HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ordakowski-Burk, A. L. Articles by Vough, L. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ordakowski-Burk, A. L. Articles by Vough, L. R.

Voluntary intake and digestibility of reed canarygrass and timothy hay fed to horses¹

A. L. Ordakowski-Burk^*,2, R. W. Quinn^*, T. A. Shellem^* and L. R. Vough

¹ Departments of *Animal and Avian Sciences and and Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park 20742

² Corresponding author: amyburk{at}umd.edu

Thousands of hectares of timothy (Phleum pretense L.) grown in the Mid-Atlantic region are infected by cereal rust mite (Abacarus hysterix) that causes discoloration and curling of leaves, decreased nutritional quality, and substantial decreases in yield. A decline in production of timothy hay can lower income for hay producers and cause horse owners to search for alternative hays. Low alkaloid reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) hay has potential as an alternative to timothy hay because it grows well in the Mid-Atlantic region, is believed to have a similar nutrient quality to timothy, and is not as susceptible to cereal rust mite. Eleven mature, stalled Thoroughbred geldings (549 ± 12.1 kg) that were exercised daily were used to compare voluntary DMI and apparent nutrient DM digestibility of timothy and low-alkaloid Chiefton variety reed canarygrass hay. Horses were paired by age and BW and randomly assigned to timothy or reed canarygrass hay during a 14-d period to measure voluntary DMI followed by a 4-d period to measure apparent DM digestibility. Both hays met the minimum requirements for DE, CP, Ca, P, K, Fe, and Mn, but they did not meet the minimum requirements for Cu, Zn, and Na for horses at maintenance and averaging 550 kg of BW. Timothy hay seemed to have a lower CP concentration (14.4%) compared with reed canarygrass hay (17.1%) and a more desirable Ca:P ratio at 1.6:1 compared with 0.8:1 for reed canarygrass hay. Horses fed timothy consumed more hay (P <0.001) during the voluntary DMI period compared with horses fed reed canarygrass. Greater voluntary DMI of timothy occurred on d 1, 3, and 5 (P <0.05), but DMI was similar for other days. Apparent DM digestibility was greater in horses fed timothy hay by 9.6% compared with horses fed reed canarygrass hay (P <0.05). Horses fed timothy had greater DM digestibility of ADF (P = 0.001), NDF (P = 0.001), sugar (P = 0.05), and Ca (P = 0.001) but lower apparent DM digestibility of CP (P = 0.012) and crude fat (P = 0.004). Timothy hay was superior in voluntary DMI and apparent DM digestibility compared with low-alkaloid reed canarygrass hay fed to horses.

Key Words: digestibility • hay • horse • reed canarygrass • timothy • voluntary intake

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. L. Swyers, A. O. Burk, T. G. Hartsock, E. M. Ungerfeld, and J. L. Shelton Effects of direct-fed microbial supplementation on digestibility and fermentation end-products in horses fed low- and high-starch concentrates J Anim Sci, October 1, 2008; 86(10): 2596 - 2608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]