Original Research
The Effect of Hay Net Design on Rate of Forage Consumption When Feeding Adult Horses

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2014.05.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Modern horse management systems tend to limit a horse's opportunity to forage. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of hay net design on the rate of forage consumption when feeding horses. Eight adult horses were fed in individual stalls in a replicated Latin square design, with two horses per treatment per week. Horses were fed hay off the stall floor (control), or from one of three hay nets: large (15.2 cm openings), medium (4.4 cm openings), and small (3.2 cm openings). Horses had access to hay for two 4-hour periods each day. When horses could not consume all forage from the medium and small hay nets in 4 hours, a second study using a crossover design gave horses an unlimited amount of time to feed from the hay nets. Stopwatches were used to calculate time to consumption and dry matter intake rates (DMIR). Mean time to consumption was 3.1 and 3.4 hours for the control and large hay net, respectively, in study 1, and 5.1 and 6.5 hours for the medium and small hay nets, respectively, in study 2. Mean DMIR during the 4-hour feeding period were 1.5, 1.3, 1.1, and 0.9 kg/hr for the control, large, medium, and small hay nets, respectively; all treatments were different (P < .0001). These results demonstrate that hay nets were effective at decreasing the rate of forage consumption when feeding adult horses. Long-term studies are warranted to determine if horses will adapt to feeding from hay nets.

Introduction

Equines have evolved as hindgut fermenters, physiologically designed to consume frequent, small forage-based meals throughout the day [1]. Fleurance et al [2] estimated that horses in a natural setting spent about 14 hours grazing each day. However, modern management systems tend to limit a horse's opportunity to forage to approximately 9 hours each day [3]. Many performance horses are stalled, fed large amounts of concentrated grain meals, and have feedings limited to two or three times daily [3]. This common management scenario can result in deleterious health and behavioral issues, including development of ulcers [4], an increased risk of colic [5], [6], and behavioral vices including wood chewing, crib biting, and stall walking [7]. Access to long periods of foraging tends to decrease deleterious health issues and some behavioral vices [4], [5], [6], [7]. Furthermore, many horse farms tend to have high stocking rates and inadequate amounts of pasture further limiting foraging opportunities [8]. Because of this, many horse owners and managers struggle to replicate the amount of time horses spend foraging in a natural setting.

Slow-feed hay nets are newly developed products being marketed to horse owners, managers, and professionals as a way of replicating the natural foraging behavior of horses in modern horse management systems. Although slowing hay consumption has not been investigated, researchers have been successful at increasing time to consumption of grain with the use of obstacles in a feed bucket [9], [10]. Consumption rates of horses feeding from slow-feed hay nets are unknown, but present a possible management strategy for increasing foraging time in modern horse management systems. The objectives of this research were to determine the effect of hay net design on the rate of forage consumption when feeding adult horses. It was hypothesized that as hay net opening size decreased, time to consumption would increase and forage intake rates would decrease.

Section snippets

Animals and Treatments

All experimental procedures were conducted according to those approved by the University of Minnesota Committee on Animal Use and Care. Eight adult stock-type horses in light work, with an average body weight (BW) of 513 kg (standard deviation [SD] ± 47 kg) were used in a replicated Latin square design, with two horses per treatment per week. Horses were fed in individual stalls (3.0 × 3.7 m) either off of the floor (control) or from one of three hay nets: large (15.2 cm openings), medium (4.4

Hay Nutritive Value

Forage nutritive values for the mixed, mostly grass hay are listed in Table 1. When compared with a national hay nutritive value database [18], the hay was within or near normal ranges for all nutrients tested for mixed, mostly grass hay.

Study 1

Mean percentage of hay consumed during the 4-hour period was 95%, 95%, 89%, and 72% (SD ± 1.6) for the control, large, medium, and small hay nets, respectively. There was no difference between percentage of hay consumed for horses feeding from the control and

Discussion

The results support the hypothesis that decreasing hay net opening size limited horse access to hay and resulted in increased time to forage consumption and decreased forage intake rates in adult horses. Horses feeding from the medium and small hay nets took longer time to consume their hay meal resulting in a reduced DMIR compared with horses feeding from the control and large hay net. Although determining the rate of hay consumption when feeding from a hay net had not been previously

Conclusions

The use of hay nets with medium and small openings offers horse owners and professionals a practical and affordable option to reduce DMIR and extend foraging time in adult horses. Future research using medium and small hay nets should focus on a horse's ability to adapt to feeding from the hay nets over time, daily time to consumption when fed solely from the hay nets, and the effect of hay nets on horse health and behavioral vices.

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Minnesota Equine Research Center, the Minnesota Racing Commission, and the Minnesota Agricultural Experimental Station.

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