PSEUDORUMINANT

NUTRITION
Barrogo, Janna O.
Castelo, Merlyn
Marifosque, Lorian L.
Serrano, Xeshia Nicole I.
Tianchon Hillary T.
Horses and Digestive System
• Horses may have evolved as a continuous grazer and better
equipped to utilize small frequent meals rather than large meals
of readily fermentable concentrates. Their digestive system can
be easily overwhelmed, and develop various problems such as
excessive gas production, colic, stomach rupture, laminitis, etc.
• Feed to maintain hindgut function
• Maximize the contribution of forage - Ensure adequate fiber intake.
• More frequent, smaller meals - Regularity of feeding might be crucial.
• Reduce carbohydrate overload of the cecum - Manage the feeding
program to promote gut homeostasis.
Horse Digestive System
• Mouth
• Prehensive agents include teeth, upper lips, and tongue, but the
sensitive, mobile lips during feeding from a manger.
• During the grazing, the lips are drawn back to allow the incisor teeth to
severe the grass at its base - Use both vertical & lateral movements of
the jaws to shred fibrous plant materials.
• Upper jaw is wider than lower jaw, thus mastication on only one side of
the mouth at a time.
• Salivary gland
• Contains no enzyme, and secretion is stimulated by “scratching” of feed on
mucus membrane of inner cheeks. May secrete up to 10 gal/day?
Horse Digestive System
• Esophagus
• Pigs, horses, and humans - The portion adjacent to the stomach is
composed of smooth muscle.
• The central nervous system controls the contractions: “Peristaltic
action” (wave of contractions) moves food (as a form of “bolus”) to the
stomach in non-ruminant animals.
• e.g. - In the dog, it takes about five seconds for food to move from the mouth to
the stomach.
• The bolus can be moved in both directions in the ruminants, and the
process is called “rumination.”

Why horses seldom vomit?

Horse Digestive System
• STOMACH
• Functions of the Stomach in Non-ruminant Species
• Mixing and storage of the ingested food.
• Initiation of protein and fat digestion.
• Its most important function is storage of food and the controlled release of its
contents into the duodenum.
• Small Intestine
• About 30% of the volume of the total digestive tract, and the main site
of both digestion & absorption.
• Horses do not have a “gallbladder,” thus a direct secretion of bile into
duodenum.
Horse Digestive System
• Large intestine or cecum and colon
• Together, about 50% of the volume of the total digestive
tract.
• Sites for microbial digestion/fermentation:
• Contain an active flora of bacteria similar to the microbial
population in the ruminants.
• Bacterial breakdown of cellulose and other carbohydrates
to produce VFA (acetic, propionic, butyric), and bacterial
synthesis of B vitamins and protein.
G A M E F A C E O N ! !
Horse nutrition and feeding
Water
• Expected daily water consumption
• The water content of the body is relatively constant (68 to 72%
of the total weight on a fat-free basis) and cannot change
appreciably without severe consequences.
• A minimum requirement - Sum of the water lost from the body
(via urine, feces, sweat, and secretions) plus a component of
growth in young animals.
Some factors influencing the
water consumption/needs
• Dry matter intake - Horses may need 2 to 3 L of water/kg of dry
matter intake.
• High salt or excess protein contents - Increase water intake.
• Environmental temperatures - e.g., need 2 L of water/kg dry
feed at -18°C, but need 8 L of water/kg dry feed at 38°C.
• Work/exercising - May increase water needs by 20 to 300%.
• Lactation.
Sources of Energy
• May derive most of the energy need from the digestion of fiber
in the large intestine.
• Fiber digestion alone is, usually, not sufficient to satisfy the
energy need for lactation, growth, and exercise - May need
some supplemental grains or lipids.
• Can satisfy the energy need by using only grains, but should
never be done Diets with a large amount of starch and a low
amount of fiber are associated with an increased incidence of
colic and laminitis. Should provide, at least, "12 to 15% fiber”
Calcium and Phosphorus
• Special importance in Horses:
• The development of quality bone is more important in horses than
other livestock species simply because some athletic activity may put
more stress on bones.
• The horse’s bone? - About 35% Ca and 16% P, and deficiencies or
imbalances in dietary Ca and P can result in various bone disorders.
• High-P can impair the absorption of Ca, thus, the concentration of P
should not exceed the concentration of Ca. Also, must consider
availability of Ca and P!
• Obviously, a sufficient amount of vitamin D must be available!
Sodium, Potassium, and Chloride
• Function as electrolytes and essential for all
classes of horses
• Most non-working horses obtain enough Na and Cl to meet their needs
with their access to a salt block or a "loose" salt mix.
• Potassium - Usually met by K found in hay and pasture.
• The needs are greater for working horses, lactating mares, and horses
that are exposed to high environmental temperatures.
• Deficiency - Can reduce a water/feed intake, plus show some unusual
oral behavior such as licking of stall surfaces.
Others minerals
• Iodine - Both I deficiency and I toxicity have been reported in
horses. The I content of common horse feeds can vary considerably
• Iron - Usually met by the typical feed ingredients, even though the
availability of Fe in grains and forages may be low. Fe deficiency
signs are rarely reported.
• Copper - The level and availability of Cu is very low in many
forages, and it is a common practice to formulate grain mixes to
contain 20 to 30 mg Cu/kg DM.
• Zinc - Forages may also be low in Zn. Zinc deficiency can reduce
growth of young horses.
• Selenium - Low in soils of many regions of North America, thus,
feeds are also low in Se. Selenium supplementation is often
necessary but should be done carefully because of its toxicity.
Vitamins
A. Fat-soluble vitamins:
• Vitamin A and E are of the most practical importance in horse diets:
• One of the richest sources of carotene (precursor of vitamin A) is "green"
pasture.
• Vitamin E activity - High in forages with an early stage of maturity, but once a
plant is harvested for hay, the vitamin E activity can decrease.
• Vitamin D - Usually, supplementation of horses kept outside is not
necessary.
• Vitamin K - The requirement has not been established. Microbes can
synthesize compounds with vitamin K activity, and also can get
substances with vitamin K activity from hay and pasture.
Vitamins
B. Water-soluble vitamins
• A dietary requirement for vitamin C has not been
determined.
• Microbes in the hind gut seem to be capable of synthesizing
several B vitamins.
Feed Ingredients and Feeds
• Forages - The basis for any horse feeding program
- Should receive 1.0 to 2.5 kg of good quality hay (or
"pasture equivalent")/100 kg of body weight/day:
• Forages can provide many of the essential nutrients
required by the horse.
• The fiber in forages assists the horse in maintaining
gastrointestinal health.
Pasture should be utilized
whenever possible:
• Can reduce labor costs and provide a high-quality source of
nutrients.
• During most part of the growing season, about 2.5 to 3.0 kg of fresh
pasture is equivalent to about 1 kg of good hay.
• Most grasses can be grazed by the horse, and legume-grass
mixtures make excellent high quality pastures.
• Rotational grazing and (or) clipping are important management
practices because horses are selective and tend to graze the
youngest and most tender grasses.
• With plenty of high-quality pasture or hay, only rapidly developing
weanling and yearling horses, mares that are lactating and to be
bred back, and show and performance horses may need
supplemental grains.
Some factors associated with
feeding hay
• Moldy or dusty hay may cause colic and heaves in horses.
• Large amounts of very poor quality hay cane be poorly digested and
may not pass the digestive tract, and can cause "impaction and colic"
• Very high quality clover or small grain hay can be readily digested, and
when fed with a high-grain feed, may result in a "loose" feces or colic.

• Bromegrass, orchardgrass, timothy, and Bermudagrass make

excellent hay for horses:
• Palatable and usually less dusty and less likely to become moldy than legume
hays.
Legumes:
• Higher in the nutrient content than grasses and may be fed by
themselves or in combination with grass hays.
• Heavier and more difficult to cure properly, and are, thus, more
prone to mold and become dusty. Alfalfa hay is more laxative
than grass hays and may cause "loose" feces.
Concentrates
• A. When a horse cannot meet its energy and protein needs
through forage alone, must provide additional nutrients via
concentrated feedstuffs.
• B. Grains
• Oats:
• Still the most widely used and the most popular grain for
horses - Some believe that oats can cause fewer digestive
problems than corn
• Lower in the energy content than other grains but will
cause less trouble with stomach compaction. Dusty oats
should be avoided because they may cause colic.
Concentrates
• Corn:
• Like oats, widely used for horses
• Higher in energy vs. oats - Usually mix it with oats, and
include less corn than oats in the mixture.
• Barley
• Wheat, rye, and milo
• Grain by-products:
• Wheat bran - Very valuable for its mild laxative effect and
for its bulky nature. Generally used at 5 to 15% of the diet.
• Wheat middlings - Used in pelleted feeds and an
economical source of energy.
Protein Supplements
• Linseed meal:
• A popular protein supplement for horse feeding
• Often, pelleted meal is used because of its dustiness -
Perhaps, too low in fat after extraction?
• Usually more costly and inferior amino acid composition vs.
soybean meal.
• Soybean meal - Also, used quite extensively for horses and
may be substituted on an equal protein basis for linseed meal.
Contains high-quality protein and is generally more economical.
Protein Supplements
• Cottonseed meal - Lower in protein quantity and quality vs.
soybean meal.
• Milk protein - Dried whey or commercial supplements with
milk products are often used in a starter diet for foals. Rarely
used for mature horses because of the cost.
Other miscellaneous feed
ingredients
• Beet pulp - High in fiber, but the fiber is well-digested and
has fairly high energy value. Often, used to replace hay in the
diet for horses with heaves (or broken wind, an asthmatic
disease of horses).
• Molasses - Including 5 to 10% sweetens the feed and makes
it more palatable. Also, tends to condition feeds, prevent
separation, and reduce dustiness.

Supplements - Designed to satisfy the need for protein,

vitamins, and minerals by feeding a small amount every day to
horses on lush pastures to satisfy their energy needs.
FEEDING HORSES
• Breeding, Gestation & Lactation
• Just like other species, mares will use body reserves to meet the
nutrient needs for fetal growth and milk production if they do not
consume a sufficient amount of nutrients during gestation and
lactation.
• Breeding/gestation:
• The recommended maintenance needs for energy and protein should
be sufficient during the breeding and early gestation periods, but need
additional nutrients during the last 90 d because about 60% of the
weight of the fetus develops during that time.
NUTRITION RELATED PROBLEMS
AND FEEDING MANAGEMENT
A. Colic
• Severe abdominal pain.
• Horses with colic may kick at their abdomens, roll, or repeatedly attempt to
urinate.
• Sweating and signs of anxiety and discomfort are also common.
• Some cases are mild and resolve quickly, but other cases require surgery. Can
result in death.
• Causes:
• Lower incidence in horses with 24-hr access to pasture, but high in horses
consuming a high-concentrate diet.
• Also, sudden changes in the diet and lack of water availability can cause the
problem.
• To minimize the potential problem, should provide adequate water and
forage, and any diet changes should be made slowly.
NUTRITION RELATED PROBLEMS
AND FEEDING MANAGEMENT
B. Laminitis or founder
• May be caused by overconsumption of concentrate or lush-growing
pasture.
• Ones with acute laminitis exhibit pain and heat in the hooves and
reluctant to move.
• Often results in permanent lameness and may cause death in some
cases.
• To reduce a potential problem?
• Should be adjusted to lush pastures gradually, and, whenever possible, the
energy need should be met with roughage instead of concentrate.
• If a horse needs a large amount of concentrate, should be adjusted to the
diet gradually and should not be given more than 3 kg of concentrate at any
meal.
• Once a horse has foundered, she/he may become more susceptible.
NUTRITION RELATED PROBLEMS
AND FEEDING MANAGEMENT
• C. Plant poisoning
• Thistles, nettles, and burrs - Mechanically injurious to horses and may cause
damage to the nose and mouth.
• St. John’s wort and buckwheat - May produce photosensitization, most often
observed in unpigmented areas, and dermatitis.
• Mountain laurel, azalea, jimson weed, oak, field blind weed, buttercups, and a
number of other plants - May cause colic or diarrhea and some of these
plants may be fatal with consumption of a sufficient quantity.
• Other plants that may be fatal include serviceberry, elderberry, foxglove,
oleander, and yew.
Feeding Management
A. Housing:
• Grazing:
• Eating and non-eating periods are interspersed and eating periods are rarely
separated by more than 2 or 3 hr, i.e., gazing horses often spend about 50 to
60% of their time or 12 to 14 hr eating.
• Mature horses on good-quality pasture should have access to a salt block and a
source of clean fresh water.
• Dietary factors
• Lower incidence in horses with 24-hr access to pasture, but high in horses
consuming a high-concentrate diet.
• Also, sudden changes in the diet and lack of water availability can cause the
problem.
• To minimize the potential problem, should provide adequate water and forage,
and any diet changes should be made slowly.
Feeding Management
• Supplementation is not necessary unless the pasture is not
sufficient to meet the nutrient needs
• If supplementation is needed:
• Better to bring the horse into stalls for individual feeding
once or twice a day.
• If not possible to feed individually, can avoid over- or
underfeeding by grouping horses by their needs.
Feeding Management
• Many pleasure and performance horses are housed in box stalls
and have little access to pasture:
• Easy to provide each horse with a diet that is specific to its needs, but
usually fed only two or three times per day, which is, perhaps, too long
between meals?
• Horses on a typical hay and concentrate diet may spend less than 6 hr
a day "eating."
• To allow stabled horses to have a more natural feeding environment:
• Hay availability should be maximized - Hay should be offered at least 1 hr before
a concentrate to encourage the horse to consume hay first.
• No more than 3 kg of concentrate should be fed at one time to a mature horse
(500 kg).
• Feeding more than 6 kg of concentrate/day? Then, the concentrate should be
divided into at least three meals.
 Rabbit
NUTRITION
 Nutrient
requirement of
rabbits
Protein and amino acids, energy, mineral, and
vitamins
Nutrients that should be use in
diet formulation:
• Crude Protein
• S amino acid (methionine and cystine)
• Lysine
• Digestible energy
• Crude fiber
• Calcium
• Phosphorus
• Vitamin A, D, and E
 Most important feed related problems in
nutrition of rabbits is not nutritional deficiency
or toxicities, but feed induced problem such
as enteritis
Feed palatability is also a major concern, with
except of vitamin a deficiency and toxicity
Dietary indigestible fiber
• Dietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food
derived from plants. It has two main components
• soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, is readily fermented in
the colon into gases and physiologically active by-products, and can
be prebiotic and viscous. This delays gastric emptying which, in
humans, can result in an extended feeling of fullness.
• Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water, is metabolically inert
and provides bulking, or it can be fermented in the large intestine.
Bulking fibers absorb water as they move through the digestive
system, easing defecation.
Proteins and amino acids:
• Rabbits require a dietary source of essential amino
acids.
• The microbial protein of in the cecotropes can
significantly absorbed amino acid balance.
• In rabbit the effect of low dietary protein quality is
much less because amino acids derived from the
microbial protein.
Protein and amino acids
• Ability to digest and utilize the protein in forages ( grass or other plant)
such as alfalfa.
• Ability to digest forages protein efficiently is consequence of selective
retention of nonfiber component in the cecum.
• Cecal fermentation with subsequent cecotrophy is digestive strategy
of that extract protein from forages with high efficiency.
• Cecotropes are consumed directly from the anus.
Protein and amino acids
• The dietary protein requirements are 16% for maximum
growth and 18% for lactation.
• Dietary protein quality is particularly important for rapid
growing weanling rabbits, which may not have well
developed cecal fermentation.
Energy
• Digestible levels in typical rabbit diets are quite low, range from 2400 to
2800 kcal/kg diet.
• High energy levels impair animal performance and result in reduced
energy intake.
• As dietary energy level are increase the dietary fiber is decrease.
• Indigestible fiber plays an important role in rabbit nutrition by stimulating
intestinal and hind gut motility.
Energy
• With low fiber intake or diets cause hypomotility or constipation, further reduce
intake make cecal microbial population disturbance that often cause ENTERITIS.
• Volatile fatty acid or VFA produced in cecal fermentation make significant
contribution to energy requirements of rabbits (12% to 40%)
• in ruminants propionic acid is minor VFA in rabbits
• acetate and butyrate are major VFA.
energy
 hindgut of rabbit contain Bacteroides, Bacillus, and Enterococcus spp.
Dietary fiber is important in rabbit nutrition (maintain normal gut
motility)
- for optimal growth and gut function 10-15% dietary crude fiber is
recommended.
-low fiber diet may occur FUR CHEWING (consuming their own fur)
and cause death by gut blockage.
energy
Highest energy requirement are for lactation. Lactating does in peak lactation
(10-20 days post parturation)
The energy status of breeding fmales is quite critical.
- if energy intake is inadequate body condition declines and subsequent
reproductive performance is impared.
-excessive fat cause small liter size and high rate of mortality of kits at birth
may occur.
-high neonatal mortality rate is due to increase fetal size, ad deposition of
fat in abdominal cavity, cause constriction (dystocia) of the fetus at birth.
energy
3% of fat is recommended in rabbit diets.
Vegetable oils provide unsaturated fatty acids which provide a
glossiness or sheen to the hair coat.
Dietary FAT is well utilized by rabbits and improve diet palatability.
 Can increase energy level without causing carbohydrate overload in
hindgut.
minerals
The major mineral elements concern in rabbit diet formulation are Ca and P.
The other minerals are usually provide in adequate amount by the ingredients
used plus the addition of trace mineralize salt.
-most diet contain adequate Ca provided by alfalfa meal.
-Ca are absorb efficiently and excrete the excess through urine (contain
white sediments- calcium carbonate)
-prolonged intake of excess Ca can lead to KIDNEY DAMAGE AND
URINARY CALCULI.
-the feeding of low Ca diet example is a diet low in alfalfa meal can help
the condition.
MINERALS
Lactating rabbit has low Ca requirement or maintenance.
Administration of urine-acidifying agent, such as AMMONIUM CHLORIDE can
acidify Calcium carbonate.
Rabbit diet ingredients usually contain adequate P. grain milling products such as
wheat middling are commonly used in rabbit diets and high in P. plant protein
supplements such as soybean meal as good source.
minerals
The bioavailability of organic P.(phytates) in rabbit is high, because of microbial
activity in the hindgut.
Diets should contain 0.25% to 0.5% trace miniralized salt. This will prevent
deficiencies of trace elements under practical condition.
Trace element deficiencies are unknown.
COPPER SULFATE is often use as feed additives as an aid in preventing enteritis
(125 to 250 ppm)
Can also diminished the effect when enteritis occur, and also cause pollution
with high copper sulfate level in the excreta.
vitamins
 in general, meeting the vitamin need of rabbits is quite simple.
The B-complex vitamins and Vitamin K are synthesized by microbial action in the
cecum and obtain by the animal via cecotrophy.
Vitamin A, D, and E are need to be consider in feed formulation.
Vitamin D is probably very low, because P and Ca is readily absorbed in rabbits.
Vitamin d deficiency
Signs
-emaciation and weakness, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and paralysis.
-the soft tissue including liver, kidney, artery walls and muscle become
extensively calcified.
vitamins
Vitamins A is sometimes a problem in a rabbit nutrition.
Signs of vitamin A deficiency and toxicity are similar, and major effect in
reproduction
- low conception rate, fetal reabsorption, low survival of newborn kits and
HYDROCEPHALUS(accumulation of fluid in brain, cause swollen head).
-diet and liver vitamin A analysis when there is and hydrocephalus
outbreak.
Alfalfa is an excellent source of Beta Carotene.
Vitamin a deficiency
Poor growth
Leg deformities
Increase susceptibility to disease
- Vitamin A is important in maintaining the epithelial tissue and mucous
membrane.
- A high incidence of enteritis occurs in vitamin A deficient rabbits.
Vitamin e deficiency
Muscular dystrophy, with paralysis of the hindleg and reproductive failure
Dietary factors and enteritis
enteritis
One of the major cause of rabbit mortality, with losses of 10% to 20% of all
animals born not uncommon.
Major type of enteritis is ENTEROTOXEMIA, cause by Clostridium spiroforme
and toxigenic strains of Escherichia coli.
- it produces toxin (shigatoxin2e by E.coli) that cause damage the cecal
mucosa and toxic absorbed and can go to Nervous system, and this cause
death.
Diets high in energy and low in fiber promote enterotoxemia.
enteritis
High in energy cause hyperfermentation or microbial growth that leads to
enteritis.
Hyeprfermentation produces organic acid which leads to drop of pH, inhibiting
normal microbes and allowing profiliration of pathogens.
CERIAL GRAINS are likely lead to carbohydrate overload of the hindgut and
increase enteritis problems.
INDIGESTIBLE FIBER helps prevent enteritis by stimulating gut motility.