animal nutrition final exam
Horse digestive system: 1. The horse on a forage diet receives the majority of its energy in the form of.... 2. For horses at maintenance, the SCFAs from fiber fermentation, together with the small amount of nonfiber carbohydrate and other organic compounds in forage..
1. SCFAs from the large intestine. 2. may satisfy the entire energy requirement, so these animals may not require grain.
colic treatment
-Early identification and treatment of horses with surgical forms of colic -Knowledge of risk factors/causes can help to distinguish between surgical and non-surgical forms of colic.
colic pathophysiology: The above-mentioned changes to a horse can cause one of four conditions, which result in abdominal pain:
1) The wall of the intestine is overly stretched either by gas, fluid, or food. Stretch sensitive nerve endings located within the intestinal wall will transmit pain to the brain. 2) Presence of intestinal displacement causing extensive distortion and tension on the mesentery walls, resulting in pain. 3) Development of ischemia due to severe twisting of the intestines. 4) Inflammation of the entire intestinal wall (enteritis) or the covering of the intestine (peritonitis).
It is a fact that many problems in horses are caused by the failure to understand that these animals....
evolved on a diet primarily of a wide variety of forages, and they neither need any grain nor need any one particular forage.
The most common sign of colic in a horse is...
excessive pawing or scraping at the ground.
horse growth: The ultimate goal is to ____________________, with an appropriate amount of vitamin and mineral supplement in a grain carrier, for long-term weight maintenance.
feed the adult horse on close to a 100 percent forage diet
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Cellulose ________ produces carbon dioxide, methane, and SCFAs.
fermentation
The colon, however, is not a ________ ____________ in rabbits.
fermentation chamber
horse adulthood: Maintain a good regular exercise program with ___ to ____ minutes of regular moderate exercise (a nice ride or walk) every day or every other day.
fifteen to thirty minutes
Foals: The growing foal should have access to _____ in addition to the milk of mom.
forage
colic: 2 major categories
gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal.
horse growth: goals in growth include establishing...
good eating habits, providing optimal (not maximal) growth, and avoiding obesity and osteochondrosis
colic: Ideally, ____ and _____ are fed and consumed together.
hay and grain
Like the horse, the domestic rabbit is an __________.
herbivore
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: It is recommended that _________ _________ rations, adequate in amino acids, be fed to growing horses.
high-quality protein ; As the horse reaches mature size, its protein needs and importance of protein quality decreases.
Aging horses: we want to provide a lesser amount of a...
highly digestible ration ; A high-quality grass or legume forage is appropriate. For some horses, continued use of a balanced vitamin and mineral mix may be all they need.
Horses, rabbits, and guinea pigs are all capable of using roughage because they have an active ______ bacterial population that digests fiber
hindgut
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Horses are ________ __________; they depend on a high food intake and rapid transit to meet their nutritional needs, as anyone who has walked behind horses in a parade knows.
hindgut fermenters
Among the other types of livestock, the rabbit's digestive tract anatomy and physiology most closely resembles that of the _______
horse
just as we slowly wean dogs and cats onto solid food, we need to do this for _______ as well.
horses
Foals: The ______________ protect the foal against possible infections.
immunoglobulins
Foals: When the foal is born, its first requirement is for those....
immunoglobulins in colostrum.
Horse digestive system: A rapid passage rate may result in _______ ________ in the stomach and small intestine.
incomplete digestion
Most horses drink rapidly, and if this flow of water washes large amounts of _________ _________ _______ material into the intestine, colic may result. how can this be fixed?
incompletely digested feed ; by providing water at all times
Any ration change needs to be made gradually to minimize the risk of...
indigestion or colic.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: although foregut fermentation is thorough...
it is also slow.
Another reason to avoid working a horse immediately after a meal has to do with....
its affect on the respiratory system.
Foals: what does milk provide to mammalian offspring?
lactose, fat, and protein
Also like the horse, the rabbit has a _______ ________, which enables it to more effectively degrade fibrous material in forages.
large cecum
Horse digestive system: The SCFAs are absorbed from the _________ __________ and used as an energy source by the cells of the horse.
large intestine
horse growth: It is also easy to provide a nice mix of ___________ and _____________ to balance out the lack of calcium in one type of plant with the excess in calcium in the other.
legume hay and cereal grains
Foals: The horse grows more slowly than the dog or cat and thus the amount of milk provided in relation to body weight is _____ for the horse.
less
horse growth: Because the growth rate of these larger animals is slower, they tend to need...
less of a percentage of these nutrients in their diets during growth.
horse adulthood: Most of the life span of horses will be spent at...
maintenance: constant body weight and body composition.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Second, the ruminant system allows...
rechewing and more complete mechanical breakdown of the cell walls.
Because horses cannot eructate, gases formed during fermentation can only be passed through the ______
rectum.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Urea that forms during protein metabolism.....
reenters the rumen by direct transfer across the rumen wall.
Although rabbits do not have a metabolic need for fiber, a certain amount of fiber is necessary to....
regulate the passage rate of feed material through the digestive tract and to maintain digestive health.
Horse digestive system: Because horses have evolved primarily on forages, they have not been adapted to a diet containing significant amounts of fat, but this does not mean...
that they cannot use fat from their diet.
The distribution of blood in the body changes depending on what tissues in the body have....
the greatest need for delivery of oxygen and nutrients and the removal of wastes.
horse growth: Usually we would start with supplying 60 to 70 percent of the total ration as concentrate:
the mix of grains, protein sources, and vitamins and minerals. This term has been used to describe feeds that are concentrated in nutrients compared to whole forages and grains.
Aging horses: As the basal metabolic rate slows...
the muscle and bones start to lose mass, and the digestive and waste-processing organs lose some of their functional ability. ; In most cases, activity will also be less.
horse growth: The principles for growth remain the same:
the proper amount and balance of amino acids for muscle growth, sufficient energy to run the synthetic reactions, and sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals for metabolic reactions and bone growth.
Foals: Good pasture would include a stand of mixed grasses, or legume and grass (clover and grasses; alfalfa and orchardgrass). Foals will slowly nibble on it, and this helps establish....
the proper bacterial population in the cecum and colon.
Horse digestive system: Although horses do not have a gallbladder...
they do secrete bile -The horse evolved as a continual eater and had no need for storage of bile to help with digestion of food consumed in meals. Instead, bile is secreted directly and fairly continually into the duodenum at a rate of approximately 300 mL/hr. Fats in rations of up to 20% fat are digested 90% or better. does not negatively effect horses
Foals: The nutritional goals are still the same as for other species, that is, they are universal:
to adapt the digestive system from wet, highly digestible food to dry, variable food requiring a variety of enzymes to digest.
horse growth: why is obesity in horses is a problem
too much body fat increases stress on the circulatory, respiratory, and skeletal systems, ultimately shortening the life span. Excess fat during pregnancy can lead to problems foaling.
The principles of __________ & ___________ are clearly exemplified in the horse.
universality and diversity
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Foregut fermenters are also able to turn ______, another waste product, into a resource.
urea
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Whereas in ruminant animals the digestive processes of the true stomach (the abomasum in ruminants) and small intestine are ________ from the site of microbial protein production ; the digestive processes are ______ in the horse and other hindgut fermenters.
downstream ; upstream
Horse digestive system: The horse's stomach is also unique in that it does not have....
equivalent muscular activity to that of other species.
horse growth: Energy intake must be ______ by sufficient amounts so that the animal oxidizes fat; also, introducing an exercise regimen to a horse that carries extra fat and is not in good training condition is not always an easy task.
decreased
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Action of fermentation in foregut animals early in the passage of chyme...
destroys or neutralizes potential plant toxins.
Hard work will divert blood to the skeletal muscles at the expense of the __________ ________. what will result?
digestive organs ; incomplete digestion occurs
If excess gases are produced in the digestive tract...
distension of the gut can interfere with blood circulation and gas exchange.
colic: The severity of the clinical signs _____ (does/does not) directly correlate to the severity of the condition.
does not
Foals: where does the term "creep feed" come from?
a feeder with boards or fencing around it so that the foal could creep into the feeder but the mare could not reach the goodies, thus the term creep feed.
horse growth: In general, cereal grains and grass forages are very low in _________ (less than 0.1 percent), whereas legume forages such as alfalfa or clover can be high in _______ (over 1.5 percent).
calcium ; calcium
horse growth: Proper _________ and _________ supply is critical. why?
calcium and phosphorus ; Either too much or too little calcium or phosphorous can lead to improperly formed bone.
horse growth: horses ________ (can or cannot) survive well on one plant species
cannot
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: In the rumen, urea is broken down into...
carbon dioxide and ammonia.
Horse digestive system: The ______ and __________ contain a bacterial population similar to that of the rumen of ruminants in both numbers and kinds of microorganisms.
cecum and large colon
Horse digestive system: The large intestine of the horse is divided into the....
cecum, large colon, small colon, and rectum.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Finally, in addition to utilizing ammonia, microorganisms also aid in the breakdown of....
cellulose, a carbohydrate in the cell walls of plants.
Drastic feed changes without a proper transition will often result in...
colic.
bile made by the horse's liver is not stored in a gallbladder but rather is...
constantly secreted directly into the intestine, and it becomes apparent that horses are not designed to process large, infrequent meals.
Foals: For the foals, we prepare a similar feed with a lot of energy and easily digestible components, but we call it .________
creep feed
colic: causes
(1) Feeding unwholesome feedstuffs and feeds can cause a horse to show symptoms of colic. (2) The tendency of some horses to bolt their feed can lead to colic if such behavior is not properly managed. (3) Overfeeding is a common cause of colic. (4) Improper feeding management can contribute to constipation that will lead to colic. (5) An irregular feeding schedule can cause colic in some horses. (6) The sequence of component feeding will affect the completeness of digestion, and incomplete digestion may be a contributing factor to colic. (7) Horses that are fed only one large meal per day will be susceptible to colic. (8) Diet changes that are made without an appropriate transition can result in colic. (9) Unlike ruminants, horses cannot regurgitate swallowed feed and they cannot eructate gases produced during fermentation. (10) The availability of water relative to the availability of feed can sometimes be a contributing factor to colic. (11) The horse's work schedule should be developed around feeding times to avoid colic. (12) Conversely to number 11, if an animal has just been fed a large meal, it should be given time to digest it before being exercised. (13) Overloading a horse with starch can also result in colic, most likely because of changes to the balance of the hindgut microbiome. (14) Long-term antibiotic use can affect the hindgut microbial population and lead to colic.
Foals: nutritional goals of foals
1. We want to provide high-quality protein: creep feed usually contains a small amount of expensive but high-quality milk protein and legume protein such as soybean meal. This will provide high- quality protein to that developing foal. 2. some high-energy feeds such as corn, oats, and barley are included to provide *starch* to stimulate synthesis of the proper enzymes. 3. balanced vitamin and mineral mix
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: hindgut fermentation advantages
1. the chyme passes through the major absorptive regions of the digestive tract before reaching the principal sites of fermentation, usually the cecum and/or colon. 2. Soluble nutrients such as carbohydrates, glucose, and proteins can be safely absorbed before fermentation begins. 3. fermentation occurs early, and many of these necessary nutrients are disposed of before they can be absorbed.
horse growth: The desirable Ca to P ratio is around....
1.2-1.4 to 1
Major changes in the diet should be made gradually over a period of....
2 to 3 weeks
horse growth: As the animal ages, increase the forage content over time up to ____ to _____ % for two-year-olds with minimal or no exercise training.
60 to 100 percent
The horse's stomach provides only about _____ of the capacity of the tract, or approximately 2-4 gals of capacity.
8-10%
colic: what is often fed to horses to prevent constipation?
A wheat bran mash (It should be recognized that the effectiveness of this feedstuff in preventing constipation has nothing to do with its nutritional content, but rather with its ability to soften the feces (a laxative effect).)
______ in its truest definition means abdominal pain. what is it the major cause of?
Colic ; its the major cause of morbidity and mortality in horses. According to a survey from the Morris Animal Foundation, colic is the number one health concern and a leading cause of premature deaths in horses. Annually, 10-11% of horses suffer from colic, and 11% of cases are fatal.
other signs of colic
Horses may also display frequent stretching and urination, flank watching, and biting at their stomach. Repeated lying down and rising, rolling, groaning, excessive salivation, loss of appetite, decreased fecal output, and dark mucous membrane color are also common signs of colic.
Horse digestive system: what happens if too much starch is ingested?
If a horse consumes an excessive amount of a cereal grain or other high-starch feed, the capacity of the small intestine to digest and absorb the starch may be exceeded, and some of the starch will pass into the large intestine. • If too much starch reaches the large intestine, the microbial population may be negatively affected, potentially resulting in various digestive problems.
colic: what kind of changes take place within the digestive tract as feeding time approaches?
Physical changes
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Because this protein is not subject to action of the digestive juices, the horse and other hindgut fermenters benefit little from it unless they practice coprophagy.
Sometimes, horses on a poor diet practice coprophagy in an attempt to balance their nutrient needs.
Horse digestive system: ______ digestion in the small intestine of the horse is not quite as efficient as in some other monogastric species.
Starch
Horse digestive system: what is trickle feeding
The digestive tract is designed to take in small amounts at frequent intervals, with wild horses grazing up to 14-16 hours per day. Horses should be fed small portions several times daily if possible. At a minimum, twice-a-day feeding is desirable
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Periodically, the rumen contracts, flushing these microorganisms into the ________ and _________, where, like any food, the microorganisms themselves are digested and the products of digestion (mainly amino acids) are absorbed.
abomasum and intestine
Small amounts of water may be given at frequent intervals, but feed should be withheld for...
about 2 hours after vigorous exercise to avoid colic.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Nitrogen in the form of ___________ is a by-product of fermentation of protein in the rumen.
ammonia
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: First, fermentation takes place in the _______ part of the digestive tract, yielding end products of digestion early in the digestive process so they are ready for uptake next in the intestine.
anterior
Horse digestive system: fermentation end products
methane, CO2, Acetate, Butyrate, propionate
horse adulthood: Provide a primarily forage diet, ideally of...
mixed legume and grass forages ; Legumes, especially good alfalfa, are often too high in energy and too high in calcium by themselves for maintaining horses. Also providing some grass hay (orchardgrass, bermuda grass) can reduce the energy and calcium to more proper levels.
A fibrous diet will encourage _____ and ensure the rabbit's high rate of metabolism and correspondingly effective digestion.
motility*
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Where forage is abundant, the hindgut fermenter can....
move large quantities of food through the digestive tract, process the most easily digestible component of the forage, excrete the low-quality component, and replace that which has been excreted with fresh forage.
Foregut vs Hindgut Fermenters: Third, the ruminant system turns much of the _____, which in most vertebrates is a waste product, into a resource.
nitrogen
what kind of animals are horses?
non ruminant herbivores
As a consequence of a rapid digestion, starch is...
not completely broken down in the rabbit's small intestine.
Hay is more effective than grain in stimulating the flow of ...
saliva and gastric juices
When minor changes in the diet are called for, the transition to the new diet should be made over a period of...
several days
Horse digestive system: Bacterial fermentation of the fiber produces ____________________ (also known as volatile fatty acids (VFAs)) similar to those of the ruminant, which are absorbed and used by the animal. The _______ are essentially the same as those of a rumen fermentation.
short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) ; products
Foals: Aside from deriving energy from fiber fermentation, the nutritional biology of the horse is _________ to that of other mammals.
similar
horse growth: A moderate to severe lack of protein or energy will...
slow growth and can lead to a permanently reduced adult size.
does hay pass thru the digestive tract quickly or slowly?
slowly
The most distinctive feature of a horse stomach is that the...
stomach capacity is smaller.
