

• The study showed that the intake of food by horses remained unaffected by the change in feeding frequencies.
• However, nutrient digestibility was significantly higher in the M8 treatment group than in the other groups.
• Further, the study found that nutrient digestibility increased with an increase in the frequency of feeding from M2 to M8.
• There was no significant impact on serum cholesterol concentrations with an increase in feeding frequency.
• On the other hand, diurnal concentrations of total protein, glucose, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein in blood showed a notable increase in the M2 treatment group.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study suggests that the higher the feeding frequency, the better the nutrient digestibility and blood metabolite levels, particularly for the M8 treatment group. However, the study also found no statistically significant differences between the M4 and M6 treatment groups regarding digestion coefficients and serum metabolite levels.