Monday, June 3, 2019

Benefits Of Using Slow Feeders For Horses

By Walter Murphy


When it comes to feeding your horses with food, you are required to know the right supplies to give them. Their consumption should be small amounts of fodder over a long time. This is because these animals have complex digestive systems that require them to feed continually. No matter the type of feed you give your equines, you need to do it appropriately. An excellent option to take is utilizing the use of slow feeders for horses to enjoy the advantages highlighted in this article.

The occurrence of stress that is associated with their feeding is common with these animals. As such, equines that go through this stress produce hormones called cortisol. When the hormone is produced in large amounts, it results in increased levels of insulin, making their bodies to store excess fat. This, in turn, leads to obesity. Utilizing this program for feeding is an appropriate way of avoiding your horse becoming obese.

Feeding slowly helps in the prevention of ulcers. This is because it activates the production of saliva. The saliva is an alkaline that buffers the gastric acids produced in the stomach. With the food present in the stomach, the acids cannot reach the walls, and this is the right way of preventing this condition.

The program promotes metabolism. Proper digestion and fermentation of food need ample time, and this is available with the free-choice mode of feeding. With optimal digestion, conditions that lead to colic cannot occur. This promotes the health of the equine. The ideal way of maintaining the balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria is by ensuring that horses are constantly feeding.

Horses primarily focus on feeding. Therefore, if there is not enough feeding, these animals could focus on other unpleasant activities like kicking the stalls and cribbing. A healthy equine sleeps for a maximum of four hours in a day, and they sleep for not long those fifteen or twenty minutes. For this reason, eliminate their boredom by incorporating slow feeding.

The feeders prevent trampling of hay by equines or blowing by the wind. If hay is spread all over the field, the animals may trample on it and might not eat afterward. In other cases, the hay forage gets blown away by the wind. In such a situation, the program is ideal since the food is contained. This helps in low or no wastage.

Since these creatures are animals of prey, they highly depend on their seeing and sound senses to detect their predators. Locking them up for long may, in turn, make them feel unsafe, causing a negative effect on their feeding behavior. Since the feeder is usually placed in open places, these animals feel safe while they are eating. It will also ensure your animals are feeding appropriately, improving their health.

Horses are violent when eating. You may realize that the less dominant equines are avoiding feeding from the same place with the dominant ones. In such a case, putting food in one source is not a good ideal. With slow feeders, you can allocate the hay in different places so that all the animals can eat peacefully. Additionally, you may separate the equines that require special diets and allow feed with the others later.




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