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| Steve Krueger, a feed sales and technical representative for Southern States, emphasizes the importance of taking hay samples to ensure proper horse nutrition. |
Don't just guess if your horse is getting the proper nutrition.
Whether you have one horse or a dozen, you want to be sure those animals get the proper nutrition for good health and performance, whatever their activity level may be.
Steve Krueger, feed sales and technical representative for Southern States at Woodstock, Ga., says forage should supply a horse with 60% of its nutrients. "You'll have a healthier horse with fewer digestive problems if the primary source of its diet comes from forage," he maintains.
Most horse owners buy their hay. Good-quality hay and low-quality hay look pretty much the same in bale form. The only way to know its true nutritive value for certain, says Krueger, is through a lab analysis. With information from a forage test, your Southern States dealer can help formulate a ration to meet your horse's nutritional needs at the most economical cost. This assures good performance and good animal health.
That's not as complicated as it may sound. Southern States dealers and representatives such as Krueger, as well as Cooperative Agricultural Extension and other farm agency personnel, can take hay samples for you or show you how to do it. They also have the hay probes, forms and mailing kits.
Hay sampling is a simple procedure. Stick a probe into the center of a hay bale to extract a forage sample. Take samples from three or four bales representative of all your hay. Then, put them in a plastic bag, fill out a brief descriptive form and mail them to a certified laboratory. Depending on the mailing method used, you can expect to get the results back in two to seven days.
What exactly will the hay analysis tell you? Ralph Ward is the owner and manager of Cumberland Valley Analytical Services in Maugansville, Md. This facility is the primary testing lab used by Southern States.
"For horse owners, probably the most critical piece of information is the fiber content of the forage, " Ward says. "Our lab offers three different measurements of fiber. Crude fiber is used primarily to characterize fiber in commercial feeds for quality guarantees. Better predictors of forage quality are neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF).
"NDF is a measure of the total fiber content of a forage. It indicates how palatable the forage is and potentially how much of it an animal will eat," he explains.
"If the NDF value is too high, that means the forage has excessive stalk or fiber and possibly was baled after it was too mature. Consequently, the animal may not eat enough to meet its nutritional requirements and its performance will drop off."
ADF, Ward adds, predicts how digestible the forage is¨how much of the nutrients in the forage the animal can use. Protein content of the forage also is important. Krueger points out that protein requirements for an average horse are in the neighborhood of 10 to 12%.
If you have hay with only 6 to 8% protein, you'll have to provide a feed supplement with 14 to 16% protein to bring the average up to 10 or 12%, Krueger says. An alternative is to increase the feed supplement to more than 50% of the total daily ration. That's usually more expensive than feeding hay and may lead to digestive problems.
On the other hand, if you are feeding hay with 14 to 16% protein, you can usually feed a lower protein feed supplement, and possibly less of it. Krueger says a standard forage test costs no more than $15. "That," he stresses, "is an investment well worth the price."
Hay Buying Tips
Krueger offers these suggestions to horse owners when purchasing hay:
- Buy as large a quantity as you can store at one time to minimize changing types and qualities of forages during the season.
- Buy from a reputable source, preferably someone who provides an analysis of his hay. Otherwise, have it sampled yourself.
- Don't buy dusty hay. Dust indicates the possibility of mold and toxins.
- Inspect the color of the forage inside the bale. A green and bright color is a good indication of quality.
- Check for seedheads. A lot of seedheads indicate that hay may have been baled when very mature and NDF/fiber is likely to be high.