Friday, July 6, 2012

A Horse Vitamin And Proper Feed For Much Healthier Animals

By Mark Givens


A horse vitamin can make your horse solid and good. Giving the appropriate kind of feed will also help your horse. Barley isn't as tasty as oats or corn. Barley carries a similar protein value as oats and is intermediate in energy between oats and corn. It's relatively lower in fiber and may cause digestive upsets if not blended with sufficient roughage. It is a hard grain and must be rolled and heated prior to giving to improve palatability as well as availability. Heating can be carried out through steam flaking, micronizing, expanding, extruding and also boiling. Boiled barley does not have the magical properties some people attribute to it, but it can make a tasty feed.

Bran, a by-product of flour production, is mainly made up of the outer covering of the wheat grain. It does not contain as much energy as pollard or a number of grains, has a weak amino acid balance and is reduced in calcium. Bran has very low calcium to phosphorus ratio, which can lead to weak bones if fed in big amounts without extra calcium to stabilize the phosphorus.

Feed manufacturers find bran useful for mixing supplements as well as powders into a feed together with molasses due to its palatability. Like all refined feeds, bran should not have a moldy odor, as this signifies the existence of moisture. Bran must not make up more than 10% of the feed and contrary to popular opinion; it's not particularly high in fiber and is not a great laxative.

Famine is still prevalent and there are three basic areas which are currently afflicted with famine. The first one is the southeastern USA. The other region is the southern Plains. Three years ago they were in approximately a 2-year drought in which there was extreme drought through Texas as well as Oklahoma. This past year they were very wet; now areas down in South Texas, specifically San Antonio, are back in an severe drought situation.

Within the Oklahoma panhandle, southwest Kansas, as well as North Texas panhandle there has been some serious impact with agriculture as well as water supply. Areas of the Southwest and California experienced a dry year last year as well as a fairly decent snowfall year in high altitude, but then it's been very dried up this springtime, with the fires being evidence of how dry it is currently.

A horse vitamin with the right feed is good for your horse. The price per head per day of a conventional diet versus one based upon complete feed is simple to calculate. For that conventional diet of grain and hay figure out the pounds of hay and grain given using an inexpensive fish scale and a plastic bag. Remember to include any supplements. To calculate the cost of feeding a total feed, simply figure out the cost per pound and increase it with the pounds given each day. With either diet a local horse nutritionist, feed company consultant, or doctor can ensure you are meeting the horse's calorie needs as well as other nutrient requirements.




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