Are There Advantages to Feeding Horses Pelleted Rather Than Loose Hay?

This study was designed to find the effect of pelleting on the nutritional value of alfalfa hay and also an alfalfa/Bermuda blend.

Four mature horses were used in a series of digestion trials. In the first trial, the horses were fed pelleted or long-stem alfalfa from the same cutting. In the second trial, all horses were fed a pelleted blend of alfalfa and Bermuda straw. Analyses were made of the hay or pellets and the manure that was collected. Apparent digestibilities were determined for each nutrient by subtracting the total amount of nutrient excreted in the feces from the total intake of that nutrient during the collection period, assuming a constant amount of endogenous loss from each horse daily.

There was no significant difference between the digestibilities of any of the nutrients in the long-stem or pelleted alfalfa with the exception of fat, which was more digestible in the long-stem hay. Total digestible nutrients, dry matter, crude protein, and acid detergent fiber digestibility were significantly higher in the alfalfa than in the alfalfa/Bermuda blend. There was no significant difference between the digestibilities of any of the minerals in the long-stem versus pelleted alfalfa. Digestibilities of calcium and copper were higher in the alfalfa/Bermuda blend than in either the long-stem or alfalfa hay.

Pellets were completely consumed, while the long-stem hay tended to shatter and produce large quantities of dust and fines, which could lead to wastage under normal feeding conditions. Horses eating long-stem hay also produced wetter manure. This water loss could be a factor for horses living in hot climates.

This report of KER’s 1991 research was published in Proceedings of the 12th Equine Nutrition and Physiology Society Symposium. 

Digestibility of long-stem alfalfa, pelleted alfalfa, or an alfalfa/Bermuda straw blend pellet in horses