1- Lorestan university
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Extended Abstract
Introduction and Objective: limiting of feed intake and low fiber and high grain can increase the risk of stereotype behavior in horses, which is indicates poor welfare. extending consume meals time is closer to the natural grazing behavior and leads to a reduction in the rate of feed intake and the risk of diseases such as colic. Therefore, conducting research in order to limit meals increases the rate of feed consumption in horses. On the other hand, it has been found that consuming a large amount of feed once a day leads to an increase in the rate of passage of substances in the digestive system and therefore decreases the digestibility of nutrients in horses. Increasing the time of consumption of feed increases chewing activity in horses, and as a result, increasing chewing activity can have a positive effect on enzymatic and microbial digestion in the horse's digestive system. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of restricting access to feed by a hay net on the apparent digestibility of nutrients and nutritional behavior of Arabian horses.
Materials and Methods: In this experiment, eight purebred Arabian horses (average age 9 ± 3 years and average weight 396 ± 45 kg) were studied in two groups including horses feed with hay net and hay on the ground for two 28-day rotation periods (56 days). Each period included three weeks of habituation and one week of stool sample collection. Throughout the period, the horses were fed individually and had free access to clean water and mineral supplements. after that place of feeding on the ground and haynets were checked and the remaining hay and concentrate were weighed, the total amount of feed consumed was measured both free and haynet treatment. Also, using the cameras placed in the stable, the start and end time of each meal was checked by the horses, and the actual time of feed consumption per 24 hours was measured. feed consumption rate was calculated in grams per 24 hours. Horse feces were sampled two hours after the morning meal through the rectum for seven days at the end of each experimental period. To measure the apparent digestibility of nutrients, feces point sampling (twice a day) one hour after feeding (morning and evening meal) between days 22 and 28 of each cycle was used. feces samples were analyzed for dry matter, organic matter, ash-free neutral detergent fiber and ash-free acid detergent fiber and crude protein. The acid insoluble ash of the samples was measured by boiling the ash in hydrochloric acid for five minutes. Nutrient digestibility was determined by acid-insoluble ash method. To measure feces pH, a sample of fresh stool (10 grams removed from the rectum) was homogenized with an equal amount of distilled water, and the pH of its extract after filtering was immediately measured using a mobile automatic pH meter that was calibrated at the same place. The daily behavior of horses was recorded using fixed cameras around the clock for 48 hours. Behavioral observations of horses were evaluated also. Finally, the results of the experiment were analyzed with the statistical program SAS version 9.1.
Results: According to the findings of this research, feeding via using hay net significantly increased (P <0.05) feeding time from 257 to 659 minutes per day and decreased (P <0.05) forage consumption rate from 1592 and 610 g/h. Also, the results showed that improved the apparent digestibility of nutrients, including protein, compared to the control group (P=0.06), although this effect was not significant. In addition, the pH of the rectal contents was not affected by the treatment, but the results of the horses' behavior showed that the use of haynets significantly reduced the behavior of searching in the stall when the absence of feed (P < 0.05). Also, the use of a haynet significantly reduced abnormal behaviors such as turning and restlessness in the stable and swallowing air, throwing the head in the air compared to the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Finally, the result of this study showed that the use of a haynet were effective at increasing the time acsses to forage , in addition to improving the apparent digestibility of nutrients including protein, has a significant effect on reducing some aggressive and abnormal behaviors in Arabian horses.
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