Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the kinetics, physicochemical characteristics and particle size of digesta in the right ventral colon (RVC) of horses fed coastcross hay ground to different degrees. Four horses fitted with cannulae in the RVC were used and were fed the following forms of hay: long, chopped, ground to 5 mm and ground to 3 mm. A Latin Square 4x4 study design was used. Each experimental period included 10 days for diet adaptation, four days for feces collection and one day for digesta collection. The kinetics of the particulate and solute phases of digesta were evaluated based on the mean retention time (MRT), passage rate (k) and transit time (TT) using two external markers: Cr-NDF and Co-EDTA. The TT of solid phase digesta was 3 hours longer (P<0.05) for ground hay than with the other physical forms of hay. There was no difference (P>0.05) in k or MRT in either the liquid or solid phase of digesta as a function of the different degrees of hay grinding. However, the liquid phase of digesta presented a higher k than the solid phase, with values of 3.28 and 2.73 h-1 being obtained, respectively. The smallest particle size and the lowest neutral detergent fiber contents in colon digesta were observed when hay ground to 3 mm was offered, leading to values of 0.51 mm and 53.46%, respectively. Grinding the hay increased the transit time of the liquid phase in the digestive tract of the horses, whereas no change in the kinetics of the solid phase digesta was observed. The grinding of hay reduced the NDF and the average particle size in the right ventral colon.
Highlights
Domestication of the equine species imposed artificial management of feeding and may be the reason for the observed incidence of digestive tract diseases in these animals
There was no effect of hay processing on the mean retention time and passage rate of the solute phase of the digesta, with mean values of 30.7 h and 3.78 h-1 being obtained, respectively (Table 2)
Horses fed ad libitum with an exclusive diet composed of grass hay with a distinct nutritional composition presented mean retention time (MRT) values of 21 to 23 h in a study by Clauss et al (2014)
Summary
Domestication of the equine species imposed artificial management of feeding and may be the reason for the observed incidence of digestive tract diseases in these animals. Digestive tract retention due to the physical form of the diet needs. Passsage kinetics of digesta in horses fed. Hill (2007) described the effects of feedstuff processing in horse diets and suggested that the increased interest on the subject was due to the large number of horses that are kept stalled, which are fed dry forage and concentrate exclusively during most of the year. The author concluded that further studies are necessary to understand the effects of industrial processing on physical and chemical modification in the digestive tract of horses. The present study was conducted to assess the effects of feeding coastcross hay (Cynodon dactylon) subjected to different degrees of grinding on the passage kinetics of digesta in the digestive tract and on the physical and chemical characteristics of digesta in the horse colon
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