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stuff on corn for horses

Added: January 5, 2005, 10:26 am  (225 views)
i'm doing research in the computer lab in ag for my speeches right now. i'm working on my speech about putting cracked corn into a horse's diet, and since my e-mail is being such a douche bag, i'm going to put all my findings in here so that i can refer to them when i'm at home.


Corn sometimes has a bad reputation as an energy source for horses and in many cases, for good reason. Corn is more energy dense and heavier than oats, so a direct pound for pound substitution of corn for oats will lead to overfeeding. Also, corn is not balanced for nutrients, containing about 71 percent starch, 8 percent protein, 4 percent fat and only 2 percent fiber. Worst of all, as noted in the section above, most of the starch in corn is not digested in the foregut, unless the corn is ground and pelleted or extruded. Most of the starch (72 percent) from whole or cracked corn is not digested in the foregut and proceeds to the hindgut where it is rapidly fermented. That process results in the production of lactic acid, which lowers the hindgut pH and kills many beneficial fiber-digesting bacteria. Dying bacteria release toxins, and the result can be a horse with colic and/or laminitis resulting in founder as noted previously. For these reasons, corn should be well processed, and it should not be more than 25 percent of a pelleted feed. Also, in some cases corn and corn screenings can contain potentially lethal mycotoxins and should never be used in horse feeds. While most feed companies screen for these types of compounds, they do “slip through the cracks” from time to time.
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Historically, oats have been the first choice of feeds. Oats are medium in energy, require little or no processing and have more protein than most grains. However, they are variable in energy content. You should avoid oats with a light weight per bushel because of their low energy and high fiber content. The best oats usually come from the north central states such as Minnesota, North and South Dakota and northern Iowa.
Corn is fine for feeding horses, but is highly concentrated in energy. You must take care not to overfeed it. Wheat and grain sorghum (milo) are less suitable for feeding horses. Wheat is especially dangerous because it causes colic by impacting in the gastrointestinal tract.
A 50:50 ratio of corn and oats combines the safety of oats with the economy of corn. It is often recommended for horses.
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Corn has taken over the position of the No. 1 grain fed to horses in recent years mainly because of its low cost and excellent feed value for energy. If you want to fatten an animal, it is easier done with corn than oats and at a lower cost.
Corn can be fed on the cob, as whole shelled corn, or as cracked corn. Actually cracking corn is economically wasteful. Because of the size of the kernel of corn, a horse will chew the grain before swallowing. If a horse is passing a lot of whole kernels in the feces, he is either bolting his feed or may need to have his teeth floated because sharp points are preventing normal chewing. The horse bolting his feed needs to slow down. Large rocks or a salt brick can be placed in the feed pan with the feed. He then has to sort around the objects to get the feed. Another cure is to spread the feed out in a large feed bunk so it takes him longer to pick up the grain.
Corn is about 10% protein, but as with all grains, the protein quality is relatively poor. Corn contains about double the energy that an equal volume of oats contains. This has been the cause of corn getting the repetition as being a "hot feed." When people substituted corn for oats at an equal volume, their horses would sweat more and /or get fat. To eliminate the problem, corn needs to be fed at only half the volume or less than the volume of oats. There has also been a claim among draft horse breeders that corn caused bog spavins in the hocks of draft horses. There is no basis to this claim, except that if you fed too much corn, resulting in overweight horses, and then worked them hard, the added stress on the hock joint could cause bogs. However, the cause was not corn, but excess weight and stress.
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Corn is a good feed and is used extensively in the Midwest. About 15 percent less corn would equal a given weight of oats in energy value. For this reason, corn is especially useful for improving the condition of thin horses and maintaining the condition of those at hard work. It is often a good buy on an energy basis, even exceeding hay on occasion.
Because of its high energy content and low fiber, corn must be fed with more care than oats to avoid colic. Corn and oats, in equal parts, make an excellent grain ration. When fed according to the work that horses are performing and when large amounts are not given at one time, corn can supply all of the necessary grain.
Some horse owners consider corn a "heating" feed in warm weather. This theory is not easy to explain because "heat" produced in digestion is greater for fibrous feeds such as hays and oats than for corn. Probably a major reason is that horses eating corn tend to stay fatter than others, especially if they aren't exercised regularly.
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This grain has a greater energy content than most others. It's known as a HOT FEED. It is best used as a supplement to oats rather than as the main source of energy. It can be fed whole to the horse but it is more beneficial if cracked. Corn is widely known as a cattle grain rather than and equine grain.
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Whole oats are preferable to cracked corn or rolled barley, as they are easier to digest and the starch content is safer for the horse's system. However, as long as the amounts fed are kept to a minimum, all grains can be fed for variety.
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Shelled corn is high in energy and contains little fiber. It is better utilized by the horse when it is coarse-cracked before feeding. Corn is generally more economical than oats and is nearly twice as high in energy on a volume basis.
Ear corn or ground ear corn can be fed and it will minimize gulping the grain.
Shelled corn costs about $2 to $3 per bushel, or 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 cents per pound.
Can ear corn be fed to horses? Ear corn is a satisfactory feed, assuming it is adequately dried and free from mold. It is good for greedy horses that bolt grain.How can greedy horses be prevented from bolting or eating their grain too quickly? Put a few baseball-sized smooth stones in the grain box. Ear corn will also help.
clicky

Has the highest energy content of the cereal grains commonly fed to horses. because of its low fibre content, it should be fed in conjunction with bulkier feeds such as oats and/or chaff and introduced gradually to a horse ration to avoid digestive upsets. Corn may be fed to horses whole, coarse ground (cracked) or steam flaked, although it is normally fed cracked.
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For example, steam-flaked corn provides more digestible energy than whole corn or coarsely cracked corn, but the differences are not as great as a six percent-fat feed compared to a four percent-fat feed.

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